The Alpha Seer understanding true art

Connect these two Picassos with the Knox Martin below, then compare them with the Chinese calligraphy by the great Sui dynasty calligrapher, Wang Hsi Tzi.

Why, simply connect the dots! (I apologize for the terrible reflections, but reflection is exactly what I want to tell you at this point,…)

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Finally, ask yourself this:
What is the common thread that provides the linkage for those 4 magnificent images?

Once you see that linkage, or lineage, REALLY SEEING IT,…no pretense at all in this business, no self-deception: like: Oh, I can see that…oh, yeah, there it is, staring out at me, etc…– remove your ego,– if that is at all possible, but rather, seeing it as a child would discern an unadorned truth, vulnerable, surrendering, pure, without worldly meaning,… no language, no thought, no memories,…no intellectualizing,…no reference,… just the singular sweetness, the simplicity upon the sighting of a metaphor in a great poem, the delicious surprise in the seeing of the bull’s testicles, feeling that sacred wonderment within Picasso’s  creative power, seeing the teats in Knox’s woman, and imagine for a moment how deeply Knox must have immersed himself in the well of bliss afforded by such a gorgeous creation,– or seeing the copulation in the Alpha Seer’s art, (http://alphaseer.artists.de, or www.mnartists.org~alpha seer) while immediately recognizing that, as though a child would have seen it for the first time in his life, the perfect union of the Yin and the Yang,…..

–then perhaps you will see nothing else but the way to Greatness.

Seeing the way to Greatness is feeling for the first time,

The way to Beauty.

Feeling for the first time the way to Beauty

Is understanding the Tao to Godliness….

This is not to say that all Alpha Seers are necessarily godly. It may turn out that in real life he can be as much an asshole as anyone else…. just that he is the one holding up the sacred mirror, so that godliness can be  reflected.

Since that godliness is also in you,– if only you knew it!

—
THE ALPHA SEER

Woman with Red Shoes II, 2010, Acrylic on linen, 80 x 65 inches

BY the great master Knox Martin

Figure 1: satyr and nymph series 170

Figure 2: satyr and nymph series 171

The realized one essentially exists in the fetus stage, innocent, without prior conditioning, surrendering, vulnerable…– Nothing is for him pure or impure, neither is there enlightenment, nor darkness, noble or ignoble, — whereby the observer is also the observed, and color is emptiness, and emptiness, color… . For such a being it is learned and understood that anything seen, heard, received, acted upon, thought about, tasted, is nil but emptiness.

He cannot be categorized as born, nor can he, characterized as unborn…. since he no longer has anything to do with this brief life, mere sojourn,– a blip on the radar of Timelessness,–which is Emptiness itself. He suddenly finds himself bathing in exuberant Bliss on the other shore, so much richer than your kings or presidents, who, to him are no more than pitiable beggars!

He has arrived!

Going into this fetus stage, or Samadhi, or deep meditation,– can be truly easy for some,–almost like a crow casually flapping its wings, just to take flight in the next instance,– but so extremely hard for many others,–as though moving the Himalayas with a spoon is even easier,– yes, there is still hope for the Himalaya to be removed after many lives! — unfortunately, the growth in strength of his spirit can still be expected to remain in Block One… ! Unchanged after so many lives!

For those who are deeply attached to the spurious comfort of money, power, passion, and competitions, as if everything in life depend on it: even after so many lives later they still would fail to learn the lessons of suffering… . Such folks must be moving in circles, or walking about in dreams!

The Alpha Seer

Figure 1: Satyr and nymph 168 (upper) and Satyr and nymph 169 (lower)

PROFESSOR LEANDER S. HUGHES

ON THE ALPHASEER

More than a decade has passed since I first met Ben Lau, but I remember the occasion well. I was a student at the Rudy and Lola Perpich Center for Arts Education, and Ben was a special guest at our school, invited to present before our entire student body. Things got off to a rocky start when Ben put a black and white copy of a Cezanne and one of a Pissarro side by side on the overhead and asked the audience which was a better composition. Ben never had a chance to move forward from this initial question, as students around me jumped up in protest: “How can you say one work of art is better than another?!” one student shouted, “It’s just your opinion!” Soon the hall was consumed in chaos with students interrupting Ben, talking over each other in their self-righteous tirade against this apparent act of artistic discrimination. For all of their talk about equality and mutual understanding, my classmates showed themselves to be thoroughly bigoted in their refusal to even allow Ben to explain himself. So, the first time I ever spoke to Ben was when I went up to him that day to apologize for the rude treatment he had received and to tell him that I would have liked to hear what he had to say. A year later, Ben came back to our school offering to be a mentor to anyone interested. I applied straight away, and Ben has been a mentor and good friend to me ever since.

There was no sudden enlightenment studying under Ben. I was a very skeptical student in the beginning. I did not see the beauty in his work. In fact, I did not see beauty in anyone’s work, including my own. Sometimes I liked a painting because it got me fantasizing or philosophizing about this or that, but my ability to take pleasure in something at a purely visual level was close to nil. Gradually though, over countless Saturday afternoons spent with Ben looking at the paintings in his many art books- engaging with Titian, Hals, Matisse, Van Eyck, Hokusai, and Knox Martin to name just a few- I began to feel something in those works: the way the dark and light embraced and intertwined, the energy and certainty of the brush strokes. Slowly, I began to taste, if ever so slightly, the dynamism and vitality of those great compositions, and in time, my appreciation went deeper- to a level which may well be impossible to explain: when a painter takes something essential to the human experience and reinvents it in the two-dimensional space of a canvas, letting the power of that thing guide each line and tap out the rhythmic dance of dark and light, then that painting becomes a thing onto itself- a small universe into which we can step and exist indefinitely, if we wish, simply by giving it our full attention. If this isn’t Beauty with a capital “B,” then it is at least one very important kind of beauty- one that has added immeasurable richness to my life and one that is clearly present in some paintings more than others.

Ben has a website at www.thealphaseer.com upon which he refers to himself as the Alphaseer- I laughed when I first read this self-bestowed title, but the title is not a product of an enflamed ego: Rather it is an honest appraisal of Ben’s own ability. Ben could see Beauty (yes, I think it deserves a capital “B”), whereas my art school classmates and I could not. Now thanks to Ben’s mentorship, I too can catch a glimpse into Beauty’s secret chambers, and for this I am truly grateful, but Ben remains light-years ahead of me- he can actually CREATE Beauty consistently with every new work he produces. Thus, I think “Alphaseer” may actually be a shade too modest- Ben, to me, is the Alphacreator: he creates Beauty on a daily basis and that Beauty is a gift to everyone willing to take the time to really see it. If I had the money to be Ben’s patron, I would buy up all of his work in an instant- not because doing so would be a wise investment (as it surely would be), but just so I could surround myself in the timelessness of his art. For now though, I can only offer this humble endorsement along with my heartfelt thanks to Ben and my hope that, in some small way, I may help bring to him the wider recognition he so deeply deserves.

Professor Leander s. Hughes is currently teaching at Saitama University, Japan.

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Lee,

That was a beautiful statement, Lee, thank you for writing with such
heartfelt honesty. It’s always good to hear about my dad’s work from
someone else. Growing up in a household where I’m constantly
surrounded by these works and where the Alphacreator is also my dad
(you know how that is), I often take for granted my seemingly
effortless ability to discern Beauty from non-beauty – but I realize
time and again it is only because my dad raised me this way, so that
seeing art is like a native language.

I hope this can be published some day.

Love,
Isabella

Isabella is the daughter of Ben Lau, a.k.a. the Alpha Seer

Karen Monson to me

show details Dec 6 (2 days ago)

This is so Beautiful and so true, Ben.  I remember the first time I met you … and that day very well.  Thank you for sharing this.  Karen

Karen M. is the lady who, in Leander Hughes’ youth had brought about the meeting of the latter and the Alpha Seer.