Real vs unreal, tears vs joy, or hero vs villain, all our lives exist across these human divides. We are all “nourished by opposites.” Yet this profound ‘seeing’ tool is slowly fading from modern life. Many look to command, demand, take or declare. Symbols and myths are often read in more literal or polarizing ways – as visionaries vs cynics, idols vs pawns, or all vs nothing. But throughout it all, perhaps we’ve missed something along the way? Perhaps myths and symbols are not meant as arbitrary meanings or moods but are ways to rethink the ways we experience the world itself.
The 12°of Other span the hidden divides between awe and tragedy, love and lures, birth and decay, or order and disorder that each shows the dualities of who we are. ‘Other’ understands life as the struggle between both. This spirit of doubles offers a gripping window into the truths and deceptions that animate our lives. Together, the works and words of Other lay bare a simple paradox — if we’re more determined to create in the most potent ways in history, then why do so many of us struggle to see the fullness of our truths and deceits as ancestors in time? If we hope to build deeper bonds to the worlds we see, the 12°of Other are a call to look beyond more self-seeking windows into the wonder and folly of the other view.
—michael graf
