As an artist, I want to be a catalyst, a provocateur, a questioner; an opener of dialogues. That is why I call this the Library of Questions.
My work in its many guises is gathered here. It is a place of exploration, as any library should be, but it is also a place for entertainment, for excitement, and, I hope, for wonder.
Whilst in my head they are my ideas, but once written down, these ideas are orphans. I invite you to make them part of your family. Reflect upon them and, whilst of course respecting copyright and citation, share them with others, adding your own reflections. Most of all, please be inspired - like me - to keep asking questions.
If you like it here, become a Reader of the Library of Questions. Subscribe (it’s free) and I will keep you informed when a new set of questions is put on the shelf.
Often my work crosses over multiple fields. Feel free to browse. You can also fast track track to any of the topics here:
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What is Simulism? New thinking beyond Metamodernism
Simulism argues that meaning is not found in any universal truth or external order, but made in the human act of seeking it. It recognises that our minds are pattern-making engines, compelled to impose coherence upon chaos. This impulse—absurd, beautiful, and often contradictory—is the very substance of meaning itself.
Topogenesthetics - The significance of gardens
Many gardens have deep symbolic meaning. In Japan of course, but across the world.
Topogenesthics is a word I use to describe the study of how spaces are imbued with meaning. Naturally, it has deep relevance in the symbolic gardens of Japan, but it is universal.
Simulism: a new way of looking - A Guide For Young People
Simulism: a new way of looking - A Guide For Young People
John Rux-Burton discusses a new way of looking. What it is. What it means for art. The roots of the idea.
A Simulist Manifesto - Binary to Simultaneity
Extract from “A Simulist Manifesto: Binary to Simultaneity”
John Rux-Burton
My art makes no statement beyond a statement that it is a question — multiple questions.
What is the viewer engaging? Mimesis done awry, or abstraction drawn too well?
Meaning is not discovered but made, each image a dialogue between something and nothing, between the human urge to find order and the void’s indifference.
To see the work is to participate in its making — the moment where perception becomes creation
A Dry Stream is full of water, if you look with your heart — Reflections on Karesansui
What does it mean when a garden’s stream runs dry? In Japanese karesansui, absence is full of possibility: gravel becomes river; rocks, mountains; silence, reflection; an entire universe in a handful of dust. Enter a space where meaning is created by the gaze—and discover why, with the right kind of looking, a dry stream can overflow with water and life.
An ouroboros of chaos and design: a manifesto for the celebration of paradox
A short discussion on how, in seeking meaning, even though we are resolved that we will not find it, we can make meaning for ourselves - make it on human terms, despite and indifferent universe.