“In July 1939, National Geographic published a story called “News of the Universe,” for which artist Charles Bittinger was commissioned to create a series of paintings that would help readers visualize outer space.”
In July, 1969, United States Astronaut Neil Armstrong, Commander of the Apollo 11 Spaceflight, landed on the Moon, and took an historic
“one small step for a man. One giant leap for Mankind”.
The step that Neil took was not the leap we were expecting. Humanity ventured into Space expecting to find a Final Frontier, a truly infinitely receding horizon for expansion, out of which we would always be able to take more, and into which the consequences of our taking truly would disappear without consequence. Instead, we discovered a New Reality.
We have the earth, and it is well and truly ours. Also, it is what we have.
The New Reality of the 21st Century is that the earth is our garden, and we have to be good global gardeners.
These images are powerful. Whether they are paintings, photographs or simple illustrations, they show us what is, and help us imagine what might be possible.
Art is particularly important when we are exploring new possibilities, before words have evolved that empower people to have a meaningful conversation about those possibilities.
Which means Art is important for Finance as how people choose what our future can, should and will be made to be out of the possibilities that are presented to us.
Enterprise sees the possibilities. Finance creates the words.
Art is important to Finance, for creating the words that people will use to talk about enterprise and the possibilities they are pursuing for a future prosperity of more that is better; and also for sharing those words with others.
This is not so much true for Modern Finance, because Modern Finance is largely Corporate Finance, and Corporate Finance reduces everything to a commodity that can be bought and sold, anonymously, over an exchange, for a price.
“Everything became exchangeable because everything became a commodity.”
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
It is very true for Future Finance, and popular participation in curated conversations for adaptively evolving the common sense and common wisdom of The Hypothetical Reasonable Person as the legal standard of ordinary prudence for ordinary fiduciaries, and also of extraordinary prudence for superfiduciaries.
Trying to Paint The New Spaces for Future Making
