five projects against disconnection

I just came across this draft which I wrote in 2014 but never posted.....

In relation to my post on 9th October, 2014, here's a summary of the things that matter to me.

• Human disconnection from nature, from the planet as a connected organism; from life, from the life force

• The increasing dominance of referred/mental experience: living in increasingly virtual worlds

• Disconnection from personal life force in the body: from voice, music, movement, dance, singing, creativity:
• less and less connection to the body - sitting at a computer all day long; lack of natural movement as part of this kind of work; exercise as something which treats the body as a machine that has to be mechanically put through its paces at the end of the day
• less and less connection to our own creativity - the dominance of cultural ideas which tell us that only a gifted few are 'talented' enough to 'be creative'

Looking at what has come out of the instinctive process that I've been following, I seem to have sown the seeds of five potential projects/areas:

1. Creation. Performance/painting based on a creation hymn from an ancient Hindu text, the Rig Veda.

A three thousand year lament about meaning and purpose, focussing on the mystery of the creation of a mysterious world.

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2. Into the pink. A series of paintings exploring the colour, forms and feel of the human body.

A visceral exploration of the cellular reality of human life forms.

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3. The trashing of creation. A series of images exploring the follow quote from George Monbiot:

'Our consumption is trashing a natural world infinitely more fascinating and intricate that the stuff we produce' (2.10.14)

A visual confrontation/articulation of the destruction of the wonder of the world.

A related theme, explored in the sand painting, is the fragility and transience of life. 

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4. The human body as an emanation of life

Classical texts for Indian artists dictated that the artist's line in painting a body had to be executed in such a way that it was possible to distinguish a living body from a corpse. Whereas in the Graeco/Roman tradition (which still informs EuroAmerican aesthetics today) the emphasis was on accuracy of anatomical detail, the Indian painter was concerned with portraying the movement of prana  (breath) through the living body.

The body as the container of a continually emerging life force

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5. Alankara: beauty and ornament as protection. In classical Indian aesthetics, jewellery, perfumes, colours and other forms of body ornamentation were not seen as superfluous extras, but as conferring power and protection on the wearer (beautifully explored in 'The Body Adorned' by Vidya Dehejia).

Human creativity as a foil against the dark. 

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6. Something about proportion and measurement

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Putting all this another way, I'm interested in painting, performance, and activities that explore, highlight, or celebrate the following:


1. The miracle of the biological form that is the body

2. The body as a fractal emanation of planetary life processes; not just 'connected to' those life processes, but a manifestation of them; an embodiment of life energy

3. The extraordinariness of biological and physical life

4. The transience and preciousness of biological and physical life; for the individual, for the group, for the environment, for the planet

5. Creativity as an expression of life energy: dance, song, painting, poetry, comedy, performance, movement - not as 'talented' celebrities but as a means of connecting with self and community