New Stars

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Seascape series (1980)

Water and air. So very commonplace are these substances, they hardly attract attention―and yet they vouchsafe our very existence. The beginnings of life  are shrouded in myth: Let there water and air. Living phenomena spontaneously generated from water and air in the presence of light, though that  could just as easily suggest random coincidence as a Deity. Let's just say that t here happened to be a planet with water and air in our solar system, and moreover at precisely the right distance from the sun for the temperatures required to coax forth life. While hardly inconceivable that at least one such planet should exist in the vast reaches of universe, we search in vain for another similar example.  Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea.  Every time I view the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark on a voyage of seeing.