Philosopher's Stone Self-Awareness Deck

The record

This deck consists of 40 square cards, each depicting a painting by artist De Es Schwertberger, along with a particular quality or condition. Schwertberger's preferred subjects seem to consist entirely of stones with human faces, stone figures, and stones over plain backgrounds. The artist seems to have applied an enormous talent to an extremely narrow subject matter. Many of the associations seem arbitrary - number 8, "Composure," is a profile of a stone-face, with an irregular stone conglomeration directly in front of it. Forcing an association, it suggests composure in the face of a threat. Other cards are completely obvious - number 6, "Confrontation," is similar except the stone confronting the face is smooth. The next card, "Breakthrough," is identical except for a fissure running through the stone. Number 12, "Hazard," shows a stone approaching an unsuspecting stone-head from the rear; the following card, "Return," has the stone hitting the head and apparently knocking it out. Inevitably, the viewer attempts to "solve" the cards by mentally proposing connections between the words and images. The instructions or "Rules of the Game" involve taking five cards at random, and arr

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