For the past 8 years I’ve had courses designed around the concept of artistic execution; draw the line, construct the form, use this tool, use this medium, use this example, translate, redirect. These courses gave examples on “how to’s”—helping their students take an idea or a concept and translate it into something physical. It’s so easy to lose something in that process, to lose the direction you wanted a piece to have. I believe most art courses aim at improving a student’s ability to execute, leaving the questions of “why” out of the picture. How did you come up with that concept? Why is that something you want to depict? Are we, as artists, just as conscious of these mental decisions as the brush stroke, the pen mark, the pattern, the form?
In terms of my artistic process, the “final product” mindset is the utmost of importance. I’m just hardwired this way. It’s a curse in the fact that I rarely make a project that I’m truly happy with, but a blessing in terms of discovering my true medium: collage. I want my work to combine the elements of cartoon dynamics, the human body, printmaking, illustration, painting, repetition, graffiti, and narration. That’s a lot to organize. I’m struggling where to begin these large scale projects I have in mind, but my worst nightmare with a project is to come to a point where I no longer enjoy working on it. I’ve lost something in the translation. I cannot afford to disconnect from something I have worked on for months. So, I decided to take a class not based in execution, but a process that looks at the fundamentals to where our inspiration comes from. Where do my “final products” come from? Why do I visualize them they way I do? And most importantly, how can I take a step back from all my over analyzing to see a bigger picture, a bigger concept, and a bigger mind? This course has offered me a chance to freely observe my destructive tendencies to be overly critical and given insight on what I truly wish to create. I got a chance to push execution to the background and give my motivations a chance to present themselves.
What does it mean to be really present from moment to moment?
I’ve found that presence is something that our society loses day by day. Our world is layered in a way that we often find ourselves forgetting about the essentials of what we need to live. It’s easy to forget what we take for granted; our food, our shelter, our families. But with such an information overload, how is it possible to be present in everything? As I’ve learned in the class, the brain physically cannot compute two things at a time—and instead, rapidly switches back and forth between multiple thoughts and images at a rate we cannot acknowledge. So, naturally, we should choose only one thing to be present in at a time.
If we can truly concentrate on one thing and one thing alone from one moment to the next, we are “really present.” But without rewiring ourselves from how our society functions, this practice is nearly impossible. Often, we fall into this practice only by accident. I can certainly remember times where I was drawing or painting and suddenly, without warning or purpose, I awaken to find I’ve been working for hours. People often refer to this as zoning out, when really, they should be identifying this as zoning in.
How do artists, designers, and others cultivate abilities to be present?
The 10,000 hour rule applies to any skill that can be practiced. Though “being open” is an ability/skill that seems complicated to train oneself in, that does not make it impossible. A variety of mediation methods can be practiced at daily intervals to cultivate the minds ability to stay open in the creative process. I believe the core of this process revolves around an individual’s will to strength the connection between creative area of their mind to problem solving portion—disconnecting any distractions that may censor ideas.
In addition, I believe that as artists complete projects, they strengthen their abilities to make that “great transition” from mind to matter—which in itself strengthens the skill of believing in one’s ideas.
Is there such a thing as a contemplative aesthetic?
There are certainly aesthetics that initiate thought process. There are countless artists whose sole objective is to create thoughts and patterns and conclusions in the minds of their audience. Any time an artist creates a piece to provoke thought, they’ve created a piece utilizing contemplative aesthetics. However, just because it’s an artist’s goal doesn’t make it successful. If an artist devotes an extensive amount of time to create a piece that provokes thought only in their mind, the meaning gets lost. The aesthetic doesn’t necessarily cease to exist, it’s just on a very limited scale. And at the same time, an artist might create something with meaningless effort that could evoke thought in a large audience. Is the aesthetic still there? I tend to think so.
Is there a relationship between contemplative practice and creativity?
I’ve been under the impression that creativity is a contemplative practice. I view my creativity as a contemplative practice. When I envision an artwork, I break it up into the process in which it can be created. There’s mock up sketches, color tests, and practice runs. There’s outlining, detailing, and fillers. My creativity lies in my culmination of multiple ideas, weighing the appropriate juxtapositions of conceptual elements to the perfect levels without spilling it all over the damn carpet. Without contemplative practice and process, creativity dies in the mind of the artist as a dream melts away in the mind of a dreamer. It supplies the foundations of reality. It asks, how can this come to be, and, why should this come to be?
I think the defining elements of how a person views themselves as “an artist” or “not an artist” depends on the strength of their relationship between contemplative practice and creativity. I want to be a teacher so I can build those connections.
Does contemplative practice influence interactions and communications between persons and among communities?
I believe that contemplative practice is a very individualized process. Our minds work in more ways than can ever be calculated, so very rarely do you “see” as another person “sees.” We could spend our whole lives trying to communicate exactly how our minds think, and get no closer than the day we started. So technically, I guess I would answer this question “no” to a certain extent. However there are multiple ways on viewing this statement.
I believe the effect that contemplative have on people’s lives, feelings, and emotions influence them to be more active members of their community. The practices themselves don’t necessarily connect the people, their reactions to them do. If a bunch of soccer moms get together to try a yoga class, that’s an example of this process bringing people together. The actual practice of yoga concentrates on individualization, but their conversations about it over coffee after the session can certainly be seen as an “influence of interactions.” Individuals involved with structure religions can say they are connected with other members through prayer—which can be seen as a contemplative practice.
(Personal Question) How can contemplative practice be destructive?
The human mind is easily the most powerful biological force we know of to date. An individual’s perception of reality becomes their reality. Through years of mental health research, we come across countless cases of reinforced negative behavior, both intentional and unintentional. We reinforce patterns and behavior without the slightest clue, then lose our sanity when we inadvertently try to break routine. You can practice being a negative person like you practice shooting a basketball, for our minds have the frightening ability to work in such ways. Discrimination is at the heart of reinforced misconceptions, as is hate and anger and fear.
Those who consciously seek to be more open minded will achieve their goal (to some extent) upon practicing it for a large portion of their lives, but what of those who attempt to abuse this process of the mind? Look at the brainwashing of children in certain war-stricken areas of Africa, and how the contemplative practice of dehumanizing young boys to the point where they are numb to violence and death. Contemplative practice shows us the great potential we have as people, but at the same time, is witness to our horrific power.
