I just attended one of those truly amazing dinner parties where the host placed thoughtful gifts at each seat, where the delectable Spanish tapas were accompanied by a dizzying amount of impressive wines–and my sweetheart was placed at the far end of the table. Gulp. Lucky for me, my neighbors were nothing short of remarkable and the conversation escalated from kinesthetic intelligence to Genesis to Darwin to extraterrestrial art. It was quite a night.

Wait, extraterrestrial art? Yes indeed. Meet Jonathon Keats, a San Francisco artist and all-around superbly genius and unique people (he was wearing a fabulous pin-striped suit a bow tie, and the most perfect spectacles). He explained his recent exhibit, which featured real art from the terrestrials, this way: If there are extraterrestrials, why do we limit them by thinking that the only way they would communicate with us is via scientific data? Why shouldn’t they communicate with us through the more universal language of art? This notion hit home with me because I fully believe that creativity is a fundamental universal energy, reflected both in nature and in the human animal. Some wise ones even go so far as to say that the only reason we humans exist is to experience what it is to be creators. So of course, why wouldn’t our neighbors in deep space share this need for creative expression? By sending us their version of a Rembrandt or a Picasso, Elizabeth Murray or Jackson Pollock?

What do you think?

(posted by Sera Beak, substituting this week for Amy)