Entry #032

Object of meditation #003

This happened during the lockdown. Using the bathroom as a gallery.

FLOW OF GLITCHES

For the best experience, please use headphones!

This piece of work was created for an exhibition, which never happened as a consequence of the COVID lockdown.

Philosophically, my goal was to stimulate, challenge or alter people’s perceptions. Conceptually, my primary goal was to engage the viewer into observational mode preferably self-observation – and to specifically do so by breaking the dominance of how we are influenced through the visual intake and promoting the use of other senses too such as touch and sound. Technically, my goal was to experiment with how to connect different devices, frameworks, controllers and programs to work together as a whole system.

But the pandemic meant that I no longer had access or the ability to put this artwork in a public space and let people play with it. I could no longer work in the context I had intended. I was limited in two ways compared to my original goals: space and people. During my process of re-imagining what I could do, I remembered my inspirations during my research and critical studies. Within my artistic practice, I have specific curiosities and fears about performance.

The context for the artwork became my flat and within this, the bathroom. It was a challenging and weird choice but this was the best space for a reflective experience. The reality is that many people meditate, relax and contemplate in the bathroom. Since I was alone in my flat with my wife, she became my only audience and I was the sole artist. I decided to transform the work into a performance. Between the two of us, I was delivering the performance and she was experiencing the art, but also part of the performance. None of my goals changed only the form of execution.

I liked how this installation became an artless art, which acted as a vehicle and a space, rather than an object.

This audiovisual exploration in the form of an intimate live performance, helped me to gain insight into a various application of art that meets the space without overpowering or intruding.

The images above are screenshots from the code running.

November 17, 2022

Entry #031

THE FIRE

Hello world,

Here is my participation in Catford Trails – an art trail.
Many visitors, many stories around a fire. Fire as a facilitator, as a transmutation, as an energy, as the healer, as the vehicle, as an object of meditation, as a memory, as a place, as a passing on – and so on.

One story particularly stands out, as it made a lasting impression on me.

One lady came in and as with the rest of the visitors, I welcomed her and invited her to connect with the art on her own terms, before she got the chance to ask what it was.
I gave her time to explore before I provided her a few clues about the work and how she could connect to it with motion, as it has motion sensors connected to the sound and visuals.

She immediately started playing with the work and visibly enjoyed herself.
I said that this work represents a fire, a space where stories are shared, things can transmute or let go, and a place where our countless ancestry talked about their visions, hopes, dreams and fears.

She looked deeper into the work in contemplation and connected to the sound through her body movement. Then she closed her eyes and started moving about in a wave-like motion, embodying something she was feeling. She reminded me of an Indigenous, a wise tribal woman who tapped into her ‘inner’ world. She looked so raw, so natural, so connected.

I stayed silent observing her interaction with something so human and natural, through digital art in a machine.

Her flow went on for roughly 5 minutes before her tears started flowing down her cheeks with a peaceful smile on her face. Her movement slowed down and she stopped.

I was speechless as much as curious about what just happened.
She turned to me shortly telling me with a calm serene voice, that her mother just died recently, and she was grieving, but she didn’t know how to process it or connect to that feeling; what to expect of it or how to express it.
She said when she connected to the sound with her motion and when felt the feedback responding to her, she could attach that sound to her feelings and move it, shape it, feel it and let it out of her body. Let it go.

Needless to say, I felt so much compassion for her and was honoured by the opportunity to witness such an intimate moment.

This encounter changed how I perceived my art practice in a matter of moments. Nothing could prepare me for this experience.
Was humbled by how a person could open up to the art with such honesty.