Comments for How did the artist convince the world it exists?

Comment on Exhibition: ART STAYS, 2010 International Festival of Contemporary Art by Hannah

Hannah — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:14:19 +0000

Looking forward to seeing your piece in this global forum!

Comment on Project: “yeah…you are all true data” (HAL2009), 2009 by How did the artist convince the world it exists? » Being Reflexive and Reflexing: Understanding my methods of being an artist.

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:18:22 +0000

[…] about four recent projects (Other Side, HAL2009, FAIR FM, and Splendid), I reflect back upon my past works and consider how they functioned, how […]

Comment on Reflexion 2: Why am I attracted to black holes? by Hannah O.

Hannah O. — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:09:22 +0000

The search to understand oneself is a lifelong pursuit, although not often recognized as an integral part of human development and evolution, and not often enough an intentional one. It seems that you have an awareness of your own pursuit and have chosen art as a vehicle to your understanding. As such, art as a vehicle, by its nature and unlike the exclusively written or vocalized word, includes others in the search for understanding in a uniquely illustrative and emotionally compelling manner. Art touches the range of senses in a singular experience that is at once an individual experience, as well as a means of connection, communication and relationship.
The search for meaning through art brings to mind the way that we, as humans, have come to understand and perceive the constellations in the night sky. We have perceived the heavens as on a flat plane, an illusion that comes from having but one vantage point from which to view them. In our collective mind’s eye we have made patterns in the stars and grouped them in constellations. We have assigned names, endowed them with animation, and created stories to give them meaning. In this metaphor, contemporary art, being multidimensional, as we now understand the heavens to be, gives us more positions from which to acquire understanding. The mysteries of heavenly bodies give us pause – we ponder their beauty and wonder at their existence, and our own; we search for meaning, collective and individual; and we can use our relationship to the heavens (or the arts) to locate our position.
Contemporary art expands not only our vantage point for perception and understanding, but also our ability to interact with art. This significant element in the evolution of art allows for understanding to be negotiated on many levels and in many dimensions. Your understanding and its artistic expression have the ability to amplify individual self-exploration for many.

Comment on Reflexion 2: Why am I attracted to black holes? by Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:44:45 +0000

Thanks for your contribution! You raise a very engaging point, that “we are the tools as well as the artists using them”. I’ll add that it is our various social, political, economic, historical, cultural, and material relationships that are the media, materials, and forms of this art that we work with as ‘inter-human art objects’.
Looking at the different forms of art that I’m involved with, ie. performance, interactivity, installation, sculpture, film/video, these medium or genre become the the means or technique by which we manipulate, negotiate, shape, act, and interact with those that choose to be a part of the art work.
I am interested in how definitions, practices, concepts, and forms of art are evolving at present. Considering concepts of identity, individuality, communication, and society, I’m searching for ways that at once I can better understand myself through my art, as well as locate my positions within these various concepts as they are contextualised through their cultural complements.

Comment on Reflexion 2: Why am I attracted to black holes? by Hannah C. Osborne

Hannah C. Osborne — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:00:04 +0000

I applaud your willingness and ability to self-reflect in a way that will propel your evolution, not only as an artist but as a human being. As a sociologist and social worker having spent the past two decades researching human development and evolution, I appreciate the creative urge toward seeking connection with our selves, with others, with the environment, and with the Divine. Your pondering leads you to a question which will, by its very asking, lead you toward further development and evolution. I would pose that the act of pondering meaningful self-communication is itself an expression of interaction rather than singularity. Art, which is “devoted to… communication” [sic], is mediated not only by the self, but by all else. Is not all communication mediated through the collective consciousness? Including self-communication? And, much as the black hole attracts all else in spatial proximity, we humans attract not only by spatial proximity, but as well by relationship, which we now understand on the quantum level via the concept of nonlocal connection. These are the common threads that create the fabric of consciousness.
An apt quote from the introduction by Gregg Braden in The Divine Matrix (pp. xiv-xv): “…the Divine Matrix works like a great cosmic screen that allows us to see the nonphysical energy of our emotions and beliefs… projected on the great screen of life….we’re like artists expressing our deepest passions, fears, dreams, and desires through the living essence of a mysterious quantum canvas….Within the Divine Matrix…the separation between art and artist disappears. We are the canvas, as well as the images upon it: we are the tools as well as the artist using them.”
Thank you for your contribution toward furthering the role of contemporary art as communicated agreement!