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 detail of Heart Men catalog, 1988
The heart has inspired me since long before I was an artist. In 1988, the early days of Transformit, I created a sculpture installation I called Heart Men, and wrote a little story to accompany the installation. Later, I made a giant Heart Man for the Maine Festival, and installed it over the pond at Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine. As I was installing it, some people asked me what it was. When I replied, "It's Heart Man. He's here to help and protect people", they sighed, and smiled.
Above is shown part of the installation's catalog. Below is the original story of the Heart Men, and some photos of the giant Heart Man installation.
Happy Valentine's Day! Cindy
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 Heart Men
by Cindy Thompson, as told to Charles Bryant
Heart Man, temporary installation, 1989, Portland, Maine
In the beginning, as the seas formed, and the Earth's rhythms and cycles took shape, a mysterious and essential event took place on the sea bottom. In the blackness and extreme heat, the metamorphic flow pulsated into crystalline flowers as it came into contact with the frigid sea-water. In the dynamics of the energy exchange, complex inorganic material was transformed into new and remarkable structures unlike all others. These wedge-like organisms were the first life to exist on the Earth. They were the heart men.
Over millennia, the heart men took on the movement of the sea, and with their wedge shapes, were capable of following the waves and rhythms of the water, always moving in a curve, in a continuous and repetitive motion. Eventually, the heart men found their way to the water's surface, and by penetrating the surface tension with their wedges, began to travel about on the land by night. They discovered the darkness and enclosure of the dense forests, and began to colonize the land. Although the heart men left the security of the sea, they never divorced themselves entirely from their heritage, and returned periodically to restore their energy and well-being. The sea was their life-force, the womb of their creation. The heart men became a vital and integral part of the environment. They considered the Earth their home. After all, home is where the heart man is.
The heart men were very simple beings; their outstanding feature was the pronounced wedge, an unsurpassed means of movement and strength. The heart men were brave, adventurous, and flexible. They explored far away places, but always returned to their dark forests in the daylight. Mother Earth was very satisfied with the heart men, as were the trees in the forest, with whom the heart men kept company, moving silently through their branches.
Centuries passed, and the heart men now inhabited large areas of the Earth. Everything was fine until news arrived one day that strange beings with no wedge had appeared on the land. These beings traveled in the daylight and moved only in straight lines. The beings were very demanding of the environment, and claimed ownership of everything in sight. In a short time the money men, as they came to be known, claimed most of the Earth for themselves, and subdivided the land into small plots.
There was no peace, and the heart men were hurt very badly, because although heart men were very flexible, they were vulnerable, and easily affected. Most heart men took refuge in the sea again, but found the transition most difficult, since their livelihood had been on the land for so long. As a result, the great majority of the heart men perished in the exodus from the forests.
There are still a few heart men remaining in the sea even today; their tranquil voices can be heard in the breaking of the waves and in the whistling of the sea breeze. In fact, if one listens very carefully, the whole saga of the heart men can still be heard, as well as the beckoning and cries of the few remaining heart men, for protection from the seas.
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