Sunday, 23 May 2010
Bodies Transformed @ The Crypt Gallery, London
22- 29 April 2010
After Thoughts:
The performance of ‘The Descent’ at the PV was spell binding with spectacular performances from Divya as Inanna and Hazel as narrator and ‘Neti the Gatekeeper’. Divya entered the space down the flight of stone entrance steps in full gold and red bejeweled regalia – which was a fitting way to enter the Under World and made a powerful impression on many people. The sound of her ankle bells and stamping feet and Hazels’ powerful narration had a hypnotic and meditative effect.
There were between 150 -200 people at the PV which filled the labyrinthine venue, but the main Crypt corridor is a difficult linear space for the audience, so there were some issues of visibility. BUT overall the feedback was great and I feel that Inanna the ‘Performance’ and ‘Piece’ made the sometimes fraught journey from ‘ideal’ to ‘real’.
The Crypt has such a powerful atmosphere that time spend invigilating had a strange surreal quality, with occasional sorties above ground for coffee and sun. ‘The Descent’ is a chilling tale and I feel that I would like to make a sunny ascent; perhaps there is another piece there?
The contrast between ‘Ice and Fire’ and ‘Inanna’ is striking in the photographs and it was good to see the linen fall out this time. The seven bowls worked on several levels:
Please make a note in your diaries!
After Thoughts:
The performance of ‘The Descent’ at the PV was spell binding with spectacular performances from Divya as Inanna and Hazel as narrator and ‘Neti the Gatekeeper’. Divya entered the space down the flight of stone entrance steps in full gold and red bejeweled regalia – which was a fitting way to enter the Under World and made a powerful impression on many people. The sound of her ankle bells and stamping feet and Hazels’ powerful narration had a hypnotic and meditative effect.
There were between 150 -200 people at the PV which filled the labyrinthine venue, but the main Crypt corridor is a difficult linear space for the audience, so there were some issues of visibility. BUT overall the feedback was great and I feel that Inanna the ‘Performance’ and ‘Piece’ made the sometimes fraught journey from ‘ideal’ to ‘real’.
The Crypt has such a powerful atmosphere that time spend invigilating had a strange surreal quality, with occasional sorties above ground for coffee and sun. ‘The Descent’ is a chilling tale and I feel that I would like to make a sunny ascent; perhaps there is another piece there?
The contrast between ‘Ice and Fire’ and ‘Inanna’ is striking in the photographs and it was good to see the linen fall out this time. The seven bowls worked on several levels:
- the seven gates to the Under World
- Inanna’s seven ‘holy powers’ which were stripped from her during her descent
- one bowl for each day of the show- placed under the ice daily
Please make a note in your diaries!
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Ice and Fire revisited
Helen Gilbert, the project coordinator for Ice and Fire at St Ethelburga's has written a review for the monthly newsletter - thank you Helen.
http://stethelburgas.org/art-reconciliation
Helen mentions the fact that the ice, unexpectedly did not melt completely which got me thinking about the endings:
The event had two endings; parallel narratives - an internal and external:
http://stethelburgas.org/art-reconciliation
Helen mentions the fact that the ice, unexpectedly did not melt completely which got me thinking about the endings:
The event had two endings; parallel narratives - an internal and external:
- The un-finished business of melting and release 'in the interior space' of the building - the ongoing process of transformation.
- The water returned to its source 'out in the city' - with flashes of gold glinting in the long drop down to the Thames, and then out into the darkness downstream. An unexpectedly beautiful farewell; release and re-union with the stream flowing into forgetting and unknowing. I felt this ending was a resolution; a trusting to the tide to carry it home.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Bodies…
‘Marx’s designation of the single artifact as a “body” is at some moments based on the concept of use value (the woven cloth refers to the human body because it has “use to” the living body…) and is at other moments based on its being the materialized objectification of bodily labor (the woven clothe a material memorialization of the embodied work of spinning, for it endures long after the physical activity has itself ceased: “the worker has spun and the product is a spinning”) …Thus the activity of “making” comes to be the activity of “animating the external world”, either described as a willed projection of aliveness (“Yarn with which we neither weave nor knit is cotton wasted. Living labor must seize on these things, awake them from the dead”)…’
I have never read Marx so I was bowled over by this; my work as the “making of bodies” or in the case of my new print series “the memorialization of the making of bodies”. I disagree with the concept that the World (raw material) exists purely to be animated by the labour of mankind; since the Earth is continually re-making itself without our interference! But, my work – which relies on the natural, innate processes inherent in materials, is a ‘making’ by me with the Earth, as a farmer ‘produces’ crops with/from the soil? My work is specifically a "rusting", an "oxidisation" or a "splattering"...
That feels good!
from ‘The Body in Pain – The Making and Unmaking of the World’ by Elaine Scarry
That feels good!
Monday, 12 April 2010
The Descent of Inanna - the oldest myth in the world.
‘The Descent’ dates from 4000 BCE and survives on clay tablets written in cuneiform text found in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. It relates the story of Inanna, the goddess of Heaven and Earth, and her descent through seven gates to the Underworld, and the subsequent stripping of her seven holy powers. The myth forms the basis of my latest ice-melt which incorporates seven bowls, and will be interpretated by dance on the opening night.
The symbolism of number seems to have always been important. According to J.E. Cirlot seven symbolises perfect order, and corresponds to the seven Direction of Space, the seven pointed star, the seven chakras, the planetary spheres and the moon (since 7 x 4 = the 28 days of the month).
The symbolism of number seems to have always been important. According to J.E. Cirlot seven symbolises perfect order, and corresponds to the seven Direction of Space, the seven pointed star, the seven chakras, the planetary spheres and the moon (since 7 x 4 = the 28 days of the month).
Invitation
A group show of sculpture, video, painting, drawing and prints
Victoria Ahrens
Dina Christy
Jane Dalton
Sara Mark
Bruno Mazzotta
Lisa Payne
Glen Snow
Kim Thornton
Monday, 15 March 2010
Video link to You Tube...
Try
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drXvp_q4YYw
A basic handheld video giving the general idea...a more professional video of the event is being prepared.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drXvp_q4YYw
A basic handheld video giving the general idea...a more professional video of the event is being prepared.
Artist's talk
Welcome to Ice and Fire – awaiting transformation
Are we ready for trans-formation?
Ice and Fire is a journey through a process in which we are all participants.
Much of my work involves preparing processes, and then letting them run their course, by allowing the innate properties of materials to speak their own language to make the work – an inevitable unfolding through time.
Once ‘out there’ the work no longer belongs to me, it has its own energy and you have your own interactions with it. We are a shifting community of participants that engage with it, here in our bodies or virtually over the web around the globe!
I think one of the most valuable things someone said to me about looking at art was:
…being with art (not just looking at it) is a matter of a fierce attention to what is present, which may be challenging and hidden. We are asked to be present to the precise details of the work, but also to what is going on inside of ourselves hidden – what are we thinking, feeling, sensing? So what is going on – here now?
I’m not going to explain the work but I’ll describe it… so let’s start with ‘awaiting transformation’
A – wait: In our culture waiting is seen as something passive and a bit of a waste of time, but the word’s root means "to be strong, be lively". This root also gives us awake, watch, and (in an extended form) vigil. So perhaps "waiting" is not so passive as it might first seem - it has a sense of being awake and an aware state of being. Contemplation even…
Trans – formation: Trans- comes from the root tere - to cross over, to pass through, to overcome
Form: comes from the Greek root merph which gives us morph/ morphosis meaning form, beauty, outward appearance.
So we have:
Being strong and lively as we pass through, cross over, beauty and outward appearance.
In the WEST, under the mass of the tower by the door that opens directly onto the City, there is a block of ice, it is:
- Rectangular, at the moment, but it’s going to melt in about 24 hours
- It’s cold - if you stand under it
- It is slightly yellow because it is partly made of Thames water
- It is suspended high up in the west – the occident. It is the furthest point in the building from the East – the orient. You could say it is dis-orientated.
- It’s hung by a strip of linen frozen into it; an 8 foot long piece of linen 18 inches wide: a shroud, swaddling, bandage or Fair Linen altar cloth perhaps?
The ice is hung by a hook – not a neat butcher’s hook from a trendy kitchen shop, but an industrial meat-hook. When I found it lying on the pavement, it still had blood on it – it is an instrument used in mass slaughter. It is hung by a piece of stainless steel wire from a loop in the light of the setting sun.
At the EAST end
- nearest the orient
- nearest the sunrise
- nearest Jerusalem...there is a circle of ash.
Ash – what happens when you burn matter, it is the quintessential essence of a material made formless. Before we had square hearths and chimneys we used to sit AROUND the fire with our backs to the dark. The hearth was the ancient heart of the home, a place of safety, warmth, conviviality.
The circle is 64” diameter – 5’ 4”. In it are placed small candles
- they are creamy yellow with a coating of ash because they are made of bees wax….
- they are all slightly different because they have been made by hand
- as the wax burns it is melting into the ash
- they are giving out light and heat
- the ash is held in place by a steel band
And in between the west and the east at the moment we have space with people sitting it. We have a North facing wall along which are stacked:
- 11 empty steel bowls that have been blacken by extreme heat
- Art materials
- 300 bees wax lights
- Chairs
- Cushions and rugs
- Poetry, prose and stories
- Later, a musician will play the Oud there and Contemplatives will meditate
A wall of provisions for the journey perhaps…
Under the ice there is a 12th bowl – it is catching the melt water. In it is a spoonful of powdered bronze. Every two hours a new bowl will be placed under the ice until 12 bowls have passed under it and placed in a line up the aisle. At the end of 24 hours of waiting:
Diana Wackerbath for her wonderful writing on my blog.
I would like to finish with a quote from Heraclitis – a Greek philosopher born in 537 BC. It can be translated in several ways:
‘ Everything flows, nothing stands still or
Everything flows and nothing stays or
Everything flows and nothing abides or
Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed or
Everything flows; nothing remains or
All is flux, nothing stays still.’
Thank you
Are we ready for trans-formation?
Ice and Fire is a journey through a process in which we are all participants.
Much of my work involves preparing processes, and then letting them run their course, by allowing the innate properties of materials to speak their own language to make the work – an inevitable unfolding through time.
Once ‘out there’ the work no longer belongs to me, it has its own energy and you have your own interactions with it. We are a shifting community of participants that engage with it, here in our bodies or virtually over the web around the globe!
I think one of the most valuable things someone said to me about looking at art was:
‘Artists rarely do things for no reason’
…being with art (not just looking at it) is a matter of a fierce attention to what is present, which may be challenging and hidden. We are asked to be present to the precise details of the work, but also to what is going on inside of ourselves hidden – what are we thinking, feeling, sensing? So what is going on – here now?
I’m not going to explain the work but I’ll describe it… so let’s start with ‘awaiting transformation’
A – wait: In our culture waiting is seen as something passive and a bit of a waste of time, but the word’s root means "to be strong, be lively". This root also gives us awake, watch, and (in an extended form) vigil. So perhaps "waiting" is not so passive as it might first seem - it has a sense of being awake and an aware state of being. Contemplation even…
Trans – formation: Trans- comes from the root tere - to cross over, to pass through, to overcome
Form: comes from the Greek root merph which gives us morph/ morphosis meaning form, beauty, outward appearance.
So we have:
Being strong and lively as we pass through, cross over, beauty and outward appearance.
In the WEST, under the mass of the tower by the door that opens directly onto the City, there is a block of ice, it is:
- Rectangular, at the moment, but it’s going to melt in about 24 hours
- It’s cold - if you stand under it
- It is slightly yellow because it is partly made of Thames water
- It is suspended high up in the west – the occident. It is the furthest point in the building from the East – the orient. You could say it is dis-orientated.
- It’s hung by a strip of linen frozen into it; an 8 foot long piece of linen 18 inches wide: a shroud, swaddling, bandage or Fair Linen altar cloth perhaps?
The ice is hung by a hook – not a neat butcher’s hook from a trendy kitchen shop, but an industrial meat-hook. When I found it lying on the pavement, it still had blood on it – it is an instrument used in mass slaughter. It is hung by a piece of stainless steel wire from a loop in the light of the setting sun.
At the EAST end
- nearest the orient
- nearest the sunrise
- nearest Jerusalem...there is a circle of ash.
Ash – what happens when you burn matter, it is the quintessential essence of a material made formless. Before we had square hearths and chimneys we used to sit AROUND the fire with our backs to the dark. The hearth was the ancient heart of the home, a place of safety, warmth, conviviality.
The circle is 64” diameter – 5’ 4”. In it are placed small candles
- they are creamy yellow with a coating of ash because they are made of bees wax….
- they are all slightly different because they have been made by hand
- as the wax burns it is melting into the ash
- they are giving out light and heat
- the ash is held in place by a steel band
And in between the west and the east at the moment we have space with people sitting it. We have a North facing wall along which are stacked:
- 11 empty steel bowls that have been blacken by extreme heat
- Art materials
- 300 bees wax lights
- Chairs
- Cushions and rugs
- Poetry, prose and stories
- Later, a musician will play the Oud there and Contemplatives will meditate
A wall of provisions for the journey perhaps…
Under the ice there is a 12th bowl – it is catching the melt water. In it is a spoonful of powdered bronze. Every two hours a new bowl will be placed under the ice until 12 bowls have passed under it and placed in a line up the aisle. At the end of 24 hours of waiting:
- The West will be connected to the East
- The City to the Sanctuary
- Cold to the Warm
- The linen released
- The ash bear the marks of 300 beeswax candles- burnt
- 12 bowls transformed
- A poet and musician ‘enchanted’ the space
- A community of people will have borne witness here and around the globe…transformations will have taken place….crossed over and through…
I would like to thank St Ethelburga’s Centre for hosting the event especially, Helen Gilbert, Jeff Parkinson, and Simon Keyes.
Also Hazel Bradley- the narrator,
Philip Wells – The Fire Poet
Attab Haddad – Oud Player, Diana Wackerbath for her wonderful writing on my blog.
I would like to finish with a quote from Heraclitis – a Greek philosopher born in 537 BC. It can be translated in several ways:
‘ Everything flows, nothing stands still or
Everything flows and nothing stays or
Everything flows and nothing abides or
Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed or
Everything flows; nothing remains or
All is flux, nothing stays still.’
Thank you
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Ice and Fire...
Friday was manic - starting at 4am it involved last minute preparations: collecting leaflets from the printer, taxi rides and dashing up step ladders.
But all went to plan, and once the event started I was held in a rather dream-like state while Ice and Fire evolved around me. Thanks to Helen Gilbert, the St Ethelburga’s Projects coordinator and Hazel Bradley who kept the programme on track and welcomed morning, afternoon and night. Thanks too to Jeff who kept the practicalities under control and cooked wonderful sustaining stews and all the St Ethelburga’s team who cooked, photographed and videoed the event.
Ice and Fire was a year in the making, and its actuality was an amazing experience. My most vivid memory is sleeping with melting ice…the constant, irregular drip and the line of bowls extending into the darkness was very special. I got up at 4am to place the sixth bowl – which was rather surreal…the building was unexpectedly warm at night and seven other cocooned bodies lay sleeping on Persian rugs. The bowl rang out as it was struck by the melt water, the ice was held infront of the dimly lit west window, with the rumble of the City outside – all watched by the small blue point of light of the Camcorder. Reminding me that I was not the only witness of the event in the night.
When the twelfth bowls was placed I was struck by the piece’s skeletal quality –a giant spine down the centre of the building, which people wandered up and down like a ladder.
So much richness. Philip Wells (Fire Poet) and Attab Haddad (Oud) played and proclaimed hallowed ground wonderfully on Friday evening. Hazel Bradley read a variety of readings: the story of the Chinese Rainmaker who created the space that allowed the longed for rain to fall, to the joyous and wonderful coming of ‘Spring’ to Narnia.
Night and Morning prayers with Taize chants at midnight marked the passing of the hours; the installation a participant in our liturgies.
We finished the event with a walk down to London Bridge to pour the melt water into the Thames. A most wondrous moment as the golden water was poured from one of the bowls over the parapet of the bridge - it caught the light, fell like a golden stream into the River and flowed with a distant sparkle out of sight into the dark. A lovely farewell...
I mentioned in my talks about the project being a transient community; an important part of which was the series of contemplatives who sat quietly and held the space for an hour at a time. And thanks to all those who came along and inhabited the space for a while, especially those who came back several times and sat or wandered for many hours.
If you would like to leave a comment you need to have/open a google mail email address, then click Follow to become a Follower. I look forward to hearing from you...
But all went to plan, and once the event started I was held in a rather dream-like state while Ice and Fire evolved around me. Thanks to Helen Gilbert, the St Ethelburga’s Projects coordinator and Hazel Bradley who kept the programme on track and welcomed morning, afternoon and night. Thanks too to Jeff who kept the practicalities under control and cooked wonderful sustaining stews and all the St Ethelburga’s team who cooked, photographed and videoed the event.
Ice and Fire was a year in the making, and its actuality was an amazing experience. My most vivid memory is sleeping with melting ice…the constant, irregular drip and the line of bowls extending into the darkness was very special. I got up at 4am to place the sixth bowl – which was rather surreal…the building was unexpectedly warm at night and seven other cocooned bodies lay sleeping on Persian rugs. The bowl rang out as it was struck by the melt water, the ice was held infront of the dimly lit west window, with the rumble of the City outside – all watched by the small blue point of light of the Camcorder. Reminding me that I was not the only witness of the event in the night.
When the twelfth bowls was placed I was struck by the piece’s skeletal quality –a giant spine down the centre of the building, which people wandered up and down like a ladder.
So much richness. Philip Wells (Fire Poet) and Attab Haddad (Oud) played and proclaimed hallowed ground wonderfully on Friday evening. Hazel Bradley read a variety of readings: the story of the Chinese Rainmaker who created the space that allowed the longed for rain to fall, to the joyous and wonderful coming of ‘Spring’ to Narnia.
Night and Morning prayers with Taize chants at midnight marked the passing of the hours; the installation a participant in our liturgies.
We finished the event with a walk down to London Bridge to pour the melt water into the Thames. A most wondrous moment as the golden water was poured from one of the bowls over the parapet of the bridge - it caught the light, fell like a golden stream into the River and flowed with a distant sparkle out of sight into the dark. A lovely farewell...
I mentioned in my talks about the project being a transient community; an important part of which was the series of contemplatives who sat quietly and held the space for an hour at a time. And thanks to all those who came along and inhabited the space for a while, especially those who came back several times and sat or wandered for many hours.
If you would like to leave a comment you need to have/open a google mail email address, then click Follow to become a Follower. I look forward to hearing from you...
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Going down to the Thames
Going down to the Thames shore is an uncanny experience. We are used to looking down on the river from bridges, mainly at speed from the safety of trains and buses. Standing beside it one is aware of its size and power.
A bright cold afternoon - I made my way down to Walbrook Wharf where the waves crash-in on the rusting hulls of the refuse barges with a dull dark thump, and splash up the concrete steps disconcertingly.
Armed with a bucket and a peice of string I capture as much water as I can carry, and bring it home to boil....the things one does for art!
London being London no one batts an eye...the blessing of invisible eccentricity.
A bright cold afternoon - I made my way down to Walbrook Wharf where the waves crash-in on the rusting hulls of the refuse barges with a dull dark thump, and splash up the concrete steps disconcertingly.
Armed with a bucket and a peice of string I capture as much water as I can carry, and bring it home to boil....the things one does for art!
London being London no one batts an eye...the blessing of invisible eccentricity.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
The Ash Circle
The Ash Circle
Today’s project was to make the steel band that will from the ash cirlce; it will be placed on the chancel steps at the East-end as a counterpoint to the melting ice in the west tower of the building.
The circle is 64 inches in diameter – my height and will hold a 2 inch depth of wood ash – a material that I use a lot in my work. It is a pale, fragile and beautiful material that for me holds an immense weight of meaning. Here, I use it as the symbol of the ancient hearth – home. It will form the focus for story, music and poetry on Saturday evening.
During the installation participants will be invited to place hand-made beeswax lights into the ash – which as they burn will transform it; in an equivalent manner to the melting ice transforming the steel bowls.
Today’s project was to make the steel band that will from the ash cirlce; it will be placed on the chancel steps at the East-end as a counterpoint to the melting ice in the west tower of the building.
The circle is 64 inches in diameter – my height and will hold a 2 inch depth of wood ash – a material that I use a lot in my work. It is a pale, fragile and beautiful material that for me holds an immense weight of meaning. Here, I use it as the symbol of the ancient hearth – home. It will form the focus for story, music and poetry on Saturday evening.
During the installation participants will be invited to place hand-made beeswax lights into the ash – which as they burn will transform it; in an equivalent manner to the melting ice transforming the steel bowls.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Getting to the root of things...
Hi Sara!
I looked up the etymology of "wait" and it comes from the Indo-European root weg-2, which means "to be strong, be lively". This root also gives us awake, watch, and witch, and (in an extended form) vigil. So perhaps "wait" is not so passive as it might seem at first sight - more an awake, aware state of being.
Personally, I feel invited by "Ice and Fire" into "contemplation" rather than "waiting". I like the implications of "being with" ("con") and "temple" - which in its original form meant a space marked out for observation or augury. I feel invited into active participation in sacred space and time - with its rhythm of stillness, silence, meditation and attention on the one hand, and activity on the other.
I was wondering about "attending" as a tagline word, and I like the fact that an extended form of the tem- root gives us "tend".
This is exactly how I view your role in bringing the work to fruition, and the participants' too, in bringing the work to a new level.
However, I'd like to suggest "contemplation" for the tagline…..
It seems to me also that "Ice and Fire" is creating a true Alchemist's Laboratory - the dynamic balance of labor: labour, and oratory: reverence.
The Indo-European root or- means to pronounce a ritual formula. It gives oracle, oration etc, but also adore and inexorable. I also like the fact that in Italian ora means hour, time, and now.
And there it is in the middle of "transf-or-mation" - I've only just seen that! And transformation (both inner and outer), as we know, was the central focus of alchemy.
Best of luck DW
I looked up the etymology of "wait" and it comes from the Indo-European root weg-2, which means "to be strong, be lively". This root also gives us awake, watch, and witch, and (in an extended form) vigil. So perhaps "wait" is not so passive as it might seem at first sight - more an awake, aware state of being.
Personally, I feel invited by "Ice and Fire" into "contemplation" rather than "waiting". I like the implications of "being with" ("con") and "temple" - which in its original form meant a space marked out for observation or augury. I feel invited into active participation in sacred space and time - with its rhythm of stillness, silence, meditation and attention on the one hand, and activity on the other.
I was wondering about "attending" as a tagline word, and I like the fact that an extended form of the tem- root gives us "tend".
This is exactly how I view your role in bringing the work to fruition, and the participants' too, in bringing the work to a new level.
However, I'd like to suggest "contemplation" for the tagline…..
It seems to me also that "Ice and Fire" is creating a true Alchemist's Laboratory - the dynamic balance of labor: labour, and oratory: reverence.
The Indo-European root or- means to pronounce a ritual formula. It gives oracle, oration etc, but also adore and inexorable. I also like the fact that in Italian ora means hour, time, and now.
And there it is in the middle of "transf-or-mation" - I've only just seen that! And transformation (both inner and outer), as we know, was the central focus of alchemy.
Best of luck DW
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
A letter from a friend....
I received this email from a friend and thought I would pass it on, since it's got me thinking. Any thoughts on an alternative tagline?
"Your Ice and Fire project is so exciting! ... but something's been bothering me about the Awaiting bit of the "Awaiting Transformation" tagline, and I just want to share these thoughts with you, in a somewhat "thinking aloud" fashion.
The great fundamental mystery is that everything is constantly in a state of transformation - as Tradition knows: eg. Taoism (I Ching - the Book of Changes), Heraclitis, alchemy and now quantum physics.
"Everything flows and nothing stays.
Everything flows and nothing abides.
Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
Everything flows; nothing remains.
All is flux, nothing is stationary.
All is flux, nothing stays still.
Nothing endures but change."
From Lives of the Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius
I often wonder whether the "Waiting" we think we're doing is an aspect of Christian teaching (and other religions? cultures?) - waiting for redemption, resurrection etc - when in fact transformation is happening all the time. What we are actually waiting for is for the Personality to stop being resistant to and afraid of change - to become conscious of and to participate in that mystery. "Waiting" can be a way of putting off engaging with Life as fully as we can.
The first principle of Taoism (and Buddhism?) is to let go of that attachment to permanence and to presumed certainty in order to learn to observe, accept, and flow with the cycles of change that are fundamental to Life - the dance of yin and yang, the fluidity of the Tao - or of Mercury in the alchemical tradition.
What we're "Waiting" for is not so much transformation, as for our own Personality to get out of the way! Only then can transformation flow without obstruction.
Changes in consciousness of course have their own rhythms, too, and contemplative practices aim to speed that up in the course of a lifetime. In these traditions there is also the really important aspect of Intention - which to me has a sense of action and purpose coming from within, compared with the passivity of Awaiting for something to happen, perhaps by outside agency. But at the same time, it's important not to be attached to the idea of how or when change may happen....
Intention is so powerful. Many traditions believe that we create our lives through the power of thought: our lives are mirrors of our basic beliefs, conscious or not. If we intend to "wait", then "waiting" is what will continue to happen! But if we want transformation (for ourselves, for the planet), then "Why wait?"
If the tagline doesn't get in the way, what "Ice and Fire" offers in vessel-loads is the chance to be present with a process of Transformation, to pay attention to it, to live it consciously, to con-templ-ate it, to be with it in its sacredness - happening now and all the way through, not something to wait for.
And as we know from Quantum Physics/Prayer/Meditation, the intentional being with it will also affect the process itself.
Wow! What a gift you're offering and how powerful it could be!"
"Your Ice and Fire project is so exciting! ... but something's been bothering me about the Awaiting bit of the "Awaiting Transformation" tagline, and I just want to share these thoughts with you, in a somewhat "thinking aloud" fashion.
The great fundamental mystery is that everything is constantly in a state of transformation - as Tradition knows: eg. Taoism (I Ching - the Book of Changes), Heraclitis, alchemy and now quantum physics.
"Everything flows and nothing stays.
Everything flows and nothing abides.
Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
Everything flows; nothing remains.
All is flux, nothing is stationary.
All is flux, nothing stays still.
Nothing endures but change."
From Lives of the Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius
I often wonder whether the "Waiting" we think we're doing is an aspect of Christian teaching (and other religions? cultures?) - waiting for redemption, resurrection etc - when in fact transformation is happening all the time. What we are actually waiting for is for the Personality to stop being resistant to and afraid of change - to become conscious of and to participate in that mystery. "Waiting" can be a way of putting off engaging with Life as fully as we can.
The first principle of Taoism (and Buddhism?) is to let go of that attachment to permanence and to presumed certainty in order to learn to observe, accept, and flow with the cycles of change that are fundamental to Life - the dance of yin and yang, the fluidity of the Tao - or of Mercury in the alchemical tradition.
What we're "Waiting" for is not so much transformation, as for our own Personality to get out of the way! Only then can transformation flow without obstruction.
Changes in consciousness of course have their own rhythms, too, and contemplative practices aim to speed that up in the course of a lifetime. In these traditions there is also the really important aspect of Intention - which to me has a sense of action and purpose coming from within, compared with the passivity of Awaiting for something to happen, perhaps by outside agency. But at the same time, it's important not to be attached to the idea of how or when change may happen....
Intention is so powerful. Many traditions believe that we create our lives through the power of thought: our lives are mirrors of our basic beliefs, conscious or not. If we intend to "wait", then "waiting" is what will continue to happen! But if we want transformation (for ourselves, for the planet), then "Why wait?"
If the tagline doesn't get in the way, what "Ice and Fire" offers in vessel-loads is the chance to be present with a process of Transformation, to pay attention to it, to live it consciously, to con-templ-ate it, to be with it in its sacredness - happening now and all the way through, not something to wait for.
And as we know from Quantum Physics/Prayer/Meditation, the intentional being with it will also affect the process itself.
Wow! What a gift you're offering and how powerful it could be!"
Monday, 15 February 2010
Friday, 12 February 2010
"The soul's sap quivers...."
I have reread part of TS Eliot's 'Little Gidding' this afternoon, and was struck again my the resonance between the poem and the ethos of Ice and Fire. Time caught between melting and freezing - suspended - chilling the heart - the glare like pentecostal fire off a watery mirror. I am very much looking forward to working with 'The Fire Poet' Philip Wells to see how words interact with the work.
"Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.
When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,
The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,
In windless cold that is the heart's heat,
Reflecting in a watery mirror
A glare that is blindness in the early afternoon.
And glow more intense than blaze of branch, or brazier,
Stirs the dumb spirit: no wind, but pentecostal fire
In the dark time of the year. Between melting and freezing
The soul's sap quivers...."
Back to the workshop tomorrow for another kind of fiery encounter.
"Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.
When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,
The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,
In windless cold that is the heart's heat,
Reflecting in a watery mirror
A glare that is blindness in the early afternoon.
And glow more intense than blaze of branch, or brazier,
Stirs the dumb spirit: no wind, but pentecostal fire
In the dark time of the year. Between melting and freezing
The soul's sap quivers...."
Back to the workshop tomorrow for another kind of fiery encounter.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
connecting above and below
I envisage this blog being a sort of online diary crossed with a project sketchbook. It will be a useful journal if I can keep to it…I hope it’s of interest.
Wednesday 3 February: Offered the chance to meet the St Ethelburga’s team behind the scenes as it were. It was great to meet them and hear a little about their amazingly multi-faceted programme. It also saw some project practicalities being addressed - like how to suspend a block of ice in the West Tower of St Ethelburga’s' Center!
Not an every day sort of problem! An elegant solution to hanging the ice is a challenge and the solution needs to be almost invisible or at least not to call attention to itself. I want the ice to hang high in the space so that it is out of the viewer’s felt space at first. The linen clothe frozen into the ice is about 8 foot long so I would like the ice to be at least 10 feet above the floor at the start of the event. In this way the gap between the ice and the melt water is maximized – the long drop of the water creating an active void between the elements:
– ice,water........steel. The force of the water drops hitting metal will also create a sound-piece for the musician and poet to respond to.
I am investigating hanging the ice with stainless steel cable but needed to discover if there was any way to suspend it directly from the belfry. Access to the tower if via a narrow roof light and across the lead roof but I have to admit to chickening out when I stuck my head through the roof light window and saw what the journey entailed…chicken!
However, the wonderful Jeff-the-caretaker came to the rescue and braved the ascent; he discovered a large removable panel in the tower ceiling. Wonderful news. This means that a single drop of wire is all that is required and a tall set of step ladders
We also discussed the size of the vessels that would collect the melt-water…and decided that two foot diameter bowls would suit the scale of the space. There will be twelve bowls in total - a new one placed under the ice every 2 hours. I like the idea that others would do this as part of a communal making of the work; a shared attention.
Saturday 6 February: Today I started making the steel frame for the ash circle – I love the alchemical magic of working with metal. The gas welder liquefies steel/ copper welding bar so that it flows like glowing syrup. I especially enjoy the showers of sparks that blast from an angle grinder - a wonderfully noisy firework display creating showers of pale gold sparks that gush off the metal, hitting the walls, my visor and then landing on top of my head. A bit painful but worth it!
Wednesday 3 February: Offered the chance to meet the St Ethelburga’s team behind the scenes as it were. It was great to meet them and hear a little about their amazingly multi-faceted programme. It also saw some project practicalities being addressed - like how to suspend a block of ice in the West Tower of St Ethelburga’s' Center!
Not an every day sort of problem! An elegant solution to hanging the ice is a challenge and the solution needs to be almost invisible or at least not to call attention to itself. I want the ice to hang high in the space so that it is out of the viewer’s felt space at first. The linen clothe frozen into the ice is about 8 foot long so I would like the ice to be at least 10 feet above the floor at the start of the event. In this way the gap between the ice and the melt water is maximized – the long drop of the water creating an active void between the elements:
– ice,water........steel. The force of the water drops hitting metal will also create a sound-piece for the musician and poet to respond to.
I am investigating hanging the ice with stainless steel cable but needed to discover if there was any way to suspend it directly from the belfry. Access to the tower if via a narrow roof light and across the lead roof but I have to admit to chickening out when I stuck my head through the roof light window and saw what the journey entailed…chicken!
However, the wonderful Jeff-the-caretaker came to the rescue and braved the ascent; he discovered a large removable panel in the tower ceiling. Wonderful news. This means that a single drop of wire is all that is required and a tall set of step ladders
We also discussed the size of the vessels that would collect the melt-water…and decided that two foot diameter bowls would suit the scale of the space. There will be twelve bowls in total - a new one placed under the ice every 2 hours. I like the idea that others would do this as part of a communal making of the work; a shared attention.At 1pm a short reading followed by 15 minutes of shared silence seemed a very good way to finish the morning before a delicious lunch of homemade soup and cheeses. I was asked to talk a little about the project, and said that I wanted the ice to be made of Thames water…which raised the question of where I was going to get the water from….and how….
The trap door into the belfry is welcome find as it simplifies the hanging of the ice...
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Awaiting Transformation
In April 1993 the mediaeval church of St. Ethelburga’s in the heart of the City of London was destroyed by an IRA bomb.
"The bomb destroyed the building in an instant; reconciliation is a process that unfolds slowly; transformation is possible."
Ice and Fire - as the sun sets at 6 pm on March 12, 2010 St Ethelburga's Centre centre will host ‘Ice and Fire’, an arts event that will last 24 hours on the theme of awaiting transformation.
We would be delighted if you would join us for as much or little of the event as you can.
"The bomb destroyed the building in an instant; reconciliation is a process that unfolds slowly; transformation is possible."
Ice and Fire - as the sun sets at 6 pm on March 12, 2010 St Ethelburga's Centre centre will host ‘Ice and Fire’, an arts event that will last 24 hours on the theme of awaiting transformation.
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