Son of a Chef

A decade ago I was introduced to the writing of famous artist Piet Mondrian. I was shocked by his candor and the excitement with which he embraced the coming future.

Mondrian left behind a treasure trove of collected thoughts and philosophical discourse. He engaged all the way to thinkers like Hegel. It may seem a far cry from artists today.

Mondrian was cheiftly concerned with what he called, “neo-plasticity,” which evades simple summary. If I were to try, I’d connect Mondrian’s philosophical contribution to the Hegelian school of thought.

Neo-plasticity always seemed like it was related to the quality of Geist to change and adapt to its technical surrounding. Neo-plasticity was the second coming of the industrial age… or was it the third or fourth coming?

There’s a sense of disconnection. New plastic in an unnatural environment, this is what had become of the human condition.

While Mondrian was no deep cynic, I wonder what he would think of microplastics and the human condition in 2024. Perhaps he would retain his electric optimism. I wager the circuit board would further inspire his art, moving beyond the categorization of early electric Paris by blocks.

Keep the optimism in the face of the unknown and ever changing human spirit, that’s the lesson of Mondrian. Today, I flew by a factory that was colored in his style. My initial reaction was cynicism… but I got to thinking. Mondrian might be ecstatic about this. Though, he might dislike the arrangement of his style.

This spring and summer, I want to live in a way that exposes me to this electric love for the contours of experience. Mondrian did not have the most beautiful future in front of him. The world in his time was a mess. Yet, he continued to write and make beautiful art. He was never swallowed up by the cynicism despite his full-throated engagement with philosophy on an academic level.

Today, the sun is shining. I’ll get some rays. What more could one want?