Civilization

Rendered in graphite, the sphere emerges from a largely vacant sheet, its edges softened by smudging and repeated, anxious hatching.

The scattered letters and symbols imply language, translation, and shared human intelligence.

The world exists only as a collection of interlocking fragments.

This is an image of civilization.

The pieces diminish and compress toward the lateral edges, producing curvature. Isolated glyphs sit inside them. The clearest include a Roman “W,” a Greek “Ω,” katakana “ウィ,” and Latin forms. The top of the rounded form is irregular and open. From it rises a flame-shaped mass built from overlapping loops, narrow arcs, hooked strokes, white channels, and dense tangles of short lines. The darkest concentration occurs where this mass meets the jigsaw body; its outer loops become progressively paler and more widely spaced. Lines vary from barely visible exploratory traces to blunt, dark accents.