Sunday, August 11, 2013

one peace for all

Equal to GREAT MINDS, ONE FOR ALL has the most power and depth for me. I never tire of this image and continue to read it differently in different circumstances.
When the ONE FOR ALL image was moved from the breast to the belly of the maternal t-shirt, the resonance deepened. I particularly like this image in black on a man’s white t-shirt: It can make a thug feel like a knight in shining armor.
As graffiti, placement on a church, a political office or city hall, a bank ~ each merges with the site to create another meaning. Re-reading each site/image combination in light of the peace symbol digs ONE FOR ALL into even deeper layers. Juxtaposing this image with bus bench advertising is always valuable. It is amusing to place the ONE FOR ALL image on porn newspaper dispensers.
The Equal Rights Movement (the new Civil Rights Movement) has embraced ONE FOR ALL. You see t-shirts, buttons, and stickers at every rally.
The nobility of the Three Musketeers and the truth of the Taoist concept of universal force combine to illuminate the idea that each and every person is a bodhisattva in the world. Some bodhisattvas have a bottle of medicine in one hand, others have a can of spray paint. Or a pocket full of stickers.

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