Your lessons were always fun for me. You speak in poetic and philosophical words and sentences. I have written them all down and someday I will publish an anthology of them. Chris and Inge advised me to use them as inspirations for my paintwork.
Here are a few examples of sentences and statements that flow from your mouth:
Je lessen waren voor mij altijd genieten. Je spreekt in poëtische en filosofische woorden en zinnen. Ik heb ze allemaal opgeschreven en ooit publiceer ik een bloemlezing van ze. Chris en Inge hebben me aangeraden om ze te gebruiken als inspiraties voor mijn schilderwerk.
Hier zijn een paar voorbeelden van zinnen en statements die zo uit je mond vloeien:
Last year I had the pleasure of attending the Art and Culture classes at the Academy of Visual Arts in Ghent. The teacher is Fiorella Stinders, who conveys her enthusiasm for art to us in a very poetic way.
At the end of the academic year, we were given an assignment: applying what we had learned about looking at art. We were allowed to choose two works from an imposed list by Fiorella, and a third work that we had chosen ourselves, but that we had seen in real life (not in a catalog or photo).
I am happy to share my contribution in this post. First in Dutch, and then as a separate post in English (a translation by Google Translate, with only minor edits).
A separate blog post follows with a number of the poetic statements of Fiorella that have stayed with me. My coaches at the academy (Chris, Inge, Koen, Annick, many thanks btw!) have suggested that I use these quotes as inspiration for the next academic year.
Two selected works from the Fiorella list
Four Fairies – Michael Borremans
A painting – oil on canvas – in a fairly large format (110x150cm). Striking is the large diagonal table oil stain in which the figures seem to be sinking. The void left at the bottom was intentionally left open by the artist. The brown-grey background works as a support surface.
We look from the top down. The colors of the figures are rather neutral, in the sense of not being dominant. There is a surreal peace from the work. The painter uses Claire-obscure effects, especially the shadows against the wall in the background. The mirroring of the hands on the black surface is subtly suggested. It is also the reflection that evokes the black oil effect. The vertical drop of paint has been deliberately retained and accentuates the verticality of a table or of a bath in a stone or concrete base.
There is a depth in the work; the composition is more central horizontally, but vertical light above the center. A diagonal from bottom left to top right.
The work has a certain lightness in color but a certain darkness in the subject. The brush strokes are fast, rhythmic. Shadows and light spots are suggested in a “simple” way: look at the light spot on the black pull of the woman at the very back.
The work is clearly figurative, but not photo-realistic. Depth and light are indicated. When I zoom in on the photo in deep close-up, the self-confident brush strokes of the artist become clear: the light reflections in the hairstyles, the patterns on the green dress, the light-darkness of the left. An inspiration for my own evolution towards the next year painting at the academy.
In some figures I sometimes recognize the silhouette of the artist’s skull, wondering if he has tried to suggest a self-portrait of four schizophrenic transgender identities. The figures are busy with something – something with their hands – but it is not exactly clear what they are doing.
From the work alone I cannot determine whether the artist wants to communicate a message. For me, it evokes themes of devotion, dignity, humility, and also ignoring a dark reality peeking around the corner. It seems like a report or a snapshot of a surreal dream.
The role of the spectator is passively looking; there is no participation as in a performance for example. The viewer views the work from the front. There is no 3D aspect as with a spatial work.
Video animation of +/- 6:30 minutes. Used material: charcoal and pencil (I think) on paper. Further information searched on the artist’s website. http://sadik.nl/ali-boat
The video is part of a larger set of videos, sketches, drawings, etc. Inspiring in itself on how the theme of the boat/letter is worked out and internalized in almost infinite variations and can give rise to a total exhibition: nothing has to be thrown away!
The perception of the video is, of course, different from that of a 2D image, as this also includes the aspect of time and storytelling. Rhythm becomes important. Music is supportive and determines the atmosphere.
The atmosphere of the video is rather dark, sad, and melancholic. The “light” of the video is grey. A lot of things move and flow at the same time: the face, the background, the boat that transforms into a bird and back. The tears and the rain. With the eye as a permanent anchor in the composition.
The meaning of this video animation has to do with fleeing and immigrating. The paradox of escaping the misery, while at the same time detaching the identity of your youth and the oddity of the new destiny. The universal desire for happiness, peace and security. The desire and awareness of travel – such as being on the road – for a better future. The image as an expression of this desire where words fall short.
The artist invites us to judge rather than condemn the alien “problem” from a more empathic point of view.
The artist makes a clear link to his own identity and immigration past.
The spectator is invited to participate and reflect emotionally.
Title: Dunlop Geomax 100/90)19 57M 720° 2X – Made in 2013
Based on the catalog, this work is apparently made from polished and patinated stainless steel, made from 3D prints. And then painted and chromed. When viewing the work in real life I did not know this, and I really thought that the artist had somehow twisted together existing wheels with rubber tires. The intended illusion was already successful.
I have viewed the work as part of the larger Delvoye exhibition, giving the work more context. I was enchanted and fascinated by the twisted crucifixes and truck cathedrals. On another side of the room, there were large truck tires carved out like lattice. The lighting of the whole was precise: the dark backgrounds and bases, and the laser-sharp lighting of the subjects themselves.
As in a claire-obscure painting, the artist plays with contrasting dark (matte) and light (shiny) chrome surfaces and shows he is a master in the intertwining of torsion and movement. This work – and the retrospective exhibition as a whole – provided a broader view of the work and the identity of the artist. Suddenly the provocateur of the tattooed pigs and the cloaca turns into an accomplished craftsman, artist, messenger, and questioner.
I suspect the artist is trying to make us doubt between real and unreal. It is probably not the intention of the artist, but he allows me to make the link with our online world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish real from unreal (example: fake news), or to sustain the illusion of control of personal freedom and choice in a world that is increasingly driven by artificial intelligence and algorithms. The human “androrhythms” – evoked by the artist – are a relief because they move away from the binary “if-then” computer logic.
This speculative and virtual connection with the world can be perfectly linked to a physical relationship and connection: a relationship bent and twisted time and space.
The spectator is invited to step around the work and to investigate and explore the interweaving of spokes and tires from both close and remote.
Ik had het afgelopen jaar het genoegen de lessen Kunst en Cultuur te mogen volgen aan de Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Gent. Lesgeefster is Fiorella Stinders, die op een bijzonder poëtische manier ons haar enthousiasme voor kunst overbrengt.
Op het einde van het academiejaar kregen we een opdracht: toepassen wat we geleerd hadden over kijken naar kunst. We mochten twee werken kiezen uit een opgelegde lijst van Fiorella, en een derde werk dat we zelf hadden gekozen, maar dat we wel in het echt (niet in een catalogus of foto) hadden gezien.
Ik deel met veel plezier mijn bijdrage in deze post. Eerst in het Nederlands, en dan als een aparte post in het Engels (een vertaling door Google Translate, slechts minimaal bijgewerkt).
Er volgt nog een aparte blog post met een aantal van de poëtische uitspraken van Fiorella die me zijn bijgebleven. Mijn coaches op de academie (Chris, Inge, Koen, Annick, veel dank hierbij) hebben me gesuggereerd om deze als inspiratie te gebruiken voor volgend academiejaar.
Twee gekozen werken van de lijst van Fiorella
Four Fairies – Michael Borremans
Een schilderij – olie op doek – in redelijk groot formaat (110x150cm). Opvallend is de grote diagonale tafel-olie-vlek in dewelke de figuren lijken te verzinken. De gelaten leegte onderaan is bewust open gelaten door de kunstenaar. De bruingrijze achtergrond werkt als een steunvlak.
We kijken van boven naar beneden. De kleuren van de figuren zijn eerder neutraal, in de zin van niet overheersend. Er straalt een surreële rust uit van het werk. De schilder gebruikt Claire-obscure effecten, vooral de schaduwen tegen de muur op de achtergrond. De spiegeling van de handen op het zwarte oppervlak is subtiel gesuggereerd. Het is ook de spiegeling die het zwarte olie-effect oproept. De verticale verf-druppel is bewust behouden en accentueert het verticale van een tafel of van een bad in een stenen of betonnen sokkel.
Er zit een diepte in het werk, de compositie is horizontaal eerder centraal, maar verticaal licht boven het centrum. Een diagonaal van links onder naar recht boven.
Het werk heeft een zekere licht-heid qua kleur maar een zekere donkerte in het onderwerp. De toetsen zijn vlug, ritmisch. Schaduwen en lichtvlekken worden op een “eenvoudige” manier gesuggereerd, kijk vooral naar de lichtvlek op de zwarte pull van de vrouw helemaal achteraan.
Het werk is duidelijk figuratief, maar niet fotorealistisch. Diepte en licht worden aangegeven. Als ik inzoom op de foto in diepe close-up, worden de zelfzekere toetsen van de kunstenaar duidelijk: de lichtspiegelingen in de kapsels, de patronen op de groene jurk, het licht-donker van de gelaten. Een inspiratie voor mijn eigen evolutie naar het volgende schilder jaar toe.
In sommige figuren herken ik soms het silhouet van de schedel van de kunstenaar, me afvragend of hij een zelfportret van vier schizofrene transgender identiteiten heeft proberen te suggereren. De figuren zijn bezig met iets – iets met hun handen – maar het is niet precies duidelijk wat ze aan het doen zijn.
Vanuit het werk alleen kan ik niet bepalen of de kunstenaar en boodschap wil meedelen. Bij mij roept het thema’s op van devotie, deftigheid, gedeisdheid, een negeren ook van een donkere werkelijkheid die om de hoek gluurt. Het lijkt een verslag of een momentopname van een surreële droom.
De rol van de toeschouwer is passief kijkend, er is geen participatie als in een performance bijvoorbeeld. De toeschouwer bekijkt het werk frontaal. Er is geen 3D aspect zoals bij een ruimtelijk werk.
Video animatie van +/- 6:30 minuten. Gebruikt materiaal: houtskool en potlood (denk ik) op papier. Verdere informatie opgezocht op de website van de kunstenaar. http://sadik.nl/ali-boat
De video is deel van een groter geheel van video’s, schetsen, tekeningen, enz. Op zich inspirerend hoe het thema van de boot/brief op een bijna oneindig variaties wordt uitgewerkt en geïnternaliseerd, en aanleiding kan geven tot een totaal tentoonstelling: niets moet worden weggegooid!
Uiteraard is de waarneming van video anders dan die van een 2D beeld. Omdat hier ook het aspect van tijd en storytelling komt bij kijken. Ritme wordt belangrijk. Muziek is ondersteunend en bepalend voor de sfeerzetting.
De sfeer van de video is eerder donker, droevig, en melancholisch. Het “licht” van de video grijs. Er beweegt en vervloeit veel terzelfdertijd: het gezicht, de achtergrond, de boot die transformeert in vogel en terug. De tranen en de regen. Met het oog als vast anker in de compositie.
De betekenis van deze video animatie heeft te maken met het vluchten en immigreren. De paradox van het ontvluchten van de miserie, en tegelijkertijd onthechten van de identiteit van je jeugd en het bevreemdende van de nieuwe bestemming. Het universeel verlangen naar geluk, vrede en geborgenheid. Het verlangen en bewustzijn naar reis – zoals in op-weg-zijn – naar een betere toekomst. Het beeld als uitdrukking van dit verlangen waar woorden te kort schieten.
De kunstenaar nodigt ons uit om het vreemdelingen “probleem” vanuit een meer empathisch standpunt te beoordelen eerder dan te veroordelen.
De kunstenaar legt hiermee een duidelijke link naar zijn eigen identiteit en immigratie verleden.
De toeschouwer wordt uitgenodigd om emotioneel te participeren en te reflecteren.
Naam van het werk: Dunlop Geomax 100/90)19 57M 720° 2X – Gemaakt in 2013
Op basis van de catalogus, is dit werk blijkbaar gemaakt van gepolijst en gepatineerd roestvrij staal, gemaakt van 3D prints. En daarna beschilderd en verchroomd. Bij het bekijken van het werk in het echt wist ik dit niet, en dacht ik echt dat de kunstenaar bestaande wielen met rubber banden op een of andere manier verwrongen in elkaar gevlochten had. De bedoelde illusie was alvast geslaagd.
Ik heb het werk bekeken als deel van de grotere Delvoye tentoonstelling, waardoor het werk meer context kreeg. Ik was betoverd en gefascineerd door de verdraaide kruisbeelden en vrachtwagen-kathedralen. Aan een andere zijde van de ruimte stonden als kant uitgekerfde grote banden. De belichting van het geheel was precies: de donker gelaten achtergronden en sokkels, en de laser scherpe belichting van de onderwerpen zelf.
Zoals in een claire-obscure schilderij, speelt de kunstenaar met contrasterende donkere (matte) en lichte (blinkende) verchroomde vlakken en toont zich een meester in de vervlechting van torsie en beweging. Dit werk – en de overzichtstentoonstelling als een geheel – geven een ruimere kijk op het werk en de identiteit van de kunstenaar. Plots ontpopt de provocateur van de getatoeëerde varkens en de cloaca zich tot een volleerd ambachtsman, kunstenaar, boodschapper en vragensteller.
Ik vermoed dat de kunstenaar ons probeert te doen twijfelen tussen echt en onecht. Het is allicht niet de bedoeling van de kunstenaar, maar hij laat mij daardoor de link maken met onze online wereld waar het ook steeds moeilijker wordt om echt van onecht te onderscheiden (voorbeeld: fake news), of om de illusie van persoonlijke keuzevrijheid en controle hoog te houden in een wereld die meer en meer aangestuurd wordt door artificiële intelligentie en algoritmes. De menselijke – door de kunstenaar geëvoceerde – “androritmes” zijn in zijn werk een verademing doordat ze afstappen van de binaire als-dan computer logica.
Deze speculatieve en virtuele verbondenheid met de wereld kan perfect gekoppeld worden aan een fysische relatie en connectie: die van de ge- en verbogen tijd en ruimte.
De toeschouwer wordt uitgenodigd om rond het werk te stappen en de vervlechting van spaken en banden van zowel dichtbij als vanop afstand te onderzoeken en te verkennen.
I just started reading the briefing for the 2019 exam Art & Culture of the Art Academy in Ghent.
The briefing is so well written – it almost feels like poetry – and it touches some deeper qualities/sensitivities in myself. Qualities/sensitivities that I have neglected for much too long and will keep neglecting as long as I work.
I long for stillness, disconnectedness, alertness, and expression. The keywords are rest and space to breath.
The idea of craftsmanship and the mastery of a technique is becoming more and more seducing. The seduction of exclusive, un-watered noise-free focus.
What is the core of “me”, that part that always stayed the same since I was born? How does that core feel? Soft? Aggressive? Sensitive? Sensual? Seductive? Reflective? Liberated?
(Almost) nobody gives a shit about me and my work and that is at the same time very liberating: it means I can do what I want. I can create what I want. I can create what wants to be created.
Artist Mario Klingemann’s groundbreaking piece of Artificial Intelligence (AI) generates a never-ending real-time stream of original art.
I found this mesmerizing video, where the artist explains how it works:
“If you hear somebody play the piano, would you ever say “the piano is the artist”? No. Same thing here: just because it is a complicated mechanism, it does not change the roles.”
The neural network is the brushes that I use, but in the end, it is always the feedback between me the artist and the medium and the material.
“It’s like a child that I can say “ok, now you go out in the world alone, and I can trust that you will keep on doing what I hope you would do, even if I am not sitting next to and still able to change something.”
That’s a hard moment for me when I can say “Ok, now I take my hands off the keyboard, and let it out in the world.
Many people ask me what I am doing, and I usually answer “nothing”. But if you look at the overview below, there is not yet something close to “nothing”.
The luxury of time and silence has given me the possibility to let emerge and mature some concepts that were brewing inside me for quite some time.
My ambition has not changed: to inspire other people to dream. Not “realise” their dreams, or realise their potential, but just “dream”. It’s a mantra, like Guy Kawasaki’s two-words mantra “Empower others”. Mine is a five-words.
And I think I have found a way – a tactic – to articulate that ambition. The tactic of a “job”. In that sense, I think my job is to create “Time Capsules”. These are interventions, interruptions and provocations that lead to higher states of alertness and aliveness. Formats can be artwork, installations, performances, immersive learning experiences, writings, soundscapes, recordings, documentaries, arrangements, compositions, or just casual conversations that resonate at another level than the pure cognitive.
It seems it took me two years to peel the old corporate skin and re-invent myself into something more artistic and closer to my real self.
Family
Life is rippling slowly onwards with some small and some bigger family events.
Astrid is back at school, 2nd year secondary school. She went on summer camp at Lago Trasimeno in Italy. She struggled over summer and still now with an ingrown toenail, and like the other toe, it will probably require surgery. She started horse riding lessons, as well as trampoline and tumbling courses at the local athletic club. In addition she stays very creative, alert and energetic with a good sense for aesthetics.
Astrid horse riding and appreciating contemporary art - summer 2018
Mieke turned 50 in May, but she doesn’t seem to age (I will score some points with this one). She keeps being super-patient with this unpredictable guy, and makes sure I don’t get out of the house like a vagabond. She keeps us tidy 😉
Our father in law made a nasty fall from the stairs in his house and broke his wrist. Out for the next 4 months or so.
And we lost our dear uncle Toon, who was also my godfather. He’d grown old, the body was used up, but his mind was still alert when he passed away quietly in the presence of his wife and children. Farewell, my dear uncle…
Uncle Toon passed away
The old Marian pilgrimage church of Ver-Assebroek near Bruges
The Artschool Project
The 2018-2019 season of the Ghent Art Academy restarted in September, entering my 4th year painting. I initially tried to get a cross-over year combining painting with digital media, but that did not work out for the academy. So, no cross-over, and it’s probably better for me to keep it simple, and to focus on doing one thing right.
Despite the ambitious plans for summer, I have not done any painting/sketching during summer, but improved a bit my video editing and soundscape creation skills in preparation for the performance.
My new spotless spot at the start of the 2018-2019 Art Academy year
Finnovista invited me to do a performance at the Finnovista Summit in Mexico-City on 12-13 Sep 2018. I was invited last year, but the event needed to be cancelled halfway due to the 7,4 magnitude earthquake on 19 Sep 2017. So the organizers were so kind to invite me again.
The working title of the performance was “Get out of the prison cell! – An artistic reflection on listening, learning, and leading”
@Petervan Performance 2018 – Peter moving prison walls
This time – in addition of the multi-media approach – I included props on stage, a life camera feed, even some vestimentary attributes like suite, hats and masks, and a lightning script for the light technician.
Here is a link to the slide-deck I used during the performance
As soon as the video and (professional) pictures of the performance will be available, I will post them here.
PLACEHOLDER OFFICIAL VIDEO/PICS
It was a fantastic experience preparing, executing, and getting feedback on something I wanted to do for the last two years. I felt at home on stage in this new vulnerability, an encouragement to continue on this new journey.
Many thanks to Andres Fontao and Fermin Bueno and their Finnovista team for taking the risk of letting me do this.
Time Capsules Project
There is something new brewing: a sort of documentary starting with a navigator and a spark. It is an evolution of the Studio Oxygen idea, and working title is “Petervan’s Time Capsules”. This project is also somehow a natural continuation/evolution of the performance project.
Time Capsules are encounters with an interesting person. Open ended expeditions, with no agenda. The purpose is to scratch beyond the surface, to go under the skin of the guest, to appeal to his/her unconscious beyond the cognitive. The spark – the start of the journey – for each Time Capsule is a tangible artistic object (painting, sculpture, clothing, music, poem, dance,…). The spark sparks a high quality conversation – where information can flow freely. This conversation is guided and facilitated by an expert and/or a professional facilitator and leads to a found learning (vs. searched learning). This learning is recorded, edited, produced, and externalised in a new tangible artistic object (painting, visualisation, sculpture, clothing, music, poem, dance, video, ) and thereby made shareable for internalisation by an audience.
A more in-depth blog post is cooking in the kitchen on that one.
The first Time Capsule will be an art-historical dissection/critique/buildup of Beyoncé’s latest APESH*T video. One could call it “Beyond Beyoncé’s Apeshit”.
The aesthetics in the video are great, and the background of the Louvre museum gives it some extra credibility, but from an art historical point of view, it is all plain wrong and misleading. S**t sold as culture.
My cousin Joost will be our navigator for this first Time-Capsule. Joost is Senior Curator at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels. He is also the Co-Founder and Project Leader of the international multidisciplinary Jordaens Van Dyck Panel Paintings Project (JVDPPP) and the Project Leader for the establishment of the visitors centre at the Brueghel House, Brussels.
My cousin Joost and JVDPPP team in Lazienki Krolewskie Museum in Warsaw
The second Time Capsule is planned on the immense property of a count and countess in Austria. It’s a documentary of two very wealthy people who still live in a very traditional way in the Austrian Alps. A real time machine expedition resulting into another time capsule. Also here, Joost will be our navigator.
We have some cool ideas for our next guests and navigators. But by no means, if you have an idea for a subject, guest, or navigator, please contact me via email.
Little Drops
The Silence-is-Broken Project (see previous update) resulted in some more silence-scapes.
@Petervan Silence-Scape 2018 - The sound of grazing cows
I am also experimenting with an alternative calendar: A year would start on 27 April, a week would be 11 days, the 11th day is a rest day, a month has 7 weeks, and we have 17 months.
How would a year look/feel like? How would you plan for it? How does that change your priorities? How more/less stressed would you be? How much stress/pressure would you get from normal-calendar-people?
Exhibitions
There are not so many art exhibitions during summer. The season really restarts mid September.
I went to one very small exhibition, titled “Gemeubelde Kamers/Furnished Rooms”, in Ressegem (Herzele) of all places, truly Flanders centre for the arts. It had works from Pirò Pallaghy and Luc Degryse.
Combined artwork by Pirò Pallaghy and Luc Degryse in Herzele, Sep 2018
Chickens and Pigs Project
With such an exceptionally warm and sunny summer, our garden was a real treat.
We enjoyed our first organic harvest of salads, tomatoes, carrots, spices and herbs. The fruit trees just did fantastic. One of our apple trees gave us more than 1,000 apples. We gave away a lot for free to our neighbours and family.
Unfortunately, the hot weather also had its consequences for the chickens. They were plagued with blood lice, and we tried to battle those terrible insects in natural and not so natural ways. The battle will continue till deep in autumn, when temperatures will get consistently below 10°C.
One of our apple trees gave us more than 1,000 red apples – Summer 2018
Finding interesting work
All the above is non-paid work (more play than work to be honest), and something needs to pay the bills at the end of the month. Maybe one day a company or institution wants to be a patron of my work.
But I am standing two feet on the ground, and finding a job is probably a more realistic option.
So, I am looking for “job(s)”, more along the lines of what I did before in events (immersive learning experiences) and/or what I am doing now (using art in support of content) or other interesting work.
So, if you know of somebody who can use my talents, please contact me via email.
Eternal gratitude will be your reward.
What’s next?
The plan for Sep – Nov 2018 is to work on:
Finding interesting paid work
V1 of “Time Capsules”
Paint, Paint, Paint
Publish my first fairytale – surprise !
So, that’s it for this edition. If there is something worth reporting, next update is for Nov-Dec 2018.
There is a new 9 minute video profile about David Lynch. The text that goes with it is beautiful. I just made a transcript out of it. Enjoy.
Cinema is a language
It can say things
Big abstract things
And I love that about it
Some people are poets
And have a beautiful way of saying things with words
But cinema is its own language
And so you can express a feeling and a thought
That can’t be conveyed any other way
It’s a magical medium
For me it is so beautiful
To think about these pictures and sounds
Flowing together in time and in sequence
Making something
That can be done only through cinema
It’s so magical
I don’t know why
To go into a theater
And have the lights go down
It’s very quiet
And then the curtain starts to open
And you go into a world
Although the frames of a film are always the same
The same number in the same sequence and with the same sounds
Every screening is different
There is a circle
That goes from the audience to the film and back
Each person is looking and thinking
And feeling and coming up with their own sense of things
I like a story that holds abstractions
And that’s what cinema can do
I was a painter
I painted and went to art school
I had no interest in film
One day I was sitting in a big studio room
And I had a painting going
Which was of a garden at night
It had a lot of black with green plants
Emerging out of the darkness
All of a sudden these plants started to move
And I heard a wind
And I thought “Oh, how fantastic this is”
And I began to wonder
If film could be a way to make paintings move
An idea is a thought
It’s a thought that holds more
Than you think it does when you receive it
But in that first moment there is a spark
Desire for an idea is like bait
You bait your hook and then you wait
The desire is the bait
That pulls those fish in
Those ideas
Little fish swim on the surface
But the big ones swim down below
If you can expand the container you are fishing in
Your consciousness
You can catch bigger fish
When I started meditating
I was filled with anxieties and fears
I felt a sense of depression and anger
Anger and depression and sorrow
Are beautiful things in a story
But they are like poison
To the film maker or artist
You must have clarity to create
You have to be able to catch ideas
Life is filled with abstractions
And the only way me make heads or tails of it
Is through intuition
Intuition is seeing the solution
It’s emotion and intellect going together
Personally, I think intuition can be sharpened
And expanded through meditation
Diving into the self
There is an ocean of consciousness
Inside each of us
And it is an ocean of solutions
When you dive into that ocean
That consciousness
You enliven it
It grows
And the final outcome of this growth of consciousness
Is called enlightenment
Which is the full potential for us all
There are many many dark things
Flowing around in this world now
And most films reflect the world in which we live
In stories, in the worlds that we go into
There is suffering, confusion, darkness, tension, and anger
But the filmmaker does not have to be suffering
To show suffering
Negativity is like darkness
You turn on the light and darkness goes
We’re like light bulbs
If bliss starts growing inside you
It’s like a light
You enjoy that light inside
And if you ramp it up brighter and brighter
You enjoy more and more of it
And that light will extend farther and farther
Maybe enlightenment is far away
But it is said that
If you walk toward the light
With every step things get brighter
Every day for me gets better and better
And I believe that enlivening unity in the world
Will bring peace on earth
So I say “Peace to all of you”
UPDATE: most quotes in the video are taken directly from his book “Catching The Big Fish”. I started re-reading the book after having seen/listened to this video.
“But that is not logic!” she cried out about my latest creation. “I don’t care in logic!” I responded. “I am in the business of the irrational…”
Horses by Berlinde De Bruyckere in Mukha
Part of Sanguine/Bloedrood exhibition on Baroque
I have something with – or better against – logic, facts, being normal. I am not really interested in doing things that are logic. They feel dry, life-less, un-emotional, un-spiritual, un-aesthetic, and too-efficient.
With the focus on facts (real or alternative), metrics and logic we witness the loss of the subjective.
I was looking back into my “open threads” file – a collection of reflections, thoughts, interesting articles, links etc. – and found back this great quote from T Bone Burnett’s speech at the 2016 AmericanaFest.
T Bone Burnett by Anna Webber for Americana Music Association
“Technology does only one thing- it tends toward efficiency. It has no aesthetics. It has no ethics. Its code is binary. But everything interesting in life- everything that makes life worth living- happens between the binary. Mercy is not binary. Love is not binary. Music and art are not binary. You and I are not binary.”
In other words, technology, and by extension facts, logic, and AI, miss the notion of heart, mind, and spirit.
Apparently Japanese have a word for this unity: “kohoro”. This Quartz article points to the real difference between man and machine.
“The human heart is rich in intuition; it possesses attributes such as illogicality, hunger for novelty, creativity, infinity and openness. Computer simulation is deterministic (closed); it lacks diversity and is an embodiment of dryness. I believe that this is the decisive difference between computers and human beings.”
Sculpture by Thea Gvetadze in MUKHA, Antwerp
There is also a much darker side to the illusion of facts. Or when the devil manages at convincing people that only his facts are the real facts. Joe Edelman wrote a great post “Five days with the devil” about that about a year ago. With hindsight, this is such an important insight: how the devil of facts kills how humans interact:
By offering the to-do list, he reduced all values to logistical goals.
By replacing flirting and discovery with an enhanced coordination, he re-cast collaboration as a trade for goals, rather than a mutual exploration of values.
By offering us acute perception, the devil stole our ability to discover value in our environment. He convinced us only facts were real.
By offering us empathy and understanding, he removed our capacity to protect each other, which depends on recognising values.
By preventing us from sharing reasons, he cut us off from us certain social processes: from deliberation about values, from co-discovery of values. It’s exactly these social processes, which make our choices meaningful.
“He convinced us only facts were real.” Read that sink in for a moment. It’s like someone says, “Don’t believe what you hear or see, only believe my facts are real”.
Facts ignore that what cannot be measured, what is at level of meaning, beyond sense-making. It would be better to capture information, knowledge and insight at a more condensed level. Like in an artefact: an eternal repository of high quality information captured before its entropic death.
In his excellent book (Amazon link) “Strange Tools. Art and Human Nature”, Alva Noë confirms:
“What is at stake is not the facts. What is at stake is how we assimilate, make sense of and finally evaluate the facts”
In other words, the future is not about facts. The future is in the victory of the subjective, the nuance and the romance.
This is an essay (longer read) about maps. There is no big message, no purpose, no call for action, none of that. Just recording and documenting of some reflections about maps. I don’t know where it came from. Suddenly I had enough notes to try to make something coherent out of it. Hope you enjoy the trip.
Modern Biking App Map – Notice point #27 – Denderbelle Lock
The theme of maps maybe emerged from my biking tours. Or from my recent tendency to do recordings: soundscapes – of probably better “silence-scapes” – of broken silence in nature. A sort of witnessing and documenting what was at that moment.
Maybe it emerged in preparing my upcoming performance for Finnovista in September: one of the themes is “learning” and I found that quality of observing says more about learning than teaching. So I used maps as a metaphor.
Simon Wardley - example of situational awareness map
Position on a map is often about geographical location and relations. But there is also the position in time: what was, what is, what can be. And like there is position of location, there is also position in time.
The time element hit me when I was bicycling along the river “Dender” and made a pit stop at the lock of Denderbelle. It’s a relatively small lock, and you can still walk over the doors of the lock to the other side of the river.
There I found this map on a tourism panel:
Old map of the area Aalst-Dendermonde – before 1769
Before 1769, the Dender was a meandering river that was very difficult to manoeuvre for ships. It was Charles de Lorraine – at that time Duchy of Brabant, Austrian Netherlands – who gave the order to straighten the meanders and build two new locks. Today, the river feels more like a canal that goes almost straight from Aalst to Dendermonde. It has a very well maintained towpath along silent borders, which makes it a nice bike trip.
Close to the lock, there is still the old ferry house, now inhabited by an artist. There was a chain pulling the ferry from one side to the other. Even today you can still see the stairs on the shore where people boarded.
Map of Days by Grayson Perry – 2013 – Etching 111.8 × 149.9 cm
Video with the artist Grayson Perry
‘A self-portrait as a fortified town, the wall perhaps my skin. Each day I worked on it I finished by marking the point with the date to highlight the passage of time in the production of art to reflect the forming and reforming of one’s identity. The ‘self’ I think is not a single fixed thing but a lifelong shifting performance. My sense of self is a tiny man kicking a can down the road.’
Grayson Perry
The map is an awesome alternative way to document one’s life. Richard Martin arguments that the question “what is your map” probably gives better answers on who you are than asking “What do you do?” or asking for your linear CV or portfolio:
“In the Map, Perry presents his complex personality and plural identity in the form of a walled city. Streets, buildings and other locales represent personal traits and behaviours, indicating a self-exploration that embraces both the positive and the negative, that poses questions, as well as providing answers, binding together truth and fiction. At the centre of Perry’s map is a labyrinthine garden, in which a figure walks, off-centre, pursuing ‘a sense of self’. Each time I look at the Map, either in a gallery or online, I question how my own version would differ from Perry’s. What words would I choose? What images?”
The same applies with the question “where do you come from?”. Should one say “a Chinese artist” or “an artist from China”? If you say “a Chinese artist” then you place the work of the artist in an ethnographic bubble, a cultural bubble. But when you talk about an artist coming from somewhere, you just connect the artist with a geographical starting point. I prefer the latter.
Map of Total Art by Qiu Zhijie – Ink on Paper – c. 5m length!
The work of Qiu Zhijie is fascinating. Check out this video interview with him and curator Davide Quadrio about the exposition ‘Qiu Zhijie: Journeys without Arrivals’ that was shown from 1 april – 24 september 2017 in the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven.
One year later, this video still resonates with me, so I made a full transcript of it, some extracts below:
Qiu Zhije is an artist, and he is producer, teacher, student, curator. He is a Master with capital “M” in Calligraphy. He is one of the most respected calligraphers in China.
As from 2010, I started drawing maps. If somebody asks me who I am, I answer I am a cartographer. Drawing maps is close to art, organizing exhibitions, teaching and researching. It is also writing. I feel it is a very multi-faceted way to show my talents as calligrapher.
For me, maps are a source of knowledge at arms’ length distance, knowledge you do not acquire on the field, but from the sky, like a bird’s eye perspective. Then you can move that knowledge on a flat surface, to understand the correlations between what belongs together. Things should not be understood individually, but in the context of their relation to each other. So maps have a lot of influence. Making maps is a way to re-establish the integrity of the world because they illustrate the correlations on how everything relates to each other.
Teaching has always been an important part of my life. By teaching I keep learning. I continue to actualize and renew myself. Although teaching takes a lot of time, it is never a loss of time. On the contrary, it allows me to learn. That’s why I define teachers as those who organize the process of learning”. I like to teach about things I don’t know much about. I like subjects that I am highly interested in, so we can dig deep to know more.
His work is extremely free of themes, but also so encyclopedic. And so easy to connect with the idea of museum as a collection of objects and things. At the same time, his work is also able to crush this idea of objects and really enter into a world of fantasy.
Maps are models. Maps mark the land, they are landmarks. They document the “land-scape”, as a sound-scape documents the sounds.
Phantom Islands – By Andrew Pekler – online experience, turn sound “on”
Andrew Pekler explains:
“The sweet spot for me is when a piece I have made can be simultaneously heard as both a field recording and as a completely composed, synthetic construct,”
Making maps is a sort of learning, a form of in-the-field-research and observation. Sharing with others what I am seeing, give context, some sense of coherence of position and direction/movement, and with some suggestions for maneuvering.
But in my case it is making pictures, writing and composing and creating a body of work from each trip. Field recordings, sound- and image-scapes like maps, at times creating a bizarre alienating, almost David Lynch kind of atmosphere, trying to resonate at another and additional level than the pure cognitive.
In that sense, I feel my current (art)work is getting closer to my real self, helps me to untether my soul, act as a witness, getting closer to alertness. With crispness, organic textures, precise rhythms,…
Natures Heartbeat – Online animation of earth’s heartbeat
In that sense, I am still doing the same as during my time as event curator. But the work is becoming more a documentary, a map, a set of interventions, interruptions and provocations that hopefully lead to higher states of alertness and aliveness.
Some kind of heartbeat that maps your open mind, heart, and will into a broader context.
PS: Mark Storm suggested I add the Buckminster Füller Dymaxion Map. He is right! How could I – as a true Bucky fan – have missed this one? 😉
Petervan Studios 