A 6-month process to prepare and investigate the effects of a new world in
the Anthropocene and what the Unknown Land would possibly result in.
The project includes a collaborative project, exhibition and performance in
Munich Germany in cooperation with the International Künstlerhaus Villa
Waldberta of Munich (http://www.villa-waldberta.de)
We gathered at the Villa Walberta to review samplings to be adapted to our performance of The Anthropo Zen Girls. We had decided on the live element in the process to provide an exploration of the anthropocene at a primal level. The framing of our performance at a gallery institution to conduct the performance and discourse of the work.
An artist really gets the opportunity to experience the fundamentals of space and time at an artist residency. This is truly the gift of being at a residency. There is an adjustment that occurs in slowing life down and allow for the time for creativity -- free time is truly the essence of being an artist. Time to write, experiment, glean ideas and strategies that give life to the process of art making and to translate ideas into tangible form
Living the North American lifestyle is exhausting for me. It seems the "fast-food Nation" seeps into all levels of existence. The essence of creative contemplation becomes generated into a defined time slot with limited duration. Eventually, the pressure of basic day to day existence compresses that creative space, eventually being pushed into the next day or week, to become a trade off to living life in a tumultuous economy (equating to having food on the table and a roof overhead vs "being" an artist which for many is also connected to bank debt load from many years of fine arts education).
The European lifestyle is more humane containing a ridiculous amount of vacation time for the average occupation as well as a sincere respect for the life of an artist. When asking a European about these ideas they still reply that it still doesn't seem like they have enough time. I know nothing is perfect but slowing things down is certainly a beginning to restore the essential traits of humanity.
the neighborhood chill cat
Such a great place for contemplation: Waldberta
Work Process: Going to the Munich Flea Market to obtain essential for art making - in my case it was to pick up a cheap amplifier. (5 Euros)
interesting fact/perhaps?
"flea market" is a common Englishcalaqfrom the French "marché aux puces" (literally "market of the fleas").The first reference to this term appeared in two conflicting stories about a location in Paris, France in the 1860s which was known as themarché aux puces(flea market).
The traditional and most-publicised story is "What Is A Flea Market?" by Albert LaFarge in the 1998 winter edition of Today's Flea Market magazine: "There is a general agreement that the term "Flea Market" is a literal translation of the French marché aux puces, an outdoor bazaar in Paris, France, named after those pesky little parasites of the order Siphonaptera (or "wingless bloodsucker") that infested the upholstery of old furniture brought out for sale."
The second story appeared in the book Flea Markets, published in Europe by Chartwell Books, has in its introduction:
In the time of the Emperor Napoleon III, the imperial architect Haussmann made plans for the broad, straight boulevards with rows of square houses in the center of Paris, along which army divisions could march with much pompous noise. The plans forced many dealers in second-hand goods to flee their old dwellings; the alleys and slums were demolished. These dislodged merchants were, however, allowed to continue selling their wares undisturbed right in the north of Paris, just outside the former fort, in front of the gate Porte de Clignancourt. The first stalls were erected in about 1860. The gathering together of all these exiles from the slums of Paris was soon given the name "marché aux puces", meaning "flea market"
Thoughts of aesthetic principals in art. Heidegger comes to mind of course. interesting article in Philosophy Now by Reneh Karamians.
Dasein And The Arts
So how do you apply philosophical principles to think about art? An example can be derived from an unlikely source. Reneh Karamians uses Heidegger’s philosophy as an illustration of how to understand aesthetic experience.
Martin Heidegger gave philosophy a new description of humanity. No longer was mankind defined in terms of mind distinct from the physical world, as in Cartesian thought for example, but rather as being-in-the-world. Heidegger described ‘being’ as the essence of humanity, and employed the term ‘Dasein’ (German for ‘being-there’) to describe our existence.
This idea of being as the essence of humanity is not difficult to understand. It’s the realization that the essence of human existence is not to be found in our corporeality, as it would be for a physical object existing in space and time, but rather, in a certain type of experience of existing. Therefore, when Heidegger refers to humanity as Dasein or being-there, he is referring to the human experience of existing rather than to a person’s physical location in space and time, which is irrelevant when discussing the essential nature of humanity. To clarify the term ‘being’, one might further say that being is the totality of experience during any given unit of time.
‘Being in love’ is an excellent intuitive example of how this works, for the term makes no reference to existence in time or space, but rather to a specific state of being, namely love. So ‘being in love’ refers to the mode of being which is love, and this mode of being is the totality of the experience of love at precisely the time of the experience.
For any aware being which can be referred to as Dasein comes the realization of its own temporal existence. Sooner or later, it realizes it is mortal, that its time is limited. With this realization comes what Heidegger calls “being-towards-death”, which experience occurs through the mood of anxiety. Anxiety reveals time, which seems to be pushing Dasein to its end, and to the ‘nothingness’ (note: no-thing-ness) of death. Once this understanding of time and death is realized, the person, Dasein, exists in what Heidegger [perhaps unfortunately] calls an ‘authentic’ state of being. However, this authentic state does not last, for one gradually escapes it by finding refuge in a ‘public self’. This is the self who goes to work, makes dinner, mends the fence, etc. This type of escape from authenticity and the authentic self is called by Heidegger ‘inauthenticity’.
Let us now apply these ideas to the arts.
Dasein and Music
The idea of Heideggerian inauthenticity reveals a novel interpretation of music. Any inquiry into the essence of music can only reveal temporality, for at the very basis of music is rhythm, which is fundamentally a division of time using sound. Therefore music is essentially temporal. So to address the question “Why do we appreciate music?” one need only look as far as the inauthentic self. For wouldn’t any involvement in this sort of activity give one the false impression of a certain harmonywith time? Doesn’t the uniformity of the rhythm make time less offensive to Dasein, who otherwise must live face-to-face with death? One might even go as far as to say that rhythm presents a false sense of control over time. By creating the illusion of control over or harmony with time, music softens the idea of inevitable death, since time is the phenomenon through which Dasein reaches death. Put simply, any activity which presents time in a less threatening manner, as music does, provides the illusion of escape from time and therefore escape from anxiety and the no-thing. And if Dasein can escape the effects of time, then Dasein in a way, eludes death!
To understand this idea one need only hear music, or even mentally project (‘imagine’) the experience of hearing music. There is a certain non-conscious soothing character provided by the rhythm. This rhythm, this even division of time through sound, presents time in a non-threatening manner, giving Dasein the escape he/she so often attempts to make from authenticity.
Although I am in no way suggesting that this is the last word about the human fascination with music, I offer this idea as a primordial reason for the innate human love of music. So Heideggerian thought could very well hold the key to the human interest in musical experience.
Dasein and Poetry
The human love of poetry can be accounted for in basically the same way. Firstly, the rhythm of most poetic styles again causes a division of time; now through the use of words and syllables. Therefore, rhythmic poetry is, like music, a temporal entity by which Dasein is again offered an easy decline (or release) into inauthenticity. Some psychologists, such as Julian Jaynes, even believe that the rhythmic nature of certain poems have soothing effects on the brain. In his work, The Origin of Consciousness in the Break-down of the Bicameral Mind (1976), Jaynes states, “the function of meter in poetry is to drive the electrical impulses of the brain, and most certainly to relax the normal emotional inhibitions of both chanter and listener.”
Secondly, the sentimental nature of poetry offers Dasein an emotional escape from anxiety. This occurs in many ways. For example, nostalgic remembrance can take one’s experience back to a pleasantly inauthentic point in one’s being. More commonly, Dasein can be manipulated sentimentally into various other modes of being, such as, loving, fearing or lusting for example. These again guide Dasein’s being away from anxiety and cause a pleasant inauthenticity.
Dasein And The Visual Arts
Though the visual arts such as painting are not temporal in any way, they do however motivate emotion. Therefore, at times the visual arts can once again guide Dasein away from anxiety through the manipulation of sentiment. The creation and admiration of visual art also lead to inauthentic being in other ways. To understand this idea, one need only observe patrons at a local art gallery or local museum, as they busily discuss the technical points of the artwork being critiqued. Heidegger himself talks about such behavior in his work Being and Time (1962): he considers discussions taking place concerning the use of color, light, shade, etc, as one attempts to prove one’s self in the eyes of the other. This behavior is the very essence of inauthenticity, and once again, Dasein is making use of the arts to plunge into an inauthentic state of being. However, the visual arts can also postpone one’s boredom. According to Heidegger, this stimulation of thoughtfulness can lead to anxiety and therefore to authentic being.
Artist Meet -- Location destination: Eigenrieden, Germany
Patricia and I are traveling with Sabine for the drive to Sabine's country home in Eigenrieden for the purpose to meet artists, Greta and Iris to solidify our art project and maybe shoot some film. This is about 5 hours from Munich northeast bound. Sabine grew up in East Germany (formerly the German Democratic Republic-GDR) and has been extremely patient with answering all our questions regarding the way of life in a communist state and the change that occurred with integration to the West.
The drive was beautiful along the autobahn. We drove at a good speed allowing the vehicles pursuing speeds of 180 to pass - we took our time and veered off along the way, stopping in Erfurt.
Erfurt was a very hip town and I was glad we stopped and checked out the local.
Sabine showed us the church centered in Efurt -- an amazing combination of Gothic, Romanesque, Ren. and Baroque. Amazing to view the parts that were added on and contrasted.
and of course it had its own biergarten~ It was the monks after all who where the keeper of the bier~
Separated by a column : the women of piety v the women grieved in sin....hmm
The busy town of Erfurt with its renaissance buildings. Each level of the building would expand in diameter going upwards, due to the taxes being charged just on the ground level, thus produce an optical illusion when viewing straight on. The block when taken in produced a haphazard V!
the red building on the right -- juts out from first to third level for example. This was before we went and drank a beer~
stealing a smoke
fabric land
popular beer maker and place to drink the red bull bier - and had absolutely nothing to do with caffeine.
a new friend
Side Plate: a German friend sent me this..
Werner!
mandolins I see everywhere..
The Carpenter Apprentices - these two allowed their photos to be taken
Since the Middle Ages, when crafts where organized in guilds, traveling has been an integral part of the education of any craftsman. Before one can become a Meister (master craftsman), one has to be a Lehrling (apprentice) with a Meister for usually three years. Upon completion of the Lehre (apprenticeship) one becomes a Geselle. The guilds for most crafts, in particular the ones for carpenters, masons etc., mandated that every Geselle had to travel for a certain number of years without returning to their hometown, except in case of family emergencies. During these years, Gesellen would travel from town to town seeking temporary employment with various Meister.
These travels are called Walz and are to be done in traditional dresses, which for carpenters and masons consists of a black corduroy suit, their traditional work clothes, a top hat or a bowler, depending on the trade, a bandana, used to wrap and carry all belongings on the road, and often a fancy walking stick. Traditionally, the Walz had to last three years and one day, during which time the journeyman walked from town to town. The perks of these journeys included one free meal at the local restaurant and sometimes a close encounter with the current employers wife, the Frau Meisterin. hmmm??
In modern times, the Walz is no more a requirement for becoming a Meister, since we now have more effective ways of disseminating the skills and knowledge for a particular trade. In recent years, it has become more and more popular again with Gesellen in the traditional trades, and the people bothering you in your favorite bar are most likely legit and on the Walz (those corduroy suits aren't exactly cheap).
Apart from the now optional Walz other bits of the medieval guilds that have survived the centuries are the requirement that you have to be a Meister to be allowed to have your own shop and take apprentices, the Meisterstück (master piece), a piece of work of high quality and demand that you have to produce in rder to become a Meister and the Richtfest.
a bit of the east still in the town...
5+
sleeping dog
brew master
old art house by University - that was originally built out over the water to avoid paying taxes on land occupied!
A German fat cat
the house of marriage - people can come and get married here. Not sure about divorce!
This was a perfect place to meet. Greta came in from Berlin and Iris and her sweet son, Emil, came in from out of town to meet us. We shared ideas, readings from Iris's copy of Julia Kristeva's "Powers of Horror", thoughts of performance and film. We cooked, drank, hiked, laughed, planned, dug up clay and made a video. A very successful weekend!
Field Notes on Julia Kristeva: Her writing is an extensive observation on the subject of abjection, drawing from the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan to examine horror and marginalization. According to Kristeva, the abject marks a "primal order" that escapes signification in the symbolic order; the term is used to refer to the human reaction to a threatened breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the distinction between subject and object or -- between the self and the "other".
Kristeva defines the abject as “To each ego its object, to each superego its abject. It is not the white expanse or slack boredom of repression, not the translations and transformations of desire that wrench bodies, nights, and discourse; rather it is a brutish suffering . . .”. She continues on this motif further explicating in poetic terms her vision, but the core point has been made: within the Lacanian framework, the abject is a central waypoint on the definition of the relation of the personal ego with the greater world; it is not just the presence of disgust or horror, but that entire gamut of suffering we encounter.
“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....”
Sabine took us to the line by her place where the east and west was divided by two walls. The West: The German Democratic Republic was a state during the Cold War period (1949 to 1990) administering Germany that was occupied by Soviet forces at the end of WWII (the Soviet Occupation Zone of the Potsdam Agreement bound by the east by the Oder-Neisse line). The Soviet Zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it - resulting in West Berlin remaining outside the jurisdiction of the GDR. The East was often described as a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948 and the GDR began to function as a state on October 1949. Soviet forces remained in the country through the Cold War. The economy was state owned and central. Emigration to the West was a significant problem - many were educated youth, thus weakening the state economically. The government fortified its western borders and in 1961 by building the Berlin Wall. Many attempting to emigrate were killed by border guards and land mines. In 1989 widespread public anger over faking of election results and many had applied for exit visas. Many of borders restrictions were let down. In1990 GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified.
This was a very beautiful castle up on a hill with lush decor and cheesy music. It was also once the home of the Rashneesh - German sect for a two year period. Not sure how but only could imagine...
Muhlhausen was good to see. Sabine worked there in her youth as a clothing designer, drank plenty of martinis, and started the Theatre in the area. Good work.
This entrance wall is the wall of the women but I am not sure why the arrow is directed to Patricia? hmm
This gentleman didn't last long in the business he ran.
Secret Jewish window and candle signal used during wartime.
Sabine's factory where she designed clothing long ago.
My dream cruiser...
Could be a Pre-Raphael with sunglasses
These I see on a Brazilian Rosewood Guitar for some reason...
The church young Bach worked and had commissioned his work:
Mischa Maisky performs Bach Cello Suite No. 1 in G
1. Interesting read: "Art in the Anthropocene - Encounters amongst Aesthetics, Politics, Environments and Epistemologies", 2015
Why I liked it/ why was it relevant:
Excellent
reference on the subject with various short writings from many intellegencia who are
dealing with the subject of the changing planet and the human response to it. I think one that was one of my favorite (and have to admit I did not read all as of yet) - was "The Existence of the World is Always
Unexpected " – Jean-Luc Nancy in Conversation with John Paul Ricco. I loved this dialogue between Nancy and Ricco.
_______________________
Ricco is with the Department of Visual Studies in Toronto as art historian.
Jean-Luc Nancy 1940- French philosopher, work has a broad scope from On Kahara to Heidegger, from the sense of the world, and deconstruction of Christianity. Uber influenced by Derrida, Bataille and Heidegger - written books on Heidegger, Kant, Hegel and Descartes. One main-line theme in his work is being together in a contemporary society, dealing with questions of how can we still speak of a "we" or of a plurality without considering this "we" into a substantial and exclusive identity. What constitutes a "we" today?]
_____________________
Nancy writes on how to die as a civilization. I know this seems hopeless and a bummer but his writing gives a real openness and understanding without a fear. With giving many examples of urban collapse from Katrina, to the fighting in
wars, as well as other events producing catastrophic destructive effects - both natural
and technological -- which Jean-Luc Nancy refers to as “eco-Technology”.Nancy reminds us that “nature always
contains and offers the prime matter for technology whereas technology alters,
transforms and converts natural resources towards its own ends.”We are now confronted with geopolitical logic of globalization today.
Some parts that lingered for me:
“
Whereas until now, one use to describe ends (values, ideals and senses) as
being destitute, today ends are mulitiplying indefinitely at the same time as
they are showing themselves more and more to be substitutable and of equal
value”
“no
longer the projection of a future or part of the project of future ends. “ In other words to think in the
present and only the present – it is to a measureless end that measurelessness
is the measure of all philosophical wisdom”.
To understand art as the “the privileged domain for an interrogation of
finality - in which aesthetic praxis is one of the principal means by which we confront
finality end.
JLNancy states further there is a misunderstanding in the believe that capitalism could be transformed from within, being dependent on Marx who thought Capitalism was responsible for a historical mission to develop productive forces. Now Nancy hones a belief that capitalism may come to transform itself by collapsing under the weight of financialization or the effects of ecological devastation – (also Marxist). Transformation would mean displacing the general pattern of production and growth (primacy of production” **Human life becomes dependent upon products when thought of as production and away from unproductive.
Nietzsche - Umwertung der WertenIETZSHE – the reevaluation of all values, the reversal of the very meaning of existence.
“What’s undeniable is that humanity at large, and with it other living species and the mineral kingdom, entered conditions of existence totally at odds with what we must know that total catastrophe is possible. But if it takes place, it will be like the death of each individual—the end as opening onto an empty and dazzling infinity. The striking and obscure fact of an existence. The difference, for the end of the world, is that there won’t be any witnesses to mourn or greet the final glare. But this is very difficult to imagine—that there wouldn’t be anyone."““art” is above all the name of that which remains clear of ends and goals. “Art”—provided we do not confuse it with decoration, the aesthetic, the museum, or the art market, nor with subjectivity, “commitment,” etc.—means: technique without an end or goal. But the best way not to venerate art, seeing in it the only access to the “without end,”
is to consider the existence of people
J Luc-Nancy ”Religion is the machine of power and domination and thus inequality”
“this: great art arises when a great thought emerges. Nascent capitalism along with humanism generated extraordinary art (painting, music, poetry). There won’t be another great period of art until there’s a new spiritual force, equal to that of capital.”
Intersectionality: - describe
how structural inequalities emerge through intersections of class,
race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, ability, nationality, and,
yes, even species. Any
hope for distributional, representational, or ecological justice in the Anthropocene
depends on recognizing how these intersecting
structural inequalities reinforce the same political-economic
system that has brought on planetary ecological crisis. Challenging the
exclusion of particular humans from equal standing in global society thus
goes hand in hand with challenging a system that imperils all earthly
beings. In more concrete terms, this means that Feminist perspectives are
crucial not just for the sake of gender equity, but also for the equity and
efficacy of climate-change adaptation, urban sustainability, environmental
policy-making, biodiversity conservation, and many other Anthropocenic
challenges.
Thinking of the act of performance/storytelling:a continual looping back in time and
interruption
Tendrils:
feelers – sensatory in the feminine;action word; Medusa froze the man who looked directly
Tentacular –
of relating to , resembling tenticals – outgrowth, process, appendage
the neighborhood chill cat
the Villa Pooch: sweet Chino willing to assist especially if there was any food involved....
trial tests.
making - building, assembly....
Patricia and I are traveling with Sabine for the drive to Sabine's country home in Eigenrieden for the purpose to meet artists, Greta and Iris to solidify our art project and maybe shoot some film. This is about 5 hours from Munich northeast bound. Sabine grew up in East Germany (formerly the German Democratic Republic-GDR) and has been extremely patient with answering all our questions regarding the way of life in a communist state and the change that occurred with integration to the West.
the red building on the right -- juts out from first to third level for example. This was before we went and drank a beer~
stealing a smoke 
fabric land
popular beer maker and place to drink the red bull bier - and had absolutely nothing to do with caffeine.
Werner!
mandolins I see everywhere..
Since the Middle Ages, when crafts where organized in guilds, traveling has been an integral part of the education of any craftsman. Before one can become a Meister (master craftsman), one has to be a Lehrling (apprentice) with a Meister for usually three years. Upon completion of the Lehre (apprenticeship) one becomes a Geselle. The guilds for most crafts, in particular the ones for carpenters, masons etc., mandated that every Geselle had to travel for a certain number of years without returning to their hometown, except in case of family emergencies. During these years, Gesellen would travel from town to town seeking temporary employment with various Meister.
In modern times, the Walz is no more a requirement for becoming a Meister, since we now have more effective ways of disseminating the skills and knowledge for a particular trade. In recent years, it has become more and more popular again with Gesellen in the traditional trades, and the people bothering you in your favorite bar are most likely legit and on the Walz (those corduroy suits aren't exactly cheap).
5+
sleeping dog 
brew master
old art house by University - that was originally built out over the water to avoid paying taxes on land occupied!
A German fat cat
the house of marriage - people can come and get married here. Not sure about divorce!
my sweet little German language teacher Emil!
clay test on the nose!
Planning Strategy
wind generators on the way...
the two cats
wha?? What does this mean? (outside the church....?) (Possibilities: ? maybe it is....men only need directions to square dance?)
road for tanks to patrol area and borders.
This entrance wall is the wall of the women but I am not sure why the arrow is directed to Patricia? hmm
A food place/delivery I may not trust..
random German animals
