the Vanishing

"To let oneself be visible gives others a hold over one and puts them in control; the true manipulator becomes one with his position and vanishes from view."-Jullien

The best way to remain in power is to stay out of sight and avoid conflict. It seems that the eyes have a great ability to measure and equalize (envidia). Take for instance the story that artist Kim Abeles told me recently on her latest public art commision dealing with civil rights leader Martin Luther King. She was commissioned to create a work of art to be used as a permanent sculpture in Los Angeles, based on Martin Luther King. When one thinks of this great man, what is pictured is the story, the imagery on television, the camera positions mostly pointing up, giving him a larger than human presence.

Artist Kim Abeles found out through a random blog post that there is a woman holding a great collection of shoes and memorabilia of different figures of that movement. It is amazing to think that someone could be holding onto such a great collection of objects.. Imagine, a collection of shoes that were worn by people in the midst of marches, confrontation and struggle for the well-being of all people.

She was able to travel to meet the woman and her collection. Through the dig, she encountered among many objects of great importance, the pair of shoes that she may have been looking for all along: Martin Luther King's shoes.

Her public art piece would be that of a bronze cast of these shoes. When submitting the proposal, the people insisted that they wanted big shoes, larger than life shoes, the shoes that would fit on the feet of a huge statue of Dr. King. She insisted, her reasoning being that besides his great achievements and ability to empower others, he was also just a man, just like you and I. The notion of being equal to a person of King's status can initially reduce the potency of Dr. King's image, but upon more introspection, the power that is taken away from this illusion is given to the people as ability. This ability is the to be just as a great leader, speaker, animator. The ability is the SHI.

From Jullien's research on the prince, I have received instruction on how to use it to my advantage, how to detect the prince, and utilize his propensity to assist my own ventures.