Friday, April 2, 2010

"Reality Check, Please"


Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.
Niels Bohr


Over the past few days, I have worked on the foundation of a new project designed by Ann Beha Architects. The SAS Music Building at the University of Pennsylvania. We have been looking for a particular set of timing, temperature and dryness. All things intersected this weekend. My task was to use polymer stains to both equalize disparate surfaces and materials and to create a sense of a particular wholeness. And also to speak the visual dialogue of the surrounding materials (a blend of the historical and the contemporary). The concrete was to maintain it's integrity as essentially what it was, but to be enhanced so as to be what it wasn't.




"Henry"© 2008
Water Media and Marker on Paper
From the 1850 Codex©


I have been reading a fascinating account of the relationship between physicist Wolfgang Pauli, and analyst Carl Jung, and was drawn especially to Jung's excursions into the concept of Alchemy. As it turns out, that becomes a foundational issue as well.




"Towards Sheryl's House - 7:05 AM"© 2010
Watercolor on paper

I contemplated our human ability to be actively involved in the creation or our particular and personal realities. I considered that this is a power that needs be exercised with particular consideration and intent.
That we are each of us Alchemists.

And that with this understanding comes a charge and a responsibility:
Transformational Realities are not just Reality - they are the system of intersections where we may discover our authentic selves.
In community.





Press Arrow to Play Video.

"The God of Small Things, Tokyo"© 2010
Video Sketch, Reading from "The God of Small Things", by Arundhati Roy
From "The Systemic Amazement Factorial"©

If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.

William Thomas


PS. Thanks for your patience. I just wanted to say that I painted something this weekend that probably no one will notice. Aesthetically, it's absence might have caused some consternation, but its presence most likely will not be a point of discussion. It wasn't on a canvas. It was done with material that doesn't even behave like paint, much less follow the rules of color mixing. It is quiet but not reticent. All in all, a very successful project by Empathinc. standards.

Alchemy:
In every moment, change is available.



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

From The Alchemist:

* “When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision. “

* “Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.” T

* “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure. Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World."

donna said...

I've watched the video several times and still remain puzzled - maybe that's a good thing - living in the question....

tim said...

This seems to speak to Change, Courage, and Resurrection

"Be Willing to Change Everything in Your Life"

A man must be prepared to give 100%to his purpose, fulfill his karma or dissolve it, and then let go of that specific form of living. he must be capable of not knowing what to do with his life, entering a period of unknowingness and waitng for a vision or a new form of purpose to emerge. These cycles of strong specific action followed by periods of not knowing what the hell is going on are natural for a man who is shedding layers of karma in his relaxation into truth. David Deida, The Way of the Superior Man

Tom Schulz said...

@Thin.
Thanks for dropping by empathinc. and leaving the wonderful citations for the community.
Maybe we should make failure an option?

Tom Schulz said...

@Donna.
Gosh, I made the video and remain puzzled. At empathinc, that's a good thing.

Tom Schulz said...

@Tim
As brother Billy says, "That's just good."

susan a said...

Making a decision...chosing not to make a decision....amount to the same thing...I wonder which is the courageous path, allowing yourself to flow with the universal current or triming your sails (making a consious decision)to help determine the direction that current takes you?

Tom Schulz said...

@Susan-
You make a great point, Susan.
I'm thinking that either way - making a decision or not making a decision should be an intentional and highly participatory act.
Facing each situation as specific seems to be essential, in any case.
And that does require courage - courage to act beyond habit.