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09/17/2004: "a bridge to utopia?" by Jose Freitas Cruz
Rather than speaking to you about myself and my art I have chosen in my first contributions to the artblog project to describe to you the events that led to the creation of an art forum in the far off regions of Borneo and the resulting increase in artistic activity that has since ensued. Before we move on, however, I would like to share with you a few of the ideas that have occupied my mind for some years now and inevitably found their way into the fundamental structure of the forum and the spirit it wishes to keep alive. [You will find, I am sure, that much of what I will contribute is of a spirit quite far removed from mainstream considerations and prevailing gallery criteria but if, like me, your interest lies in Art and not merely in the empty aesthetics that we artists sometimes feel forced to adhere to if we wish to join the flow, I hope that some of these ideas will help you to maintain your focus on your TRUE creative impulse and to not succumb to such forces]
Consider if you will the following:
Art is nourishment
Art is to be FELT
Art is a religious experience
Art is nourishment. It is more than mere food for the soul, however. It is an essential ingredient in the healthy diet of the machine that carries us through life. Art transmits impressions. Our human machine can go on for weeks without solid nutrients, it might last for days without liquids, it will hold out for minutes without air but if, for any reason, it were to be deprived of impressions it would not survive beyond seconds. Impressions abound, they are present all around us - good or bad, impressions nonetheless. Artists absorb these raw impressions and after solving for themselves the questions they give rise to in our being assimilate them and transform them into more refined impressions we generally refer to as ART. In such a way - transmitting information and a certain type of emotional knowledge - artists contribute to society by enriching it’s culture and the standard of living of those who participate in it.
Fortunately we find ourselves in times when public, corporate and private institutions are becoming increasingly aware of the impact these impressions can have on the productivity and wellbeing of the individual and have started to invest in this ‘software’ of the human machine. However, it is still curious to note that we should find it natural to equip our laptops with the latest gadgetry yet still hesitate when the time comes to upgrade our very own machine.
The question then arises: How do we upgrade the machine. How might we best capture and understand these finer impressions?
We often worry too much about understanding a work of art [critics confuse us, galleries can sometimes be daunting even for the most weathered artist, the list of things that condition us is endless and very subjective]. Perhaps the reason for this is because we approach it with the wrong apparatus. We seek to find meaning with our minds when the message can only be captured by the heart. And by heart I mean the combined operation of the sensory and emotional apparatus of our human machine. First and foremost a work of art has to be FELT. Emotion is the necessary filter through which impressions are processed in order to be capable of having any significant impact on the mind. Once absorbed they lead us to new levels of understanding thanks to new connections they help establish between pockets of scattered intellectual knowledge we accumulate and sometimes forget over the years. True understanding is knowledge rooted in deep personal experience.
This, then, leads us to the third point. Namely that Art is indeed – inescapably – a religious exercise and experience. However, I choose to use the word freed from the customary discriminating labels we tend to attach to it. Religio is a Latin word that suggests the re-linking of something that has been severed. Art provides a link between the microcosm and the macrocosm; between what we have chosen to see and what we do not yet see; between what we know and what we may still come to know; between what we are and what we can become. Should we venture to travel across these bridges that Art provides, guided by heightened emotion and awareness, our thoughts will become charged with a new kind of energy that will eventually lead to a better understanding of ourselves and others and towards a platform of deeper communication where men and women [from all quarters of the globe] will be able to look beyond their specific differences and grasp the essence of each other’s being.
Utopia?
Art is a bridge to utopia.
With these and many other unorthodox thoughts in mind I set myself the task [utopian at the outset] of, how shall I put it, rearranging things in a country that for the time being shall be referred to as ‘the enclave’: a truly wondrous place where in spite of immense riches and a general state of well-being artistic activity was at a standstill in y2k and where there were no commercial outlets for the not so few local artists to promote their work and assume themselves wholeheartedly as such - due in large measure to social and religious conditioning.
For whose greater benefit you ask? [I ask myself the same question]
I cannot answer. This is still to be seen and best left to Time, the participating artists and you to deliver a verdict (on the basis of what indeed happens in the months to come, a glimpse of which you will hopefully get through my future contributions to this project).
Time to get back to work.
