Artist Statement / Narrative
Painted in the aftermath of the 2024 eclipse, this piece emerged from a raw and startling moment. I had just come out of surgery and stepped outside to witness the rare cosmic alignment. Expecting awe and shared reverence, I instead found a crowd with eyes lowered to their screens — recording the event rather than experiencing it.
Earlier eras met eclipses with silence, unity, and wonder. In contrast, the moment I saw was mediated through devices, fractured into data before it was lived.
In The Eclipse of Attention, the blackened sun radiates broken light, a stained-glass geometry splintered by distraction. Figures, blindfolded by their phones, reach upward but never truly see. The central eclipse becomes a voided eye — the absence of presence, the eclipse of human attention.
This Somatic Signal™ is both a critique and a call: to remember the difference between looking and witnessing.
Themes & Keywords
- 2024 solar eclipse
- Awe vs distraction
- Collective blindness
- Presence vs mediation
- Digital eclipse
- Societal critique
Signal Layers (Optional AR / Collector Notes)
- Scent: Burnt amber + ozone — echoing the stillness of charged eclipse air.
- AR Unlock: Eclipse animation: light swallowed and released.
- Coaster / Coin Etching: Central black void with radiating fractured rays.
Placement & Collector Notes
This large-format Somatic Signal™ is ideal for collector homes, lobbies, galleries, or hospitals where the themes of presence, distraction, and awe resonate. It is part of the Large Tapestry Somatic Signal™ tier, also referred to publicly as a Signal Tapestry™.
