There is quite a good argument to be made that high Art should have absolutely no utility, beyond viewing on a wall or as even just a byproduct of the artist’s own drive to create. Once any ‘useful’ functions begin to develop around an art subject or work, it could be said that then we would be entering directly into a market phase, where the art itself ends up becoming a type of advertisement, thus “selling out” (in the sense of the compromise of integrity). Asserting therefore, that Art transcends any Market, and that our ultimate destiny as human beings, lies beyond and above the Economy, strikes me as a good general principle to maintain.
However, Art itself may elevate our imaginations & sentiments in a variety of hidden, unknown ways, that even a market could only enhance, by its ability to more widely distribute “product versions” to the larger public, at a lower cost. And this causes us to ask: What are the types of legitimate utility or functioning in art, besides viewing or contemplation?
One good historical example, beyond some neat new wallpaper, is the idea of dramatically directing the “soul’s progression” or the development of character through visual stages, intended to index or even stimulate & encourage some sort of growth in Wisdom. For example, in Christianity, there are the scenes of the Passion, the Stages of the Cross, that figure prominently in many churches, that envision the process of Jesus passing through key elements of the New Testament’s story, towards crucifixion and finally, resurrection.
These art visuals enable viewers to contemplate the lessons and doctrines of Christianity, as imagination steps, and it is thus a training for a specific type of spiritual growth sponsored by the Church. By going through the stages of the Passion, each individual is able to experience some of what the original hero experienced in his struggle for Truth. This immersive exercise seems to make a deeper imprint upon the mind than just in reading text from a book.
Similarly, the Royal Road art series covered in this online journal, encourages a type of knightly quest along a path of trials, tests & mysteries, encouraging the accolade/player/knight/initiate to develop the highest inside of him or her. It is not specific to any one religion, though it exemplifies much lore from the key faith systems of the West, Christianity included, as well as a lot of literary material embedded through time on clay cylinders, scrolls and progressively towards countless books that follow the hero’s journey from a wealth of cultural sources.
This is a Universal Tradition in that it marks a path that is open to all, but that requires work to attain. One must become “initiated.” If no work is done by the individual, no progression is made. There are “keys” that unlock specific progressions as charted through the Wisdom Tradition of the Kabbalah, sourced specifically as a Western school of initiation.
The interesting aspect of this project is that it takes up 2 specific sequences, or “Paths along the Tree,” based on alphabetic language sources, a Greek/Rune (Red Bee) sequence of 24 steps & a Roman/Hebrew (Blue Bee) sequence of 22 steps.
In conclusion, this is the summary of the The Royal Road project, asserting some utility to this art, as it has been refined into the following material product:
The Royal Road Bee Key Questing Game System is a box set with 2 decks of collectible cards based on an art series of 24 works known as the Royal Road. This series was designed & produced between 2021-24, in Highlands, NC, Charleston, SC, and Rockford AL.
The works were also featured in 2 public exhibits at the Kelly Center of the Arts in Wetumpka, Alabama (voted Alabama's Best Gallery 2024), as well as 3 downtown street festival shows in 2023-24.
Box set also comes with a video game version of Memory Match of the Red Bee & Blue Bee Sequences, on a usb drive. A digital manual, the Bee Key Booklet pdf, is included, that tells the hero journeyman knight’s quest of progressing from the Wandering Fool to the Master of Destiny, explaining the symbolism in each work. There are suggestions to use the cards for a variety of games and as an educational tool, exploring ancient mysteries, alphabets, and wisdom lore based on actual historical traditions & contemporary research.
A souvenir trinket of an actual vintage key comes on the usb keychain containing the videogame, too. This art project represents a final product of a 20 year research & development period of traveling upon the open road of life.
It is both for sale physically, at the Kelly's Holiday Market in Wetumpka & online at the Etsy shop, Royal Roadtrip. It also exists for free digitally, as a NFT asset on the Ravencoin & Evrmore blockchains. Because of working out so many of the graphic details of the cards through an archival process on both, I minted 2024 editions of the information on each chain to give away, that also comes on the actual usb drives for sets that sell in physical shopfronts.
The last touch of the digital art side of the project was a final flourish of adding the Hebrew Alphabet to the Roman version of the Blue Bee Sequence, as seen here:
Those interested in the project are also encouraged to explore the Bee Key Booklet for a manual and referencing, on how to fully utilize the artwork, symbols and the narrative of the entire system dedicated to the development of the Active Imagination inside of us all.
The Royal Road goes on!