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Research Topic | Mindfulness Meditation

For my first topic I was interested in exploring the practice of Mindfulness Meditation. This is an exercise used to promote one’s well-being as it trains the mind to become more aware of the present. This is my research :

Basic definition - The systematic cultivation of wakefulness, of present-moment awareness (John Kabat-Zinn “Whereever you go, There you are ; Mindfulness meditation in Everyday Life”)

 - Process by which we go about deepening our attention and awareness, refining them, and putting them to greater practical use in our lives. - Kabat-Zinn

-This process allows us to see more deeply into cause and effect and the interconnectedness of things. - Kabat-Zinn

-The American Journal of Critical Care identifies our need to be involved in the present moment: “We humans tend to be overly consumed with what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future. While we are ruminating about what didn’t happen exactly as we wanted it to in the past, and what might wrong in the future, we are forgetting to live in the present moment” 

Studies that show the connection between meditation and memory:

- Current findings show positive effects of meditation on memory performance, such as an enhanced capacity of working memory as well as increased specificity of autobiographical memory in patients that showed signs of memory loss.  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00398/full

 - An 8 week meditation program on percieved stress, sleep, mood, and related outcomes in adults with cognitive impairment and their caregivers. Adults in the study were diagnosed of mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. They were asked to meditate twice a day for 11 minutes. At the end of the program, participants demonstrated improvement in all areas including sleep, mood, stress, retrospective memory function, and blood pressure. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/927509/abs/

Personal Observations with Mindfulness Meditation

Over the course of 3 weeks, I have been practicing meditation up to 4 times a week with sessions lasting between 10-14 minutes. I have been using an app called Calm to help guide the meditation.

In my own experience with the practice, these are the things I have noted: 

The app has encouraged the value of non-doing as a way to promote healing and observe what is going on in the mind and body. There’s a concentration on the breath that helps focus your attention on the present rather than letting your thoughts drift away. There’s is an emphasis on developing comfort in the state of being rather than doing. Thinking is described as sometimes a “powerful distraction” and can hinder our ability to be fully present.

After practicing meditation, I immediately felt a sense of peace. I found myself being much less anxious throughout the day. I’ve also noticed how much more observant I’ve become of things around me in my daily walks.

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Artist of Influence : Ilse Crawford

images from artist’s website - www.studioilse.com

Recently, I have been very intrigued by London-based designer Ilse Crawford. She works in the realm of interior design. I am very interested in her humanistic approach to design as she states that it is her mission to put human needs and desires at the center of all that she does. When designing, she is constantly asking questions of human experience with a place as well as their emotional connection to home based on the materiality of the work. She focuses on the senses - how people feel and respond to certain elements and textures. I am specifically interested in the idea of having connections with elements around us. In my own work, I am exploring how objects found in nature can hold personal memories of exploration and childhood. I am also interested in how materiality plays a role. In my work, I am using sheer fabric that is reminiscent of curtains. I am interested in how my work plays with the idea of home just through the materials I use.

https://architectureau.com/articles/studioilse/

In an article titled, “Making the Normal Special”, Ilse Crawford describes how empathy is the cornerstone of her work and how questioning the needs of client’s results in designs that are physical manifestations of ‘universal human truths’. She adds that design should not only look good, but rather it should feel good. Her philosophy of making the normal special aims at making the small moments of every day matter through the subtle use of functional and sustainable design that feels good. Crawford explains that furniture should be made sensitive and sensory to add to the well being of the people that use it. Not only does she aim at creating spaces and products that offer sensory engagement, but she also values sustainability in the design. In a world that can seem ‘all-too-disposable’, it’s important that design has longevity and a positive impact.

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Still Video with sounds of EEG brain waves through a synthesizer. Sound is from the Human Harmonic Project

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Running water with sounds of crackling nerves // Shot on an iphone this week. Definitely going back to using my camera next week. Also need to research more sound libraries because not many have sounds of the internal body.

My research topic is meditation.

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Weekly Practice 1

| Still video with sound of blood flowing through capillaries

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Studio Update: April 30th-May 4th Today I have my last crit in ASP. Here are a few video projections I've been working on. I'm interested in how video works with textural elements of found objects such as leaves. I'm also interested in textures found within the video pieces themselves

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Art Statement #3

This is my most revised artist statement that I presented to the panel this morning.

The outdoors have always felt like home when “home” could not be confined to a single place. No matter where I find myself, I discover that various elements of the land hold similar forms and textures to the land I grew up in. With these images comes a sense of comfort, peace, and an invitation to reflect.

My work is a collection of personal memories and ideas that question the essence of home. Like the memories that form my being, I am interested in the ways the land acts as a permeable environment, embedded with stories. It is my hope that this connection with the land can invite us to reminisce and reconnect.

Through the use of photographic and sculptural practices I seek to record the landscapes and surroundings that flood my childhood memories. Using an early photographic process of cyanotypes, also known as blueprints, I capture the imprints left behind by inhabitants of the land. As they take form on the fabric, they act as permanent and tangible manifestations of my memory.

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Question of the week

How do you want people to remember your work?

I guess I want people to remember my work as an experience. It’s hard to say exactly how I want people to interact with it because I feel like my art is where I ask questions about life and my place in the world. I hope that my work gives people a space to meditate and ask questions as well.

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Artist of Influence: Bill Viola

Jon Anderson was the first to introduce me to Viola’s work in our Contemporary Art Trends class and I have remained very intrigued by his work. It is amazing how the slowness and imagery of his work have an impact on my physical body when viewing them. This particular work is titled Ascension, which is part of a larger body of work called Five Angels for the Millennium. The installation of this work involves five large screens in a hallway, in which all the videos are playing at the same time. 

I’m interested in how Bill Viola’s work affects the viewer’s senses through his use of video and sound. When watching this piece, I found myself holding my breath and feeling the weight of the water on my own body. I could feel the person slowing drowning and it was deeply impactful on my own senses. Feelings of anxiety and fear came upon me when the figure was moving downward, while feelings of hope and relief came when the figure was floating upwards. I’m interested in how I can involve the viewer’s body through awareness of the senses.

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Seth recommended that I check out Jordan Sullivan's work and I think I'm obsessed. So beautiful!!! This is from the installation "the divine nothing". http://www.jordan-sullivan.com/_mama-show

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Studio Update // April 16th-April 19th

Working on some stuff for studio practicum. It’s cool to see how my work for that class relates to my work I’m presenting for my senior show. I finally got the leaves to work using hot glue and seth helped me make a cleat for the board that it is placed on. I will be making a video this weekend to project on to this piece

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Gallery Report // MOCA on Grand

A couple of weeks ago, I joined some of the photo classes to see the photo show happening at MOCA. This show featured the works of Brassai, Arbus, and Goldin. Overall, I thought that the exhibition was really interesting. It was cool to see so many photos in person that we’ve seen throughout our schooling and have talked about in class. I was mostly drawn to the works of Nan Goldin. This was very surprising to me because I remember being introduced to her work a few years back and being very turned off by the sexual and intimate nature of her work. Until now, I haven’t really been interested in digging deep into her work. 

I was mostly drawn to the top photo titled Empty Beds, Boston 1979. I actually almost cried when I saw this work. Visually it’s so beautiful and there is something so deep about it. To me, this photo feels like a portrait. A portrait of the people or person who have slept in it. There are many symbols for a bed as it is a very personal object - whether it be a place of rest or unrest for a person or a place of sexual intimacy. An unmade bed communicates some sort of messy vulnerability. Personally, I feel that this photo is strong because there is a raw and honest element to it.

Visually, I was also really drawn to the colorful triptych (bottom picture). The colors are so interesting and moody.

There was also an interesting element to Nan Goldin’s part of the show. Behind this black curtain there was a seating area with a slideshow of pictures playing. Music was playing and it was so interesting to see how the music effected the emotion and mood of the photos.

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Studio Update: April 9 - April 15

Lots of making this week. Last week, Seth had given me an assignment to create 3 finished pieces in a month based off two words he had given me - “river” and “dead”. 

So I’ve been making photos with an underwater disposable camera in the stream near the on campus apartments. I really like the distortion that the water creates and the surface texture of the water is really interesting to me.

For the same project, I’ve also been thinking of using leaves as a canvas to project videos on. I tried sewing the leaves together earlier in the week but it wasn’t working together too well so I will try hot glue this week. The video will be the same type of still video I was working with in senior sem. I’m excited to see how the texture of the leaves will affect the video imagery.

I also have to think of a 3rd project to do in the next couple of days...  

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Question of the Week

What themes seem to occur/reoccur in your work?

Well, the easy answer to that would be landscape, nature, etc. But I think within that realm, I’m continually question my relationship to it and reevaluating my feelings towards it. 

This is a bit of a ramble and side note -  I don’t consider myself a huge environmentalist, but I think the more I make, the more my work is propelling me to care about the environment and living in harmony with it.

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Studio Visit #4 - With Tina

On Thursday (4/12) I met with Tina to discuss how I could revise my artist statement and to discuss my new documentation photos. We both agreed that my new photos (shown above) more accurately describe my work. Also, having a person in the frame shows the scale of the work. Tina also said that having the raw edge of the fabric in the picture was important to show the materiality of the work and I agree. I will also be bringing in a sample of the work for the panel to see. I think that it’s important for them to see how the material with the imagery moves in person. The work is definitely more powerful in person. Tina and I also discussed possible presentation questions I can ask the panel such as: how I should display the leaves in my video installation and how I can keep it from being messy? Are viewers going to want to step into the spaces (both the fabric installation and video/leaf installation) or just look at it from a distance? How can I invite the viewer to step inside? 

When going over my artist statement, she said that it’s a good first draft to present to the panel and that I don’t necessarily need to worry about revising it right now. However, she did point out a few key statements that were helpful to focus on. She talked about the essence of time in my work and how that’s important to talk about. Tina also talked about how maybe memories of home was a personal element in my work that leads to bigger, philosophical questions in the work; Questions dealing with what it means to exist in this current time and space and how our physical bodies are connected with the landscape. For example, she brought up how the movement of my fabric pieces embody this ebb and flow movement in the same way that our bodies inhale and exhale. This was something that I felt like was a huge breakthrough in the way that I think about my work. Questions of existence in this world and how elements of the landscape are connected to my physical body are thoughts that have been circling my mind over the past year, but I haven’t really been able to put it into words. It’s crazy how those things are coming up in my current work without necessarily intending that to be apart of the conversation. As soon as Tina brought up these philosophical questions that my work brings up, I was reminded of something Kurt said a few years back to our class. He said something like, “Sometimes our work is way ahead of us. Sometimes we make things that we can’t fully explain right now and that’s okay”. I feel like that is my mantra right now. Much journalling and thinking will be needed this summer to fully flush out those ideas.

The studio visit with Tina was much needed and was very encouraging and helpful. Besides talking about my current work, we also talked about plans for post grad work. It was really nice to be able to talk about those things with her and hear what she had to say regarding personal and commercial work. We also talked about planning studio visits with her next semester when she isn’t on campus. I think that would be really helpful since she’s helped me grow so much this semester and has been with me from the start of this work. Plus, I’m working with textiles so that’s her thing. Though it was uncomfortable at times, I am very thankful for her and the ways that she has pushed me this semester.

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Studio update: march 26-march 29

Most of my week has consisted of trying to find rest. March has been a really hard month and I’ve been trying to gather some much needed energy to push through this next month, the last month of the semester. Much of my rest has taken place in quiet spots on campus. I’ve tried to cultivate a state of mind that enjoys the present moments of being alive and finds gratitude within current circumstances.

In the next couple of days, I will document my work for my practice presentation next week. But as for now, I will continue to practice rest.

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Question(s) of the week

What is the most indispensable object in your studio?

I would have to say the most indispensable object in my studio is my handmade journal. It not only shows my love for making, but it also holds my deepest and personal thoughts. It’s like a diary in a way, but it helps me work out ideas and allows me to throw words on a page without having to worry about anyone reading it. The more I journal, the more I learn about myself and what matters most in my making.

What do you want your work to do?

This is a question I’ve been thinking about recently, especially since my last critique. I think I want my work to give the viewer an experience. I want them to feel things and relate to the work, even if it’s not specifically what I feel towards my work. I want the viewer to be immersed in the experience and recognize the senses and emotions that are felt.