Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Art as applied cohesive coherence - Part II

 "Globe with Stand"—©2012 Hilding LindquistMarker, colored pencil on paper

I call my doodle art "organic abstract" ... letting the work evolve out of itself with parameters i.e. markers and colored pencils on paper, with colors bounded by path-like narrow borders, in turn bounded by black lines ... just like a living substance evolves out of itself bounded by a set of parameters ... integrating the nourishment from its environment.

My organic abstract doodling focuses my mind (the brain/body arena) on integrating possibility with existence ... awareness of isness while perceiving oughtness as choosing between possibilities and applying my choice of possibility, creating a new existence ... which in turn closes off some possibilities as it also creates new ones of which I was not aware until I experienced the new existence ... which is the rhythm of applied cohesive coherencethe sticking together of integrated diverse elementsthe essential dynamic of art ... the permanent "object" created out of the mind of the artist ... art being a form of applied cohesive coherence.

I believe this creative process is essential to the development of the "civilized" mind ... allowing us to override the reactive biology of our body and its too-often negative short-term results ...

The rhythm of cohesive coherence in its application also encourages experimentation with "objects of interest" ... both what we already know applied in a new way and what we can apply through discovery by exploration (with a definite "ah hah!" experience as the mind fits the discovery into coherence with existing work, existence ... often serendipitously) ... the essential characteristics of learning ... thereby fostering an attitude of satisfaction with one's mind ... and the rich environment of the civilized mind ... might I add that the civilized mind is the goal of education (or should be the goal) ... because out of it comes the benefits of living in the world it creates ... and it is the faith we place in discovery by the human mind to produce benefit that decrees the only boundaries to exploration should be ethical ... (which, of course, brings me into alignment with my being in the Ethical Culture Society) ... which is itself (existing within ethical boundaries) the existence into which possibility is integrated ...

And the child can be enveloped in artapplied cohesive coherencebased on the statement of Picasso, that if all he had was a the dust on the floor of a prison cell, he would draw in it with his tongue:

 “We artists are indestructible; even in a prison, or in a concentration camp, I would be almighty in my own world of art, even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell.” -Pablo Picasso.

Give the child the materials and tools of art ... as simple as crayons and paper bags ... or mud from a creek (both examples from the lives of artists I know) ... drums, xylophones, recorders, keyboards ... clay ... finger paint ... on and on ... introducing geometric figures, etc. as the child grows older ... the da Vinci paradigm ... it is the simplicity of the complexity symbolized by the computer: two states of energy, on and off, combine to produce the ground from which everything the computer does arises ... the simplicity of binary math produces it all.

Art as applied cohesive coherence - Part I



First some background on what is being undertaken. The proverbial "we" are bringing together individuals who believe in "the transformative power of the arts to bring us together in common purpose as we struggle to understand and cope with our changing world." I should add, "as we both individually and collectively struggle to understand and cope with our changing world."

For example, we theorize that the immersion in the arts at the earliest stages of cognitive development produces vital connections for later creative thinking. The name for these connections is synapses, of course. (Ref: "Brain Development",
Authors: Jandy Jeppson with Judith A. Myers-Walls and Dee Love; http://www.extension.purdue.edu/providerparent/child%20growth-development/braindev.htm )

At the preschool and kindergarten levels, and even for some children through the 1st and 2nd grades (8+/- years of age) the individual child's brain/body development is not ready to handle some subject matterspecifically reading and math
beyond a certain basic level, "stepped" to the child's individual development. We would suggest that to have a learning environment where the child is expected to achieve beyond the capability of the child's brain/body development is to induce a sense of failure in using the mindthe brain/body arena for thoughtin the pursuit of the "skills" being pressed upon the child, a negative connection/phobia that can last a lifetime.

Using the cognitive powers of the mind for long-term benefit as we grow older allows us to override the reactive biology of our bodies and its too-often negative short-term results. And we would also theorize that immersion in the arts has this benefit for individuals of any age in any field of endeavor because the benefit relates to the individual developing a greater capacity for creative thought and then reaping the positive results from this enhanced capacity.

"In layman’s terms, through self-awareness and conscious intention, we can train our brain to transform our lives whether at home or at work. In the intensity of our current tumultuous times, getting a handle on our thoughts might be the very currency needed to consume the chaos and boost creativity." -http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/12/20/deepak-chopra-on-your-super-brain-work-stress-and-creativity/

The above referenced web article also states in quoting Dr. Deepak Chopra M.D.:

"Meditation makes the entire nervous system go into a field of coherence. Your entire brain in meditation goes into what is called “phase and frequency locking in.” All the neural networks adhere together synchronistically. And no other experience other than meditation does it quite that way. Being more aware creates responsibility. What does responsibility mean? It means the ability to respond. The more conscious you are in your ability to respond, the more creative you’ll be."

We would suggest that immersion in an art project or event that engages/focuses our mind also creates a synchronistic field of coherence. From our own experience, this immersion draws us into the creative rhythm of action applied to an "object set", mind response (thought), leading to action, leading to mind response ... a dance of cohesive coherence (the sticking together of integrated diverse elements) of objects, actions and thoughts ... bringing conscious awareness of and in the creative process ... along with satisfaction, joy, and a sense of one's own capability to create positive results in one's own world that are personally rewarding, and thereby its own motivation to continue.

With this theoretical framework "we" are exploring options to begin an art-based neighborhood transformation program New Jersey.