inspection however, one sees that a face is really a collection of various forms of flora. A nose might actually be a pickle and an ear a leaf of lettuce. To a modern observer such presentation suggests merely early experiments with form and technique. However, in fact in the context of the era the paintings offer a deeper significance. Certainly no other artist of the era exhibited more creativity in symbolizing the desired balance between nature and personal harmony that was ostensibly achieved by Rudolf’s reign.

Whether there is any direct connection, it is interesting to note that where Arcimboldo painted “in vegetables,” a couple of centuries later Kuniyoshi painted “in people.” In some of his works, the details of the faces of geisha are comprised of silhouettes of people. We suggest that in both instances, the sub-text offered by the innovative forms was instrumental in establishing the appropriate context for full appreciation of the art. While the vegetables expressed the power of nature, the silhouettes expressed the nature of power.

Like many artisans of that era, Arcimboldo’s interests ranged into other areas as well. He experimented with new forms of musical notation using colors, an earlier intuition of an actual brain phenomenon called synesthesia. Today we experiment with the use of different fonts to convey semantic meaning in written material. Musical notation in color is perhaps even more intriguing in that later, in examining the ability to decompose analytical problems into computational segments that can be pursued in parallel, it is interesting to consider the abilities of the musical composer, who understands the language of chords, as a similar facility. Parallel processing has much in common with musical composition in chords; the melody is important but the harmony makes the music.

Subtle communication through context is obviously not constrained to the visual arts. Many of us remember the coming of the dawn as we read, or even better, listened to Marc Antony extol, “Friends, Romans, countrymen; lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” The feelings evoked by the soliloquy, as intended by Shakespeare, were indeed ones of praise for Caesar and condemnation for Brutus and the other conspirators. The message within the message was clear to the most opaque of us. Indeed, we have come to realize that theatre as an art form perhaps most closely parallels the consideration of social ecosystems that are the focus of this book. We will be drawn back to the genre in the discussions of our final chapter.

As additional examples, we note that from Picasso’s Guernica to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, we are taken from the visual shot in the mouth to the literary double entendre. Too many artists have researched alternate states of consciousness in order to stimulate and preserve their creative endeavors to render it possible to ignore the spiritual élan behind art communication as the premier form of context sensitive communication. If computers would ever represent us in the ornate details of bouncing policies, will they not have to take the route through art school?

Context sensitive communication can be extremely efficient. Through established context, a message can impact not only the cognitive functions of the mind of the receiver but the emotional centers as well. The result can be a strong stimulus to action on the part of the receiver. Consider for example the story of Jonah in the Christian Bible. We generally remember the part about Jonah being swallowed by a great fish during his flight to avoid God’s mandate to take a message of impending condemnation to the people of the City of Nineveh. Jonah really didn’t want to be the messenger because he knew too well the manner in which his God acted. He was likely to show mercy and forgiveness to the intended receivers of the message and yet, not necessarily with a particularly good immediate outcome for the messenger. Finally succumbing to the will of God, Jonah travels to Nineveh. Arriving at the bordering walls, he then treks for three days to reach the

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