The Wilmington Ten

The Wilmington Ten were a group of civil rights activists who spent nearly a decade in jail after being convicted of arson and conspiracy in 1971. The case became an international cause celebre amidst widespread beliefs that the individuals in the case were only guilty of holding dissenting political beliefs. Amnesty International took up the case in 1976 and the convictions were finally overturned on a technicality in 1980. To read more, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington_Ten

The "Ten" were:

Benjamin Chavis (age 24) - 34 years
Connie Tindall (age 21) - 31 years
Marvin "Chili" Patrick (age 19) - 29 years
Wayne Moore (age 19) - 29 years
Reginald Epps (age 18) - 28 years
Jerry Jacobs (age 19) - 29 years
James "Bun" McKoy (age 19) - 29 years
Willie Earl Vereen (age 18) - 29 years
William "Joe" Wright, Jr. (age 19) - 29 years
Ann Shepard (age 35) - 15 years

One Human Power

Aside from developing cardiovascular fitness and a beautiful physique, riding a bicycle is also kind to the environment by limiting your expiration of carbon dioxide to only 0.35 cubic meters per hour, or roughly 900 pounds of carbon dioxide per year versus the additional release of 50,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year into the atmosphere if you travel by fossil fueled automobile!

Tribute to Tupac

As far as I'm concerned the genre started and ended with him. All the others are pretenders cashing in on the 'House' he built.

Transfusion/Distillation/Alteration

The "digital" in technology has given us an unprecedented degree of freedom and control over how we receive and use information. However, the ease this technology gives us to 'lift' data-- whether it is music, art, or literature--from its context presents a clear and present danger of running the risk of shortchanging our perception and understanding of how our world has come to be. After a while, we will no longer be interested in the "how" and "why" of things, only our consumption of it. This in turn will lead to our ignorance of how our world is put together, and the knowledge of maintaining it and/or rebuilding it, if need be. In our indolence, we will ask ourselves, "Why should I waste time and energy using my mind and getting my hands dirty when my precious machines can do these things for me?" By this time, the machines will rule, and it may very well be too late for us to reclaim the very thing that makes us human, which is our free will.

Tango

I call this one "Tango". It began as a rough sketch on paper, which I later recreated digitally. I especially like it because it recalls to mind my seriograph prints back in the 60s, when even public advertising was done in the fine arts medium of silkscreening.

Hyrynis Riding His Anti-Grav Mobile

This scene, taken in 484 a.t. (2454 c.e.), depicts the replicant, Hyrynis, a VR Full-Immersion (Holodeck) Programmer, and 9th mate to Kharmyn, High Priestess of 'The Believers', riding his anti-gravity mobile across the Martian plains.

Hyrynis: A Replicant

Hyrynis, replicant, age 14 earth years, and employed as a VR Full-Immersion (Holodeck) Programmer, is the 9th mate to Kharmyn, High Priestess of 'The Believers'.

Hyrynis was 'engineered' 14 years ago, 470 a.t., in a genetics lab at Alpherion Base, an illegal outpost on Mars. His genetic base is 99.97 percent human, 0.01 percent Cephalopod genes responsible for producing chromatophores, or cellular pigmentation; 0.01 percent Autotroph's genes, endowing this replicant, and others of his ilk, with the ability to derive energy from light. The remaining 0.01 percent comes from other genetic sources responsible for superior eyesight, muscular dexterity, strength, stamina, augmented neuron transmission, and acute locomotion. Incidentally, the lab was deemed 'Illegal' by the Second Intergalactic Federation for employing A.I. Ultras to work on human based genes. This was taboo because the Ultras had their own agenda for survival and their far superior intelligence made their motives all the more suspicious.

Kharmyn, Chi-Chi & Azura: 484 a.t.

You've seen her in a famous stat-sim where she was photographed (See "Kharmyn II") on the balcony of her penthouse overlooking the space port city of New York 2. Being a Sapient and, no doubt, to her 278 years, Kharmyn is already a woman of considerable power and accomplishment. Having already experienced her life as a starship pilot, sim actress, and exo-archeologist, where she made an enormous fortune trading in alien relics, she is now exploring her as yet untapped potential as a priestess of The Believers, a school of thought based on the ancient texts of Old Earth philosopher, Saint Augustine. Receiver of countless awards, Kharmyn recently won the most coveted one of all: the Sagan, which recognized one whose work crystallizes the hopes, dreams, and promises of Humanity. Having just returned from a 2 year honeymoon at Cygnus-4 with her 9th mate, Hyrynis, a replicant and VR Immersion Specialist, Kharmyn is shown in the stat-sim, above, playing with Chi-Chi and Azura, her beloved, enhanced dolphins she had personally augmented while a student at Cal Tech 270 Earth years ago.

The Promise of Faith

What happens when you put God/Christ in a 'box' to ordain your fears, and the deeds (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, prejudice, hate, homophobia, and murder, to mention a few) emanating from those fears. In time, the box, which is a degenerate construct of your faith, proves too small for the devil/demon that now lies within you, and the only way it can get out, once it has awaken, is to destroy the box--your church, your faith--and you with it, only if you resist letting go, and step out into the sunshine that is God's blessings.

Christ came to teach a faith grounded in the belief in one's self and worth; which, once established, enabled man and woman to overcome any and all adversity in his or her life. Christ taught that we are spiritual beings trying to become human, rather than human beings in search of spirituality. He gently instructed those who would listen that by embracing your spiritual default you will come to a greater understanding of your relationship to God, and hence your Humanity. This embracing of one's spirit, as espoused by Jesus Christ, is the basis of Faith. "(T)the idea of "faith seeking understanding" as set forth by St. Augustine in his statement "Crede, ut intelligas" ("Believe in order that you may understand"). This statement extends beyond the sphere of religion to encompass the totality of knowledge. In essence, faith must be present in order to know anything. In other words, one must assume, believe, or have faith in the credibility of a person, place, thing, or idea in order to have a basis for knowledge." -- Wikipedia

So the promise of faith can cut both ways: it can either kill you, or set you free--depending on which master you serve.

The Vision

This is a rendering of an event that I actually experienced back in 1982, shortly after moving into my new apartment in N.E. Washington, DC. It was a haunting, intense experience that stayed with me all these years. The overall sensation was of 'Transmission'--that a message was being sent to me, from the future; a message that I am still fathoming. I now often wonder if the subsequent events in the proceeding years of my life have some connection with this 'encounter'. Since that time I have lost five of my closest friends to AIDS, and cannot help but wonder if the five young men that appeared to me that night were my friends visiting me from some other realm where the ability to move from one Dimension to another is as easy as descending a ladder. If you're wondering what they were carrying in the trays, it was neat, little squares of cornbread; making the import, let alone the impact of the vision, even more haunting, mysterious, and lasting.

A Fuller View:

Selected artwork of Walter O. Neal, Art Director, AMKA Graphics Studios