122, 2017-02, я иду с мечем, судия (“I come with sword, the judge”), oil on linen, 60 x 90″ (148 x 228cm) (detail, 2)

It seems like the protagonist of this Map Room might be Brünnhilde, where the central challenge of subjectivity is profoundly protagorean (viz., “Man [or woman, or Brünnhilde] is the measure of all things.”). Over the shieldmaiden’s head, figuratively and literally, are the ascending steps of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, on one side, and on the other, Kohlberg’s Hierarchy of Moral development. The floor is an illusion of orthogonality between values, or shades of gray, the human ethical and aesthetic heuristic, values being what we stand upon. “Я иду с мечем, судия” (“I come with sword, the judge”) is a neat Russian palindrome, ironically flouting its own supposed symmetry, as its unknown author cheated a bit by using an archaic spelling of судия to make the palindrome work… this of course makes the statement stronger. She subjectively weighs compassion against honor with consumable or ever-changing quantities.

The Steps are mostly my own poor Russian translations/interpretations— consider it an Old World map of what we don’t know. The steps are as follows:

6: превосходство— transcendence —>  универсальный— universal

5: актуализация— actualization —> освобождение— dispensation

4: почтение— esteem —> закон— the law

3: социалные— social —> взаимность— reciprocation

2: экзистенциальный— existential —> наслаждение— delectation

1: физиологические— physiological —> сохранение— preservation