My Potential Future Based on Present Circumstances (8/15/05)

Beth Campbell’s “flow chart” drawings begin with real events or situations in her life and proceed to diagram her “potential future based on current circumstances.” Campbell considers two possible courses of action she might take, each leading to an outpouring of possible futures. The bewildering array of potential lives the artist imagines points out, often humorously, the human mind’s capacity to create a layered, complex representation of non-existing potential situations, and then construct optional courses of action in response. This form of thinking appears to be unique to the human species, distinguishing homo sapiens from other primates. In Campbell’s case, the futures she foresees reveal as much about the time and culture in which she lives as her own desires, interests, hopes, and fears.