This page is about Leo Boeckl. It took me a considerable amount of time to realize that I simply was never an artist. I had self-identified as an artist during my 20s and 30s. This is why I majored in art history at the university of Maryland. I eventually came to understand that I painted primarily to visually explore ideas in new ways. While I do enjoy painting, I had confused my expressionistic style with artistic expression. I believe that the ideas I was grappling with could have been clearer had I used a different painting style. My affinity for expressionism was rooted in my childhood. I had grown up surrounded by my grandfather Herbert Boeckl’s early modern paintings. His artwork resonated with me, likely because those images remained constant while everything else around me felt chaotic. However, who can truly say?
Through my exploration, I discovered that I had always been interested in the impact of technological innovation. This connection is why I have sections on art, macroeconomics, and technology co-located here. To some, these topics may seem unrelated, but for me, they have always been inextricably linked. I believe that techno-economic innovation has historically been the driving force behind new thinking and creative expression. When art historians discuss technology, they often reference tools like the camera obscura. Tools like this were used by artists such as Vermeer and Rembrandt. However, what I am referencing is how technology transforms culture, history, economics, and even worldviews.
The birth of modern
I did not understand until the early 2000s. That modern art was born from the intense technological innovation which occurred during the latter stages of the 19th century. I created artworks exploring the impacts of de-industrialization initially. Only because it was around me everywhere. It was like oxygen for me. Once began to understand technology cycles I more fully realized why the radical changes through the making of “my” art. This is why I will in future have the section titled modernism’s forge in the top menu. I had created two presentations for my mother, Dr Christine Boeckl, to explain technology cycles. She was a tenured tenured professor of art history at the University of Nebraska. I hit upon the idea of using how modern art was shaped to demonstrate how technology cycles functioned. You will be able to see that research as it unfolds in this link.
Process for visualizing models
I can confidently state that my journey into painting and subsequently working in Big Tech felt like a seamless extension. I have detailed how I applied macroeconomic theory throughout my career. For now, I think it might be helpful to explain how my mental process from painting has informed my thinking. This became increasingly pronounced after I had been exposed to technology cycles by the economist Carlota Perez’s writings. This understanding could clarify what my paintings are about. By shifting my perspective from an established mental construct, I can develop new insights into subjects. Subjects that I had long perceived in another way. To facilitate these new perspectives, I employ a technique that helps liberate previous conceptual frameworks. How does this work?
About the painting grammar
I use very expressive strokes as the grammatical structure in my artwork. For my grandfather and the “modern” artists of the 20th century, their style was the vehicle of primary meaning. They had focused on color and line for the sake of art history. My expressiveness serves merely as a tool for thought seeing ideas in a new way. For me, these “expressive” strokes act as a visual grammar. This allows my mind to stop focusing on a topic in the way it did before I began. I found that a degree of abstraction in the paintings is necessary for me to shift my viewpoint. This grammar ultimately enables new thinking, but this process also requires a shift in consciousness.
Compositions thin line
Consider what it feels like when a person begins to wake up. For a few fleeting seconds, they inhabit both their dream and reality states. In those brief moments, everything seems possible. What was once a dream becomes very real. The dream world and reality coexist for a few moments. These simultaneous experiences provide new insights and an expanded view of the world. The visually gauzy compositions I create are intentional. The looseness of the depiction allows space for fresh thoughts and new insights. AT the bottom of the page is a link for my visualizations gallery. I address technology cycles and events such as the impact of the pandemic.
The confluence of expressionist grammar within diffuse compositions enables me to see virtually any subject from a different perspective. Visually, you might think of this process as taking a walk around a physical object. Observing the new details and context provides mental panoramas that had previously been unimagined—at least for me. See the visualizations page for applications of my process.