(photo by Pierre et Gilles)
I’m interested in what drives us, what connects/ separates and keeps us as humanity growing, reflecting, changing and aspiring to more conscious living.
For this work I’ve asked people for their reflections on what that have faith in. Using the internet as a medium to connect with people worldwide.
Asking them to share a few personal words on what they have faith in.
I HAVE FAITH IN….
I gathered information from interviews (a curator currently working on an exhibition relating to faith and a Sivananda Yoga teacher), to movies relating to love and faith, works by sculptural and interactive artists that work with nature and human nature/behaviour. Artists creating their own reinterpretations of religious imagery using photography, painting and drawing. Jewellers creating taonga, sacred pieces to be treasured by future generations. Magazine articles commenting on different faiths and views on spirituality. and museum exhibits showing natural forms, creatures and science remade as sculpture.
The most interesting aspects to me were discovering artists working with large scale interactive pieces that allowed people to explore and experience/ interpret them. I was also drawn to kinetic and sound sculptures that changed over time and with nature and the weather. I learnt a lot through the process of researching my concept, different ways of looking at the concept, lots of new artists and inspiration.
Avenues I’d like to further research are interviewing more people and either photographing or videoing it. Creating an art work/ sculpture with pieces people have written on relating to their faith/ what they trust in. I’d also like to do more photography of people in the environments they have faith in/ find solace in. Another research path I didnt follow was to look more into the Bible and Yoga Sutras and other sacred texts and finding the similarities of the teachings there, which I think would be interesting.
This is the start of a track idea that Justin Stirling aka Audit and I aka Harts produced together. The fibonacci sequence determined the tones we used… the rest is a collective brain meld..
Made with Acid Pro.
I found a very interesting magazine called Spirituality and Health. It has articles about faith, religion, art and presents them in a non judgemental, non denominational manner. One article titled The Second Coming by Stephen Kiesling was a reflection on his travels as a young journalist where he travelled with rabbis of the jewish tradition. They believed in the Bible code, that the Torah held coded messages about the past and future which was now extracted by computer programme. He was at the time very closed to the ideas due to his Catholic upbringing but this article is more a reflection on the wide range of possible beliefs and truths. He refers to a book titled Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman as an interesting account of the authors transformation from a born-again Christian to an atheist. Ehrman studied at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he noticed imperfections in the text of the Bible. Another scolar, James Tabor, who is the chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, has written The Jesus Dynasty. This is a well researched book which looks into Jesus’s family, his life as a layman and the writings of the bible. I wont go into all of his points as there are many controversial theories. It definately gave me lots to ponder on.
Sprituality and Health. 2008
Opening/ A new way of seeing. Betsy Robinson. Spirituality and Health. 2007
Chargall’s Bible
this article was an interesting review of Marc Chargalls religious influenced painting.
”Ever since my earliest youth I have ben fascinated by the Bible”, wrote Russian Jewish artist Marc Chargall (1887 – 1985) in the catalog for the Museum of the Biblical Message in Nice, France. “The Bible is the echo of nature, and this I have endeavored to transmit…. In art everything is possible, so long as it is based on love.” Love is the essence of the new exhibit of Chargall’s representations of biblical heros, prophets and scenes of the Crucifixion at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA).’
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL. NOVEMBER 2008
The Power of Prayer. Inside the largest Buddhist Monastery in Tibet.
A really beautifully photographed and documented article on the day to day lives of Buddhist monks and nuns at Yachen Gonpa. The photographers Frederic Lemalet and Frederic Elhorga made several journeys over 3 years, to the remote encampment.
ARTNEWS NEW ZEALAND. WINTER 2008.
Sounds Travels
Article by artist Phil Dadson, visiting India during Holy week
Book references
Enlightenment – The yoga sutras of Patanjali by Maharishi Sadashiva Isham
The Bible
INTERVIEW WITH LYNDAL JEFFERIES, A SUCCESSFUL NZ ARTIST AND CURATOR BASED ON WAIHEKE ISLAND.
1/ Could your first please tell me about your current art practice, mediums, subject matter etc? And perhaps a little about your back ground in the arts.
I am an artist, writer and curator with over 20 years experience in the arts and a bachelor of visual Arts from Sydney college of the Arts and an Master of Fine Arts from Goldsmiths college, London. In my art practice I create sound installations, cast glass sculptures and two dimensional works all that relate to complex systems in nature such as wave forms, plant forms, geology and the movement of wind and water.
2/ I understand the exhibition your currently curating has some reference to faith (I hope I’m right in assuming that after our very brief discussion.). Could you talk a little about your concept/ vision for the exhibition?
The show I am currently curating is called Te Iti Kahurangi – the most precious one. It is a postcolonial Pounamu and glass show and in my curatorial brief I ask the artists to consider; what is most precious to them? To me this is an issue relating to faith, as essentially I am asking what do you believe in? And in a post-colonial context these issues are so very loaded… who or what is most precious? The land, the people, a sense of belonging, what has been given and what has been taken and what can be forgiven?
Here is a copy of my brief…
“It is rumoured that when early Maori first saw the green glass bottles the colonials had brought with them they thought they were made from Kahurangi the purest form of translucent Pounamu…This ‘moment’ inspires the curatorial trajectory for this contemporary Pounamu/Glass exhibition. The passing of time since this ‘moment’ has seen great change in our Colonial outpost and I invite artists of our time to submit sculptural artworks which comment on our post-colonial culture.”
3/ Is there a specific work you could mention, or specific artist that has a work relating to faith.
John Edgar is submitting a serpentine cube with a red cross through it, this is symbolic of so many issues relating to faith, it is a flag, a land divided by blood, the heart of a land split and rejoined by blood and war and religion.
4/ Does your work reflect the curatorial brief at all?
Not really, but you don’t have to make a certain kind of work or work in a particular way to recognise and see value in the work of others and see the value in bringing works together around a pertinent issue. In some ways as a ‘little white girl’ I don’t necessarily feel I can make work about this however in bringing the artists and work together I am able to express my deep love for the whenua that is this place and the deep sense of sadness and loss I feel for those who traded so much for a blanket or two.
5/ How did you go about selecting the artists in this show?
watching, listening, learning and asking other artists, a bit of googling and alot of persuasion, a very good brief helped alot.
6/ Do you have any tips/ advise for future curators?
The sum of what you do should be greater than the parts, yet every part and every artist must be treated with the utmost respect. Don’t do it for personal glory but for a greater good. a show can make a real difference to the artists in it, to the people who view it and to the world that follows on from it. think outside the square when it comes to installation and encourage artist to put their ideas forward.
7/ If you don’t mind answering a more personal question, what do you as an individual have faith in? And is this reflected in any of your work, past or present?
I believe that everything is as it should be and the universe unfolds in mysterious ways.
—————————————————————————————
INTERVIEW WITH POOJA MADDELA HEAD OF THE YOGA PROGRAMME AT WELLPARK COLLEGE IN AUCKLAND, NZ.
What do you think faith is?
Belief in higher self (Super natural power/God/Higher intelligence)
What do you have faith in personally?
I believe in the power of higher self
What does the yogic philosophy you follow teach about faith?
Yoga strongly believes in higher self in the form of cosmic energy (no particular form) which is beyond the human power. With this faith we develop positive attitude, acceptance and free of doubt which helps to have faith in one own self.
Is there a difference that you see between the general faith of the New Zealand culture and the Indian culture?
Indian culture has strong belief in God; I am not too sure to comment on New Zealand culture. I think Maori culture also resembles like an Indian culture for me.
Do you associate any visual imagery with faith? If so, please could you describe that to me.
Yes I do, I focus on visualization which is thinking and imagining what I want. That definitely makes me mentally strong and helps to enhance the quality in my life.
Thank you for your time,
Namaste,
Niki White
Birdwing Butterflys – The worlds largest butterfly
These were beautiful examples of natures order.
They’re displayed in the drawers in the childrens museum area which is great as the kids can access them but they’re protected by hard plastic! The curators have grouped all the insects together with a separate draw file for each specific insect. They did the same for the fossils, shells, small birds and other natural materials.
The way the butterflies are displayed shows their colours and varying patterns really well as your looking down on them. Also the curators have paired the male and female of each species which shows their different sizes and patterns. All the female butterflies were much larger than the male pair.
Giant Ammonite
Lytoleras tahoraenis
I love this beautiful example of the fibonacci spiral in nature. Mathematics and order expressed in nature.
A fossilised ammonite, 145 million years old. It was found by an amateur paleontologist near Taharoa on the North Islands west coast in 1977. Very few giant ammonites have ever been found. This one is the oldest and the largest to have lived in Jurassic times. It took 3 days to excavate and a year to glue it all back together. The original weighs 800kg.
This was displayed in a huge glass case in the Origins exhibit. Next to it were some small examples of Nautilords, shells which are divided into chambers. Gas in the chambers allowed the animal to control its buoyancy. .. nerd moment.. i though this was real cool..
Model of a DNA double helix
Displayed in a large glass display box in the corner of the room joining the Origins exhibit and the Kids museum area. It’s placement is very nice as you walk towards it from both the adjoining there’s a circular seat to view it from too.
It was constructed by the Auckland museum display department, using only the calculations and information published by Watsons and Crick in their 1953 nature paper.
———————————————————————————-
Art Gallery Visits
FINGERS GALLERY
Michael Couper
Precious metals and diamonds. Gorgeous meld of natural materials crafted by a fine jeweller.
Referencing beauty, sacred, taonga, faith, love.
Andrea Daly
Celestial Jewellery
WAIHEKE COMMUNITY ART GALLERY
Learning to Draw – Lyndsay Meager
A gorgeous array of mostly the female form by Lyndsay Meager. Simple, beautiful, life portrayed in calm relaxed poses. Created quite a zen-like atmosphere in the gallery.
( see Academic Studies journal for her flyer and example of her stunning work)
WAIHEKE COMMUNITY ART GALLERY
Phrases – Kim Wesney
An interesting painting exhibition using large text painted on canvas. Parts of phrases, sentences and poems to leave the viewer thinking. Kim also used a Korg sampler for the ‘viewer/listener’ to experiment with. I liked her use of the interactive element in her exhibition. I really enjoy art that allows you to interact with it, play and experiment. I enjoyed the element of music she brought into her art and it inspired me to do the same with future works.
(see flyer in academic studies journal)
OXEXART
Lorene Taurerewa – New York Series
Surreal/ sublime drawings, large in scale, unusual in content, animals interacting with heavenly humans, some angel like with wings. Thought provoking.
JOHN LEECH GALLERY
Dennis K Turner
Tiki Series
A stunning exhibition of Dennis K Turners watercolours of tikis. To me tikis seem quite celestial/ other worldly within Maori art.
OXEXART
The New Pacific – Glen Wolfgramm and Dylan Lind
Both unique and talented painters, Dylan Linds work in particular is very geometric and orderly. Quite natural in its own synthetic way. Very beautiful and its large scale quite awe inspiring.
———————————————————————————–
MOVIES
The Waiting Room
by Rodger Goldby
A really funny, sad, raw, beautiful tale about the realities of life, love, parenting, family and all that follows. Weaving together a sweet story about faith in love.
———————————————————————————–
ARTISTS OF INTEREST
Pierre et Gilles
I really like their colourful, vivid, reinterpretation of religious imagery.
Tim Prentice
Kinetic Sculptor
I love the way this sculptors work interacts with the environment. Its beautiful, interesting and quite meditative the way he designs his work to interact with nature, particularly the wind.
He states that he tries to ‘concentrate on the movement, rather than the object. I take it as an article of faith that the air around us moves in ways which are organic, whimsical and unpredictable.’
James Turrell: Light Artist
James Turrell uses light and space as his tools for creating art rather than paintbrushes or a camera. Eliasson’s works are often said to have been influenced by those of Turrell, who has been given many different labels, including environmental artist, land artist, and light artist. Like Eliasson, Turrell has studied both art and psychology, with a special interest in the subject of human perception, the way people interpret what they see or feel. His works explore the concept of light as an object, a physical material, not just something that illuminates other things. With such works as Gard Blue and Danae, Turrell created geometric sculptures out of light. At first glance, such sculptures appear to have a physical form, to be tangible, but a closer examination reveals that they are pure light.
Ref (www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ca-Ge/Eliasson-Olafur.html)
Chris Braddock: Sanitate, 2004
Tissue box dispensers, lights and cabling, 7X23m
Chris Braddock’s Sanitate punctuates the vast white expanse of the Gallery’s Big Wall with a hundred strange chrome boxes, each connected to the next by laced and plaited electrical cord. Glowing internally with a green medical light, Braddock’s elegant network of objects suggests both religious art (the museum as shrine) and the gleaming artifacts of contemporary medicine (the museum as clinic).
National Geographic
Archaeology, May 2008
Psychology Today, Feb 2008
Art News NZ, 2008
Frieze, Jan 2009
The Fibonacci spiral in the architecture of the Parthenon and Modern Architecture – The Eden Project in the UK,
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html#parthenon
Related samples from the world at large
Myfakeleg's Blog 