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What constitutes a complete human experience?
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" The inevitability of death makes itself felt through memory and expectation."
We understand age as a change towards something new; a word that is brought to reality by the established markers of time on our selves or others. But what of the experience beyond the symptoms?
There is an evident gap between understanding aging as a biology of senescence and experiencing aging. Each cell or atom undergoes changes that collectively affect the existence of the larger body that they comprise. What makes for the complete human experience is the integration of the aforementioned knowledge/rationale and the ability to identify it with the actual sensation of change.
Contrary to popular belief, human aging is not a progressively uphill or downhill graph. It is a learning curve. As we grow from infancy, our bodies learn to adapt to change (physically and biologically), and we are exposed to numerous learnings of the physical and non-physical. At some point, and this may vary from person to person, we begin unlearning. There is a sensation of the 'first' and 'last' time we do/experience.
C.G. Jung often emphasized that the psychology of the latter half of man's life is a preparation for the inevitability of death and all actions forthwith are increasingly so informed. It is during this period that the unity of the experience of aging becomes re-differentiated in the increasingly sharp separation of life from death. Although this process of polarization affects society because it guides the behaviour of the individual, the tension between the trend to rise out of and also return to the inorganic, of which the individual is increasingly aware, remains a privileged condition; it is known only to the self from experience.
The 'disengagement theory' emphasizes the communal aspects of aging, holding that aging is a process of mutual withdrawal between the self and the non-self. Whether originated by the self or induced upon it, it assists in the withdrawal of cathexis from external goals to those related to the self. Hopefully this leads to a new equilibrium with a limited external scope, corresponding to the reality of less available time as the self that we are familiar with.
"Art Brut identifies works created from solitude
and from pure and authentic creative impulses – where the worries of
competition, acclaim and social promotion do not interfere – are,
because of these very facts, more precious than the productions of
professionals. After a certain familiarity with these flourishings of an
exalted feverishness, lived so fully and so intensely by their authors,
we cannot avoid the feeling that in relation to these works, cultural
art in its entirety appears to be the game of a futile society, a
fallacious parade." - Jean Dubuffet.
Dubuffet maintained that art brut was immune to the influences of culture, immune to being
absorbed and assimilated, because the artists themselves were not
willing or able to be assimilated.
Similarly, through preliminary explorations, I am disassociating my work from the boundaries of official culture, but at the same time drawing inspiration from the multi-cultural ferment of the 60s. The movements from this period onward resulted in booming technological advances, leaving a trail of 'undead' creations in their wake.
I want to depict the dark curiosity of the human mind without being blatantly depressing.
Alternate realities
In my quest for inspiration, I came across 'The City' by Lori Nix. A collection of dioramas imagined in a dimension where human life is extinct, these compositions portray everyday scenarios of human creation.
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| Top left: Beauty Shop, Top right: Control Room, Bottom left: Map Room, Bottom right: Laundromat |
These compositions bear the overarching theme of the cyclical system of nature, while maintaining their individuality as well as an aura of melancholy. Each diorama was created in a dimension where humans are extinct, but their creations linger on as remnants of a previous life. The subjects have aged and 'died' - losing their intended purpose. There are visual markers of neglect and obsolescence - moss, rust, physical damage and weathered deconstruction. At the same time, nature's cycle of 'rebirth' is demonstrated by the new vegetation setting in.
As I read my own words - like with 'death' and 'rebirth' - I discern skepticism. Maybe I'm just hesitant with such strong labels; I prefer to perceive it as a transformation, preceded by some and one of many to come.
Another tangent I picked up on was 'melancholy'. How can the mere image of an imaginary yet ordinary everyday space evoke emotion? I think it is because we, as a race, are self-involved. We cannot conceive of a world where the self and our kind don't exist. There is an innate attachment to our physical selves, connection with others and our possessions, and the absence thereof reflexively induces a hollow sadness.
As I read my own words - like with 'death' and 'rebirth' - I discern skepticism. Maybe I'm just hesitant with such strong labels; I prefer to perceive it as a transformation, preceded by some and one of many to come.
Another tangent I picked up on was 'melancholy'. How can the mere image of an imaginary yet ordinary everyday space evoke emotion? I think it is because we, as a race, are self-involved. We cannot conceive of a world where the self and our kind don't exist. There is an innate attachment to our physical selves, connection with others and our possessions, and the absence thereof reflexively induces a hollow sadness.
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Ephemerality
" Humans have great deal of difficulty accepting the ephemeral nature of
things.The reason is attachment toward (or dependence on) relationships, possessions,
opinions, hopes, desires, etc..
On
the other hand, the human mind can also be fickle, as with
fads and fashion. One reason could be boredom, the loss of
novelty, the seeking of something new and exciting. Another could be
'Keeping up with the Joneses'. In this respect, humans discard and
waste. And humans have not developed nature's perfect ways for recycling.
Textile
design has to contend with the fickleness of the human mind. How can
such a mind be harmonized with the need to create something
lasting? And yet, how can something be lasting without being subject
to the laws of creation/ preservation/ destruction? Is there such a
thing as the essence (soul) of a design that can live through various
cycles of the material itself? "
Sudhir Krishna
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On death and dying
To fully commit to the meaning of 'undead', the obvious choice was to study death and its implications.
Being as consumed as I am about my project, I talk about it to everyone I meet
and look forward to their perspectives. I was recently subjected to
"Time doesn't exist", and as much as I wanted to laugh, it also got me
thinking...
What if time didn't exist? What if it is all a perception? Does that make time 'exclusive' to each individual? And being human, I readily sold myself to the self-centric abyss that had me convinced (ever so briefly) that we as individuals are of such great importance as to proclaim our assumed identity (the mind) the creator and/or 'influencer' of Time itself. This onslaught of indulgence ended with the comfort of bearing markers of time. Everything in existence (animate or not) is changed with time by their actions/experiences, and changed again, and again, until there is no seeming 'life' left. Or so we could believe. Another way to look at it is a loop of infinite possibilities.
What if time didn't exist? What if it is all a perception? Does that make time 'exclusive' to each individual? And being human, I readily sold myself to the self-centric abyss that had me convinced (ever so briefly) that we as individuals are of such great importance as to proclaim our assumed identity (the mind) the creator and/or 'influencer' of Time itself. This onslaught of indulgence ended with the comfort of bearing markers of time. Everything in existence (animate or not) is changed with time by their actions/experiences, and changed again, and again, until there is no seeming 'life' left. Or so we could believe. Another way to look at it is a loop of infinite possibilities.
The
Christian world believes in the body being resurrected.The ancient
Egyptians mummified bodies for the after-life. But Hindus and
Buddhists viewed the body (and the material world) as perishable. According to the Hindu view, only
the spiritual essence ("the soul") survived and
migrated from body to body. Also, Hindus viewed
everything as part of an endless cycle of creation, preservation and destruction (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva). Certainly, the physical world
corroborates this view. Nature has perfected ways to recycle all of its creations. This understanding is depicted in the wheel of life, a prominent belief and investment in Hindu and Buddhist religions.
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The HUMAN experience
What constitutes a complete human experience?
What is the ultimate human experience?
I understood the human experience of changing realities in the profundity of Lauren E. Simonutti's work - "Madness strips things down to their core. It takes everything and in exchange offers only more madness, and the occasional ability to see things that are not there."
I understood the human experience of changing realities in the profundity of Lauren E. Simonutti's work - "Madness strips things down to their core. It takes everything and in exchange offers only more madness, and the occasional ability to see things that are not there."
Simonutti's work comes from a place of curiosity and expression; she claims to have begun the day she began hearing voices in her head.
There is simplicity and an underlying darkness to her collections of spirit-photographs, something I definitely want to explore.
Translating the human experience into fabric will be a challenge, one that I look forward to. The surfaces would likely display private yet seemingly unimpressive experiences and reactions. They could bear markers of resilience, like our own skin. It could depict a translation of the non-physical. The possibilities are vast and intimidating, but the overwhelm, as with everything else, will pass or transform into a more productive effort.
Translating the human experience into fabric will be a challenge, one that I look forward to. The surfaces would likely display private yet seemingly unimpressive experiences and reactions. They could bear markers of resilience, like our own skin. It could depict a translation of the non-physical. The possibilities are vast and intimidating, but the overwhelm, as with everything else, will pass or transform into a more productive effort.
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Aging and the Self
" The inevitability of death makes itself felt through memory and expectation."
We understand age as a change towards something new; a word that is brought to reality by the established markers of time on our selves or others. But what of the experience beyond the symptoms?
There is an evident gap between understanding aging as a biology of senescence and experiencing aging. Each cell or atom undergoes changes that collectively affect the existence of the larger body that they comprise. What makes for the complete human experience is the integration of the aforementioned knowledge/rationale and the ability to identify it with the actual sensation of change.
Contrary to popular belief, human aging is not a progressively uphill or downhill graph. It is a learning curve. As we grow from infancy, our bodies learn to adapt to change (physically and biologically), and we are exposed to numerous learnings of the physical and non-physical. At some point, and this may vary from person to person, we begin unlearning. There is a sensation of the 'first' and 'last' time we do/experience.
C.G. Jung often emphasized that the psychology of the latter half of man's life is a preparation for the inevitability of death and all actions forthwith are increasingly so informed. It is during this period that the unity of the experience of aging becomes re-differentiated in the increasingly sharp separation of life from death. Although this process of polarization affects society because it guides the behaviour of the individual, the tension between the trend to rise out of and also return to the inorganic, of which the individual is increasingly aware, remains a privileged condition; it is known only to the self from experience.
The 'disengagement theory' emphasizes the communal aspects of aging, holding that aging is a process of mutual withdrawal between the self and the non-self. Whether originated by the self or induced upon it, it assists in the withdrawal of cathexis from external goals to those related to the self. Hopefully this leads to a new equilibrium with a limited external scope, corresponding to the reality of less available time as the self that we are familiar with.
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The arguments of time
This perspective is of life as a continuation of certain trends already evident in the physical world, an extension of lower order temporalities, and the determinant of a new Umwelt.
Through the entirety of organic evolution, all life forms have been subjected to an unceasing variation of the regularities of the physical environment - light, darkness, heat, cold. These cycles are complemented by periodic phenomena of other lives external to the organism, and further complicated by the necessity of keeping the multiplicity of internal rhythms coherent so that the organism might function as a unit.
The socioeconomic, ecological, and ideological crises characteristic of the 20th century, most of which are time-related, arise from the time compactness of our lives and/or derive from and shape certain changes in peoples' assessments of the relative importance of future, past and present.
This perspective is of life as a continuation of certain trends already evident in the physical world, an extension of lower order temporalities, and the determinant of a new Umwelt.
Through the entirety of organic evolution, all life forms have been subjected to an unceasing variation of the regularities of the physical environment - light, darkness, heat, cold. These cycles are complemented by periodic phenomena of other lives external to the organism, and further complicated by the necessity of keeping the multiplicity of internal rhythms coherent so that the organism might function as a unit.
The socioeconomic, ecological, and ideological crises characteristic of the 20th century, most of which are time-related, arise from the time compactness of our lives and/or derive from and shape certain changes in peoples' assessments of the relative importance of future, past and present.
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While conceiving the project, I compiled a list of research questions to guide me through the aspects I wanted to cover.
Contextual:
Who/what is the ‘undead?
What is the ‘beginning’ and the ‘end’?
What happens to the ‘forgotten’?
What is ephemeral? How does it play into the human psyche?
What is the need for the confines of labels and where does it
come from?
What are the traceable patterns of consumption?
What is the relevance of time, and how can it be explored as a
variable?
How to involve the socio-cultural aspect?
What is the current global and local scenario?
How can the micro and macro perspectives be integrated?
Exploratory:
What material and crafts can be incorporated?
What treatments and techniques can be implemented?
How can the concept be effectively communicated in each piece?
How to maintain an undiluted message?
Is there a need for a representative model?
Will it result in one-off art works, or be marketable?
Engaging:
Who is the target audience?
Is it gender neutral or specific?
What is the role of the audience?
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