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John O’Connor - "Ship of Theseus," 2023, Colored pencil and graphite on shaped paper, 46 x 36.25 inches “The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.” —Plutarch, Life of Theseus 23.1 This drawing is based on the above paradox called The Ship of Theseus. It’s a thought experiment in philosophy that explores the nature of identity through incremental transformation, and has implica- tions in the philosophy of the self, consciousness, ontology of identity, and the relationship between language and truth. Its central question is: if an object has had all of its components replaced, does it remain fundamentally the same object, or does it become a new thing entirely? In the case of my drawing, if the members of two bands gradually trade places over time, do the bands themselves, as whole entities, remain the same? Or has Metallica essentially become Megadeth, and vice versa?

“Ship of Theseus,” 2023, Colored pencil and graphite on shaped paper, 46 x 36.25 inches
“The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.” —Plutarch, Life of Theseus 23.1
This drawing is based on the above paradox called The Ship of Theseus. It’s a thought experiment in philosophy that explores the nature of identity through incremental transformation, and has implica- tions in the philosophy of the self, consciousness, ontology of identity, and the relationship between language and truth. Its central question is: if an object has had all of its components replaced, does it remain fundamentally the same object, or does it become a new thing entirely?
In the case of my drawing, if the members of two bands gradually trade places over time, do the bands themselves, as whole entities, remain the same? Or has Metallica essentially become Megadeth, and vice versa?

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