Thomas Chimes: Aclchemy Machine

"Chimes escaped the commercialism of Pop and cold determinism of Minimalism as well the expressionistic character of his Crucifixion Paintings. That escape to the Metal Boxes came through the discovery of Alfred Jarry’s concept of Pataphysics. As chronicled by Michael Taylor, Chimes’s brother-in-law cleared out his library in 1964 and invited the artist to take any book or magazine he wished. Amid the books, Chimes discovered the literary magazine Evergreen Review. The May-June 1960 issue titled “What Is Pataphysics” was devoted to Alfred Jarry, the French symbolist writer, theorist, and playwright, and to his concept of a “new science.” As invented by Jarry, Pataphysics is a fictional science that examines phenomena in the world and arrives at imaginary solutions. In his introduction to Pataphysics in the Evergreen Review, the cultural historian Roger Shattuck stated: 'Like the sorcerer’s apprentice, we have become victims of our own knowledge-principally our scientific and technological knowledge. In Pataphysics resides our only defense against ourselves …Pataphysics then is an inner attitude, a discipline, a science, and an art, which allows each man to live his life as an exception, proving no law but his own.' Soon afterwards, Chimes discovered Jarry’s fictional book Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (1911). Written in a mock scientific manner, the text poses riddles for the reader and toys with conventional interpretations of reality. Jarry’s concept of Pataphysics reinforced Chimes’s already speculative relationship with modern science. The pseudo-science of Pataphysics emphasized each person as an “exception” and gave credence to Chimes’s eccentric and secretive interpretation of science and technology. - Robert S. Mattison, 2018