**Secret Artist #29 — Pneuma** Is that your *hand* in front of you? What is a hand anyway? It’s a concept, like most things. It’s a series of bones, joints, muscles, veins, skin, and nails that come together to be called a hand. Why have a name for it, a concept? Why is it not just the end of your wrist? Some languages don’t have a word for foot, it’s just the end part of a leg. So look at the end of your wrist ask yourself what a hand really is. *Is* that your hand in front of you? Right now? Is it? Or, was it? The image from your eyes needs to travel to your brain after all. Then your brain has to process it, and that takes time — around 15 milliseconds. You are looking at what your hand was like 15 milliseconds ago. But wait, there’s more. To really appreciate that your perception is being altered, remember that the image which your eyes send is upside down. In fact, there is further editing going on in your brain. You’re not viewing a constant stream, otherwise you would feel very dizzy as you looked from side-to-side. Parts are being cut out and smoothed together. Some scientists have referred to our brains as “time machines”, constantly pulling from a full 15 whole seconds in the past and editing the image until we have a smooth picture. Don’t believe it? Put your phone camera on and put it in front of your eyes and walk around looking at things. Turn around a few times, but be careful, you should find things much shakier and more jittery with constant changes to light and shadows. This is similar to what your eyes are actually seeing. They are imperfect sensory organs uploading images to your brain for editing and there’s considerable lag. So your hand may indeed be there, but you’re seeing an old photoshopped image. Is *that* your hand in front of you? Are you sure? Of course that’s your hand, you’ve been carrying it with you all your life…right? Run your other hand across the top of it just to make sure. Do you feel that? Good. It’s probably your hand. Or are you visualizing an extremity that’s somewhere in a parallel space? Perhaps the molecules combined together in front of you aren’t quite what they seem. Or is this a representation of all that can be held together; tools that create and destroy, moving matter from one place to another. Is that *your* hand in front of you? It’s not anyone else’s, is it? It’s not a rubber one. It’s yours. But does it belong to you, or is it a part of you? Is it both? It’s both, right? If you are you, then it follows that this is your hand. Is that your hand in front of *you*? But who is "you"? What gives you your sense of self? Your memories? Data. Your personality? Responses to stimuli. The conversation you have with yourself in your head? Thoughts. Who in your head are you talking to anyway? Do they ever talk back? If you had that conversation out loud you’d probably get a lot of strange looks from people. These are just thoughts, appearances in consciousness just like the sight of your hand or the feel of it being touched. So who are you when your data, stimuli responses and thoughts are stripped away? Is there a “you” left? Where? Is that your hand *in front of* you? If there is a “you” left, it probably feels like you're in your head. That’s where your brain and other sensory organs are after all. In which case, your hand is probably in front of you. However, it is possible to realise that there is no you in your head or behind your eyes. If you come to appreciate the illusoriness of the self In your head, and you close your eyes, you will realise that the hand can’t be in front of “you”. The feeling of it may appear in your consciousness like anything else, but how can a hand be “in front of” consciousness? Consciousness has no direction or shape. So I ask again: Is that your hand in front of you? *** **The Secret Artists Project** The world of NFTs opens up new, creative opportunities for artists and also for the ecosystem that surrounds them. The Secret Artist Project works to curate innovative artists from inside and outside of the NFT community. We ask them for a piece of their work that has yet to be minted and add it anonymously to our collection. This puts the focus on the art and not the artist. We want people to buy the art simply because they love it. The Secret Artist Project has no no utility and no overambitious roadmap. However, there is one very special bonus you receive with your NFT from The Secret Artist Project, and that is... **The Artist** While their identity remains a mystery to everyone else, the artist's details will be revealed to you after purchasing the NFT — as if you've discovered their signature scrawled on the back of their painting. So now, you not only have the NFT to hang in your home or display in the Metaverse, you also have the opportunity to discover more of the artist’s work. In addition, by holding the NFT and discovering its secrets, you become part of The Secret Artist Project community. Those who hold secrets, hold power... **The Aims of the Secret Artist Project** — to positively impact the artist by putting their art first — to introduce new artists to the NFT space (though we have well-known artists in our collection too!) — to promote art we love and collaborate with artists we trust
Name
Secret Artist #29 — Pneuma
Owner
0xcC71dac21Cf694648f73a191d675aa5BD3Cf5aC7
ID#81034769…096065
Rarity
N/A