Mural – Paint
Location: Majestic Park
From the artist:
A Highway Runs Through It
The Aphorism of Heraclitus
gi tou Antithetou se Armonia
The Latin phrase gi tou Antithetou se Armonia translates in English to “The Land of Differences in Harmony”. This is the context of an aphorism of Heraclitus which proposes the idea of a state of peace and or coexistence of opposites. The main theme of the mural was to spotlight the uniqueness of a region such as Johnson City which had a thriving metropolis in partnership with an established farming community. Both prospered from the development of transit which was first aided by the railway in the early years of the community and followed by the construction of the interstate. It was a pictorial anomaly to see a city on one side of the freeway and a working farm on the other, seated in a valley surrounded by blue ridges in the silhouette of Buffalo Mountain. I had come to find in my travels across the country and my time in Europe that this was a unique aspect of an established community.
We are aware of various examples of planned urban communities and protected land remaining “off limits” while surrounded by the oppressive development of a city. Central Park in New York comes to mind! However, unlike a “natural museum” allocated as a park, Johnson City’s “green space” was, in most cases, a working landscape producing crops and supporting livestock which is a foundational element of our culture and commerce in East Tennessee. When I was asked to produce a concept for the mural in celebration of the city’s 125th birthday, capturing this visual paradox and its symbolism was my primary objective.
At the time I was working on the rendering in 1994, farm land within the city limits was beginning to disappear, related to increases in taxes and pressure to sell massive quantities of farm land for development. Farm houses and barns, symbols of agriculture, hard work, family and history that had stood for over 100 years were demolished overnight. Born in Johnson City and raised in this area, I was very familiar with the city and the farms and I felt as though I had a personal experience and vested interest in celebrating this town’s history and capturing its personality with art. My parents were instrumental in my development as an artist and my appreciation for protecting history, not merely to observe it from a distance but to participate in it as a living, breathing entity that contributes to the quality of our lives was ingrained in me by them. It was my intent with the mural to emphasize this and propose the importance of practicing restraint to protect the complexion of this unique and beautiful region and emphasize what is special about our community, both aesthetically and socially.
Because the mural is visible from Main Street with its one way direction of the traffic and not easily visible from Market Street, the mural reads from right to left. I depicted aspects of the historic downtown of the city with references to buildings with distinctive architectural elements readily identifiable and still in existence. The locomotive modeled by the famous Tweetsie Engine steams forcefully ahead at the base. The city is edged with the construct of an interstate overpass that replaced the original purpose of the railway as a form of commerce and travel. At the base of the overpass is a steel disc, symbolic of the “Working Wheel of Progress”. The top edge of the interstate, to the left, is contrasted with the soft blue sky over a common sight of a valley worked by a man, a horse and a plough overseen by a country church. The pastoral image appears to be embroidered on a stage curtain (reminiscent of a theater) pulled back or caught in a breeze to reveal the face of a downtown building that bookends the composition of the mural as a whole.
The mural has several symbolic elements. Our area, like most southern regions, experienced racial divides and discrimination. Solidarity in races was found in hard work and faith which is emphasized by the inclusion of the church, which was modeled after an actual sanctuary that stood in Johnson City, hallowed ground shared by black and white congregations alike. In addition, I included in the mural a metal construction beam that seems suspended in the air but is actually held by a thread-like line. The beam is casting a shadow over the image of the farmer, suggesting an impending threat of development, potentially compromising an important and needed aspect of our region and the time-honored heritage and livelihood of many of our citizens.
This recalls the center point of Heraclitus’ aphorism, which not only addresses the idea of opposites and inclusion, but it also gives a counter argument to the idea and definition of Utopia which functions under the premise of the “likenesses” of individuals which should stabilize co-existence. Rather, it is the diversity of our population with mutual respect and a rational, working understanding of that diversity that stabilizes coexistence. This, based on a foundation of assimilation under a common sense of purpose founded in freedom and liberty to determine one’s own life, qualifies and defines our “likenesses” and thus our capacity to co-exist.