Semantic symbology: the evolution and amplification of cosmograms

ABSTRACT Around 1905, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote about the ‘Megascope’, a device through which its wearers could see ‘the Far Great and the Near Small but not the Great Near.’ The Great Near refers to realities that are simultaneously so near and powerful that they are usually imperceptible. Du Bois’ speculative short-fiction has become a reality in the multiverse era where virtual gateways don’t have to remain tied to traditional notions of technology in the physical world  –  they can be imaginative realms with different physics. We can see this demonstrated in the cosmogram, a cultural diagram of the Universe. This essay considers the function and style of this design across cultures and in virtual worlds. Artists such as Houston Conwill, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Xenobia Bailey, Sanford Biggers and Saya Woolfalk incorporate cosmograms in their works. Artists simulate the algorithmic qualities of the design that include physical, spiritual or ritual performances. They use the cosmogram – a diagram usually in the form of a circle – to make connections between the archetypal world of invention and the multidimensional nature of time. This essay explores these symbolic occurrences and various connections, looking to uncover a set of principles underlying and guiding Afrofuturistic production.