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The name 'Beautiful Machine' was inspired to Andrew while attending the 1989
Schumacher Lecture, hosted in Bristol. The lectures, are organised annually
by the
E.F.Schumacher Society.
E.F.Schumacher, who died in 1977, was the author of the highly thought
provoking book 'Small
is Beautiful'.
 Originally
published by Potential Graphics on 3lst March 1989 in an initial edition of 25
numbered copies. Each book was hand bound and consisted of four pages of writing
and seventeen pages of graphics in both colour and black and white, individually
hand printed, mounted and protected with a translucent interleaving page. All
copies were supplied wrapped in gold paper and with the name 'Zone' hand written
on the front. Its production was truly a labour of love.
The first edition very quickly sold out and the book was reissued in February
1990. The new copies had several physical improvements and came with a black and
white printed dust cover, which includes a description of the fundamental theme
of each of the four chapters.
The project logo
for 'Beautiful Machine' was taken from the golden mosaic's that adorn the walls
of the
Gur Emir Mosque in
Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Andrew had visited the mosque back in 1985 and had
been overwhelmed by its intricate beauty.
During the months of August and September 1990, various of the graphics taken
from 'Beautiful Machine' were exhibited in London. Firstly at
Shipley Art Bookshop,
Leicester Square, where the exhibition was organised by Clem Crosby. Secondly at
the London Ecology Centre, Covent Garden, as part of an exhibition entitled
'I For A World Where Things are Alive' and was introduced as
'An Intersection Point Between Underground Kulture and Emerging Earth
Consciousness..'. This exhibition was organised by the artist Oliver
Rakocevic. Zone's contribution to this exhibition was accompanied by a new poem
entitled 'Beautiful Machine', written
specifically for the exhibition and not taken from the book.
'Beautiful Machine' lays out the fundamental structure and ideas behind the
first chapter in Zone's working life, which consisted of 'Beautiful Machine'
itself and the musical trilogy of 'Sword of the
Sun', 'Born of Fire' & 'The
Divine Simplicity'.
In summary the first chapter in Zone's life was based on the fourfold
structure of 'Awakening', 'Struggle', 'Humility'
and 'Unity'. This fourfold structure was expressed in the four
chapters that make up 'Beautiful Machine'.
This chapter is based on the theme of 'Awakening', an
openness to the world of infinite interconnections and endless possibilities, a
glimpse of the Freedom in Chains and the Love in Emptiness.
This chapter is based on the theme of 'Struggle'. Hand in
hand with the awareness of overwhelming possibilities is the dilemma of being
confronted by the full terror of a situation in all its intensity. In a world
that constantly tests your faith and endurance, with its persistent
attempts to devour your soul, there are so many casualties and so much
suffering. At the core of this dilemma is the struggle to achieve and maintain a
sense of balance, for it is at the point of balance that an underlying sense of
direction can be known.
This chapter is based on the theme of 'Humility', one of the
qualities most lacking in today's world. With an openness to the possibilities
and a sense of balance, one must be attentive to the innate directive forces
inherent in the natural order. Stop. Look and Listen.
This chapter is based on the theme of 'Unity'. In a sense,
this chapter is the unification of the first three chapters and, in another
sense, this chapter is as much the first as it is the last. The 'Divine
Simplicity' allows for absolute complexity within the utter simplicity of Unity,
Unity as seen in all its diversity and also the underlying Unity of all that
appears as diversity. |
