Thinking Figure 9: Agua

“Turning the tide of negativity is a transformative process that achieves significant reformulation of the link between understanding and freedom. By introducing a non cognitive idea of understanding, the notion of endurance suggests freedom of understanding through the awareness of our limits, and hence also of our relative bondage.” (Smelik, Lykke, 184)

Through my journey of thinking tools, I end at perhaps the most prevalent, important and historic thinking tool on earth…water. Water purifies, cleans, is our greatest necessity in life, has the power to create and destroy. We are made of almost entirely water, and our minds and bodies need it to function properly. It is interesting in a time of intense suffering and chaos around the earth, our water supplies are being destroyed, and the access to fresh water is decreasing. Our relationship with water is changing, and most people, with or without easy access, do not drink enough clean water daily.

From my experience, my brain works completely different when I am hydrated. I work more efficiently, more smoothly, and a less affected by negative emotions, and generally in a good mood. I find anytime I feel sick, or headachy, or in bad spirits, I am dehydrated. The quote above from Bits of Life inspired this connection with water, as I believe water “turns the tides” and transforms our minds. Water is one of the greatest thinking figures, and is often so overlooked in our daily lives.

Lucid Energy is transforming water one step further into energy with profound methods. They instal turbines that collect energy from moving water in major pipes. They simply capture energy from pipelines using turbines. This system is profound because it does not depend on seasons or nature. Here is a video on Lucid Energy.

Sublime Ornaments

Week 9

Word Count: 298

“Bryson says (2003: 154), ‘the mark on paper leads as much as it is led’, alternately sewing the line into the mind and the mind into the line in a suturing action that grows ever tighter as the drawing proceeds. Thus the drawing is not the visible shadow of a mental event; it is a process of thinking, not the projection of thought.” (Ingold, 128)

“So long as the main role of craft in society is to symbolize skill and taste in fighting off the onslaught of industry, no reconciliation with industry is possible. But before the Industrial Revolution, craft was not a symbol, it was the way things were made.” (Trilling, 190)

“…architecture has to slow down experience, halt time, and defend the natural slowness and diversity of experience. Architecture must defend us against excessive exposure, noise and communication. Finally, the task of architecture is to maintain and defend silence.” (Pallasmaa, 149-150)

“Nanotechnology entails a new level of abstraction of subatomic matter initiating a virtual action on the capacities of nature to become culture: the capacities of inorganic subatomic matter to become nanotechnological and in turn the capacity of nanotechnology to become enveloped in subatomic worlds.” (Parisi, 160)

“Bruce Conner created a double edged critique of American militarism with female sexuality that creates a sublime experience, sublime being beautiful and terrifying.” (Artist Lecture, Johanna Gosse)

The artist lecture experience yesterday was definitely sublime, and watching Bruce Conner’s innovating films inspired me to dabble with films. His work was very striking and powerful, and the psychological effects films have on the minds of people shined through his work. Films in a sense are where visual arts, music, dance/movement intersect, and the correspondence of all the art forms create powerful peeks into other realms. This intersection of the arts, is what the readings seem to point architecture as well. Architecture creates the space for life, and provides glimpses into the past and future cultures as artifacts. I think that questioning what ornamentation in films/ video is an important question to ask, since we are so immersed in videos. I feel as though Conner’s films were highly ornamented, as the images flashed very quickly and there was a kind of chaotic quality that was intensely busy, more so then other films from the 1960’s. I think that his purpose of re-creating the sublime relates to ornament, as ornamentation creates a sublime experience in its terrifying beauty. Ornamentation, as Katie put it, is, “bringing things to life,” and films bring a new realm of life to our imagination and fantasy. It is interesting that in a time where ornamentation was being rejected, a new art form, film, arises. Is film in itself pure ornament?

Could film be a virtual form of architecture?

I have never seen film or architecture in this light, and have never been particularly interested in film making. At this moment, I am not sure what kind of film I would make, or if I would even seriously want to make a film, but seeing film in this way has sparked a deeper appreciation and love of film, and its sublime effects on society.

Jewelry That Speaks

Week 7

Word count: 210

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“Played out on the global stage, the history of ornament is a many-faceted drama of creation and renewal, remembering and forgetting.” (Trilling,104)

“Artists (Paleolithic) did not make their own media, but accepted what nature gave to them…the creative process began with found materials.” (Trilling, 93)

“We live in worlds of the mind, in which the material and the mental, as well as the experienced, remembered and imagined, completely fuse into each other” (Pallasmaa, 127)

“Does thought lie in the interaction between brains, bodies and objects in the world, or in the correspondence of material flows and sensory awareness wherein consciousness to recall the words of Deluze and Guattari, is the ‘thought of the matter-flow’ and material the ‘correlate of this consciousness’…?” (Ingold, 98)

“Humans and their and their artifacts grow organically into large complex systems characterized by cycles of growth, blooming and dying off…There is no plan behind it all. These are natural processes.” (Gast, 67)

I have ideas for my jewelry design. I want to make a necklace with a wood long centerpiece that I carve either a pictorial story or sanskrit letters across. I also want to make more beads out of paper, of written text that I value and love. I want the beads to hang off the necklace in a way that you can unwrap the beads and be able to read the text.I want this piece to actually tell a story, concept or idea. I connect this with ornament being a “global stage…many-faceted drama of creation and renewal” (quoted and cited above).

I want my jewelry to literally speak to the audience, to make the cognitive connection between ornament and language. This piece would be wearable as well as readable, and plays with the boundaries between accessories, gathering information and communication. I haven’t found anything quite like this online, and am starting to draw sketches. I have not decided want I want my jewelry to say, but I may go to a used book store, or thrown out magazine for inspiration.

I am very inspired by the Egyptian style of jewelry, especially for the wood centerpiece. I think the the pictorial forms and symbols in Egyptian art communicates powerfully.

Guest Teachers and Tai Chi

SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES!

This week we organized a special guest, Lyn Sellar to teach a two hour class. She was trained by master Dharma Mittra, and has much experience. I am familiar with Dharmas teachings, as I did an internship and extensive study at a dharma yoga studio in Chicago. This is so exciting! The yoga classes have been full, and we are making more and more connections. A friend of mine mentioned an eco village in washington that wants people to visit, and we are talking about organizing a workshop on their land in spring. Also, we are applying for a budget to go to the Yoga Service Conference in New York in May. Four students went last year through the club, and learned a lot! There are workshops, classes, and many renowned teachers attending all weekend. http://www.eomega.org/workshops/yoga-service-conference

I also taught a morning class on friday, from 7:30-8:30am. The Evergreen Yoga Service Collective is going to take over morning classes as well.

I bought myself a tingsha (picture at top)! These Tibetan cymbals are used to clear the body and chakra field from static blocks. They have a beautiful resonance, and clear the energy of the room as well, similar to burning sage. I have wanted to use these in my practice and classes for awhile.

I am also participating in the Tai Chi workshop held on campus. It is three day workshop.

I was inspired by the native art in the Burke museum. The jewelry was a beautiful part, and I want to work off of some of these images.

3D Printed Flowers to Avoid Extinction

Here is an article about a women who 3d printed flowers to “reveal what currently exists before its lost.”

“3D printing has provided me a new way of communicating about a pristine and special world to a busy culture that may be unable to explore such things in their everyday lives” (Darlene Farris-LaBar)

I found the article really beautiful and inspiring, and have been toying with the idea of 3d printing plants.

“It is Farris-LaBar’s hope that her 3D printed flowers can act as “3D field guides”, showing off the flowers’ unique characteristics to onlookers, while also working as an educational tool to create awareness of the dangers that these species of plants are faced with.” (Darlene Farris-LaBar)

Here is a link to the article!

http://3dprint.com/14758/3d-printed-flowers/

Week 2: Off-Grid Living

I was invited by a friend this week to visit her friend who lives off-grid in Chehalis, WA. I was fortunate to spend the whole day with him on his land and hear his life story and the ways he is able to live minimally with almost zero waste, and almost zero dollars. He was born in Ghana and when was young migrated to Washington. He spent years living an average american life and working for various companies such as Apple, and one day, with intense frustration at modern society decided to by some land with all the money he had, and to live off-grid, by himself, with little to no communication for almost two years. Over time he slowly and surely built himself a cabin out of completely re-purposed wood and found objects on the land.

The high tech technology living here was solar panels for the cabin, his personal ipad, and cameras part of a security system, mainly to be alerted of hunters overstepping their boundaries. He was immensely inspiring, and was a living example of hope that we as humans are more then able to re-connect and live in harmony with the earth. He is a master of intuitively communicating with nature, and I learned so much about permaculture, botany, and basic living in the bush skills in just a day visit.

Our heavy dependence on technology is an illusion created my consumerist and capitalist culture, and to see someone who has re-connected with intelligence of life and nature boosted my understanding of my project. I am considering visiting him again soon and incorporating his work with mine.

I have continued reading The Secret Teachings of Plants, and will am excited to add The Metamorphosis of Plants, Goethe, and The Grammar of the Lotus, Henry.

I have started writing my idea for a grant, and establishing The Evergreen Yoga Service Collective.

Week 1: Life

This week I immersed myself in The Secret Teaching of Plants, Buhner, and was blown away by his critique on scientists and their studies of life and nature. He argues that the traditional approach scientists use to study life is by dissecting and deconstructing nature, and while this can be a useful and practical study, it completely ignores a major aspect of nature that may help to understand many of the mysteries of nature; life. Living organisms are able to function based on the communication between cells, organs, and specie to specie. When we look at dead objects, we are missing the whole communicative aspect, which is where I think the high intelligence of nature occurs. This seems to relate to the class readings, especially Palassmaa’s inquiry on the communication between brain and hand. He believes that life is nature, and this leads me to believe that the ultimate high tech is the force of life itself.

This week lead to me to realize my first iteration of my project. I want to grow a plant from a seed, (say a bean), and 3D print the process of its growth. I want to make the growth of nature tangible and visible, and freeze these moments in time. At the same time I think it would be interesting to photograph myself or a friend doing a yoga pose every day to see the internal growth that happens within the body and mind when doing a spiritual practice. I think the distinction between growing and making, and the balance of the two are interesting subjects and worth speculation.

Yarden's Paramita

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Field Study