Self-Portrait

To me, a Bucky Ball is the perfect self-portrait and ideal symbol for the self. When I look at this picture, I feel like I am looking in a mirror. This is why: I see the orb in the center as my "self" while each polygon is a double-sided portal that allows information to travel back and forth between myself and the world. The polygons are like sensors (as well as censors), some of which are open, some of which are shut, some of which are sealed. I further picture the whole thing orbiting not in space but in time. As each has its turn in n-o-w, it may be open, shut or sealed. Thus, they act as transoms that let information in and out of consciousness. How many are open? It varies from person to person. But the number -- if indeed they are amenable to counting -- is vastly higher than the usual 5 attributed to the senses in western culture. Furthermore, I suspect that they operate in realms that have nothing to do with sense but everything to do with sensibility.

The picture of the Bucky Ball is from a site in Germany