SOURCECODE (the ancestral wheel)
theatrical landscape installation of operatie tandwiel, that visualizes our 7 generations of
ancestors, restoring their proper place in the circle of our lives. welcome to the fractal sourcecode of our existence.
fractal (from latin fractus: broken):
self-similar mathematical structure, of which parts are more or less similar to the whole, making it possible to zoom
in infinitely; comparable with natural phenomena like trees or plants (ferns for instance) of which the whole is
recognizable in (a part of) the leaf.
7 generation sustainability:
principal believed to originate from the iroquois tribe in northern america (turtle island), stressing the need with
each decision to take into account the influence on the coming 7 generations; in the same way as we carry the traces,
qualities and trauma's from the 7 generations that preceded us.
genofractal:
the animation on this page is a genofractal, a visualization of the fractal movement we make when two people, each with
its own ancestral wheel of 7 generations, join these ancestors from both sides while procreating a new generation; red
lines representing motherlines, white lines representing fatherlines (note: in all generations there have been
individuals with inner identities that would escape this strict binary model; within procreation they still have been
fulfilling binary biological functions though).
We carry trails. Each one of us stands amidst a circle of ancestors, known or unknown. On our left shoulder our mother,
on our right shoulder our father. They stand in circles around us:
2 parents,
4 grandparents,
8 great-grandparents,
16 great-great,
32 great-great-great,
64 great-great-great-great,
128 great-great-great-great-great-grandparents,
together 254 ancestors until the seventh generation.
All those people have made love, for us to be here. We carry their qualities, their wounds and patterns, just as our
trails might linger in the seven generations yet to come. We can actively choose which of those patterns we find nourishing for our lives, and which ones we choose to bring to closure. All these blood lines connect us, the survivors, in a very
physical sense with primal times, with the mother of all humans, with the mother of all primates, with the mother of all
mammals, with all life on earth.
The theatrical installation SOURCECODE (this mob made me) gives us and the mob of our 7 generations of ancestors a
visual place in the landscape. Welcome to the fractal sourcecode of our existence.
