Art, Attention, and Consciousness: An Experiment in Experiential Painting (Conference speech)
The three main topics of our presentation are Art, Attention, and Consciousness. It is our purpose here not to specifically map these themes and their interrelationships as far out as possible, but to use them in a conceptual synthesis that ultimately points towards a transformation of perception. It is our view that such a transformation lies in directly contacting the origin of perception itself. Clearly, the direct contact of this origin can not be contained in any conception or system of such, as it is an experiencing in which the medium that brings one to it, whether it be through a line of thought or a work of art, fades away in ones consciousness as an object of experience. So one is left only to point towards it.
Starting from a simple idea, we have attempted to do just that through an experiment we have termed experimental painting. I would like to start by describing where the idea came from and how our painting experiment came about.
While studying Jackson Pollock in an art history class, I was assigned to make a painting mimicking his style. Having never painted before, I found his spontaneous and open way of painting quite liberating. While reflecting on the process, one of the things that I encountered was when to designate the painting as finished. As the painting progressed, it appeared to go through various stages of completeness. The question became, which stage was more complete then the next? At a certain point I began to realize that from a purely experiential perspective, the extra layers and additions of paint and color only created varying aesthetic sensations not reducible to the stage in development I subjectively put it in.
Of course I had to stop at some point, but upon further reflection, the painting seemed to contain more meaning in its entirety as it unfolded in time rather then what was left over as a result. Yet, it was not a simple recognition of an evolution from point A to point B, it was more of an intuitive realization of a completeness in each stage of development, in each movement of the brush, in each splatter of paint, and, more specifically, in the moment to moment experiencing of such.
So I thought it would be interesting to attempt to capture this deeper meaning by filming a similar painting as it unfolded in time. Johannes Kohler and I were able to obtain two digital cameras and he filmed the painting as I painted.
Early on in the process, while paying attention to the fact that each "stage" of the painting was to be filmed in its present state, we primarily become focused on attending to each moment. While painting, spontaneous and effortless action arose out of a mindset unconditioned by a projection of an outcome. Or if one arose, it was simply observed as another passing phenomenon of consciousness outlying the background of an awareness focused on the present moment. Full attention emerged as the recognition that that which was painting and that which was being painted acted as a single unity. This recognition or heightened awareness became the means by which the creation unfolded, leaving a residue of form and abstract symmetry. After filming the painting about a dozen times as it "progressed", we tore the painting apart and burned it. Afterwards, I created an abstract electronic soundtrack to go along with what was filmed, and Johannes thematically added the music and edited the film using I-Movie.
The film of the painting together with the music serves as a pointer ultimately to be abandoned as an object of experience. Thus one may, with complete attention absent of any discrimination, enter into the means by which it was created, allowing the same unified experiencing to penetrate the conditioned layers of perception. [ in that in which it was created, the present moment]
In essence, our article is an examination of this way of pointing. At first this may seem as pointless as studying the bone structure of a finger pointing towards the moon rather then simply looking at what it is pointing at. Yet, one may examine the context of the pointing, and upon searching out increasingly deeper and wider contexts, end up coming back to what was being pointed to.
[For example probe the inner structure of the finger to discover its quantum reality made up of 99.999% space and interconnected to everything else within the universal quantum field. Or look at the context out of which the finger arose: birth of the body, explosion of stars, and singularity of the big bang]
So we will start with the contexts in which the pointing arises, the art experience and consciousness. Consciousness can be seen as both the beginning and end of aesthetic experience and therefore what we perceive as the manipulation of material, virtual, or conceptual mediums may be viewed as an act of representation one's consciousness. Representation here is meant not the typical sense of appearance or conceptual representation. Rather, these types of representation are only modes within an infinite continuum of representation, only limited by that which can be perceived within reflective consciousness and by the practical constraints of matter in general. Any human activity or the output of any self-aware system can be seen as such, yet artistic expression is typically the one medium most free of constraints, thus allowing expression that is not based on conditioned ways of perceiving. What emerges not only exchanges and reinterprets meaning within and beyond cultural contexts, but also has the potential to change the very way the art viewer or participator perceive both their inner and outer realties.
This comes to part of the why of art and the other theme of our presentation, attention. In our article we examined attention in relation to the creation and observation of art and in relation to the creation and realization of consciousness.
It is our view that attention plays a primary role in art; specifically within the type of art we are concerned with here, transformative art. We posit that a subject [or interconnected group of subjects] engaged with any object or content of consciousness including any perception or cognition, increases the "depth" of the experience with an increased level of attention. By "depth" here we are pointing to an experience in which the object of consciousness expands into deeper meanings within both axiological and noetic dimensions. Ultimately, it expands beyond our conditioned notions of the object, into layers of deeper understanding such as intuition, finally ending in an experience of unity with the object in which the subject-object duality is completely fulfilled.
When one has such an experience if they are to communicate it they must attempt to move beyond conditioned means of expression. In the process one must attentively observe their continuing mental processes, separate from whatever preconceptions they may have in regards to the experience. What emerges is a representation of their consciousness, however fragmented or limited that representation may be. Then for those observing, the extent in which they attend to the representation, or more specifically, the extent in which they attend their own mental processes while experiencing the object, is the extent in which they can creatively enter into the consciousness of the artist even if only in part.
Although it may be perceived as such, the represented object here is not meant to be some static thing, as it is as transitory as experience itself and can equally be viewed as a process. [the object or content of consciousness that the subject originally experiences can also be seen as a process]
Also, the artist and the observer of the art work need not only be identified as separate identities, but can also be viewed as a set of processes engaged in a single mind, or an evolving set of processes within a system of minds operating within a spectrum of relative harmony or disharmony.
The subject's level of attention (or awareness) can be seen as a continuum, that of which can proceed from our everyday habituated level of experience, to vivid aesthetic or inner spiritual levels of awareness .
The level of attention is also linked to the experience of time. All reflections are extended in time, and here we will posit that in vivid aesthetic or spiritual experience, the more vivid the experience is, the more time is reduced as a background phenomenon of consciousness. The concept of time here can not only represent experiential time, but also chronological time, such as subconscious memories or instincts that affect the way an object is perceived in advance. The most habituated experience would then be that which is most extended in time, either as a part of the subject's experience or extending through past levels of instinct and conditioning within the organism. The vivid spiritual or transformational experience would be that in which time is reduced both experientially and chronologically. As in the act of a direct perception, the content of consciousness increasingly disassociates itself from past instincts and conditioning and from the temporally extended concept of what is being experienced.
Thus attention is not only primary in the inspiration or means by which art is created, it is the primary factor in the art viewers (or participators) ability to enter into the work of art and change their consciousness as a result.
Realizing the primary role attention plays in the transformative art experience, next we will take a look to a deeper context, the role attention plays in consciousness itself.
In a recent review by John Taylor titled "Mind and consciousness: Towards a final answer", he claims that attention is the "gateway to consciousness". He uses a single control model to map the movement attention. The model works for both bottom up control (such as a glimmer of light), and top down control (such as searching for a friend in a crowd). Though these are examples for vision, his model applies to other sensing modalities as well as to motor operations.
Through the execution of his model, working memory buffers are created, and “gaps” emerge within consciousness as content free experience. He claims that these “gaps” are the result of a pre-reflective self and leads to the conscious experience of ownership, which is the “error free ‘I' experience” that is ever present within consciousness.
[Husserl showed that the individual 'I' identity is only another reflection within consciousness. Yet in the experience of pain for instance, we have the continuous feeling that it is our experience. According to Taylor, he solves this problem by introducing a pre-reflective self as an integral part of his model of consciousness.]
Further, he claims that this pre-reflective self can be experienced in heightened states of awareness in which the subject “attends his own attention”. Taylor cites studies of subjects meditating which relate both phenomenological observations with data from various forms of brain imaging that support the claim of an experience of pure consciousness, or pre-reflective self, during the period of meditation.
Thus, not only is attention a primary factor in creating consciousness, it can also be used in realizing consciousness by directly contacting the origin of reflective awareness.
By looking at the contexts in which the pointing arises, that of the art experience and consciousness itself, we arrived at a common principle of process, attention. The fact that attention plays such a key role in both art and consciousness is not mere coincident or speculation. Rather, it speaks to the transformative potential inherent in the art experience.
Upon deeper looking, the transformation of perception we are pointing to is realized as ever present within the very pointing. The confrontation then is devoid of abstract logical or spiritual connotations, nor is it the seeking of content within consciousness including the seeking of consciousness itself. [who is to do the seeking?] The confirmation lies on the threshold of consciousness and content recognizing itself as a single awareness.
Now I would like to take a look for a moment at our work and its deeper meaning from a technological perspective. Though the use of technology in our experiment was relatively minimal, what is most important about our work in respect to technology is the process.
The music I made for these painting experiments represents a process of creation similar to the painting. I used a graphical based digital audio editor and sampling program called Reason to produce the music. In the process I would load various samples downloaded from the Internet into digital samplers. I would then work with the song in one relatively short repetitive movement correlating each sound in a single mental space. This could be viewed as constantly working with the climax of the song until all of the pieces fit together as a single harmonious unit. Only after this is completed do I then unpack the song, so to speak, in an arbitrary fashion adding a beginning and an end.
It is really a matter of perspective, or consciousness. And it is about the means of the process rather then the ends of the process. By engaging an absolutely free means absent the constraints of inner time and conditioned levels of perception, the full potential of the medium is effortlessly utilized. What this can mean for the expanding realm of interconnected real time communication and interactive art is hard for me to fathom. Yet maybe that is how it should be, as one would not want to come to any conclusion on such. Rather, it is the working synthesis of art's inherent ability to transform ones perception along with technology's universality that provides increasingly deeper and wider contexts and a unified space in which art and technology can arise simultaneously, and then be transcended. It is the fulfillment of this synthesis that will ultimately gage our understanding and expansion of both consciousness and technology.
Yet by taking this view, it sets the fulfillment of this synthesis not somewhere in the near or distant projected future, but in the here and now of the present moment. Like our painting experiment, this synthesis has the potential to serve as a pointer ultimately directing one to the direct contact of the origin of perception itself, the universal Self or pre-reflective awareness, which is eternally present. Yet, the synthesis of art and modern networking technology has a potential to do so on a scale unlike any other medium. It will not somehow act as a container or creator of consciousness, rather it will be an interconnected vehicle through which consciousness expands and then is abandoned as an object of experience. It can be viewed as equally a force of nature as gravity, similar to bodies taking the least path of resistance within gravitational fields, minds will take the least path of resistance to the realization of consciousness within a unified mental space.
What will drive this unfolding of art, technology and consciousness is a technological embrace founded on absolute acceptance. Not simply the following of an image of acceptance, but an acceptance that flows out of the realization of what is . From this comes a deeper understanding of technology, in that like our environment and society, it is composed out of our projections.
Since it's conception, digital technology has supported and helped develop many facets of human problem solving and expression and will continue to do so. Yet, by primarily projecting technology as a human extension of will or perception, we limit it to our ideologies and to our ways of thinking and perceiving. Even if this is recognized, it may not get to the heart of the matter, which is the depths of experience itself and the subtle peripheral workings of the mind that sets limits to the way we view our experience thus limiting the way we incorporate technology into our experience. Therefore it is our view that in order to tap into the full transformative potential of art and technology, we must awaken to our mental projections in order to move beyond them.
Finally, I would like to touch briefly on what we will be presenting for you here today. It is the second experiential painting experiment that we have created in a similar manner to the first. We have titled it "Omega Point" which takes Teliard de Cardin's concept of an evolution and unification of consciousness not as a scientifically questionable "horizontal" evolution, but as a "vertical" arising within ones consciousness. [Thus on the brink of the end of inner time, lies infinite life.]
Thank you for your attention.
The three main topics of our presentation are Art, Attention, and Consciousness. It is our purpose here not to specifically map these themes and their interrelationships as far out as possible, but to use them in a conceptual synthesis that ultimately points towards a transformation of perception. It is our view that such a transformation lies in directly contacting the origin of perception itself. Clearly, the direct contact of this origin can not be contained in any conception or system of such, as it is an experiencing in which the medium that brings one to it, whether it be through a line of thought or a work of art, fades away in ones consciousness as an object of experience. So one is left only to point towards it.
Starting from a simple idea, we have attempted to do just that through an experiment we have termed experimental painting. I would like to start by describing where the idea came from and how our painting experiment came about.
While studying Jackson Pollock in an art history class, I was assigned to make a painting mimicking his style. Having never painted before, I found his spontaneous and open way of painting quite liberating. While reflecting on the process, one of the things that I encountered was when to designate the painting as finished. As the painting progressed, it appeared to go through various stages of completeness. The question became, which stage was more complete then the next? At a certain point I began to realize that from a purely experiential perspective, the extra layers and additions of paint and color only created varying aesthetic sensations not reducible to the stage in development I subjectively put it in.
Of course I had to stop at some point, but upon further reflection, the painting seemed to contain more meaning in its entirety as it unfolded in time rather then what was left over as a result. Yet, it was not a simple recognition of an evolution from point A to point B, it was more of an intuitive realization of a completeness in each stage of development, in each movement of the brush, in each splatter of paint, and, more specifically, in the moment to moment experiencing of such.
So I thought it would be interesting to attempt to capture this deeper meaning by filming a similar painting as it unfolded in time. Johannes Kohler and I were able to obtain two digital cameras and he filmed the painting as I painted.
Early on in the process, while paying attention to the fact that each "stage" of the painting was to be filmed in its present state, we primarily become focused on attending to each moment. While painting, spontaneous and effortless action arose out of a mindset unconditioned by a projection of an outcome. Or if one arose, it was simply observed as another passing phenomenon of consciousness outlying the background of an awareness focused on the present moment. Full attention emerged as the recognition that that which was painting and that which was being painted acted as a single unity. This recognition or heightened awareness became the means by which the creation unfolded, leaving a residue of form and abstract symmetry. After filming the painting about a dozen times as it "progressed", we tore the painting apart and burned it. Afterwards, I created an abstract electronic soundtrack to go along with what was filmed, and Johannes thematically added the music and edited the film using I-Movie.
The film of the painting together with the music serves as a pointer ultimately to be abandoned as an object of experience. Thus one may, with complete attention absent of any discrimination, enter into the means by which it was created, allowing the same unified experiencing to penetrate the conditioned layers of perception. [ in that in which it was created, the present moment]
In essence, our article is an examination of this way of pointing. At first this may seem as pointless as studying the bone structure of a finger pointing towards the moon rather then simply looking at what it is pointing at. Yet, one may examine the context of the pointing, and upon searching out increasingly deeper and wider contexts, end up coming back to what was being pointed to.
[For example probe the inner structure of the finger to discover its quantum reality made up of 99.999% space and interconnected to everything else within the universal quantum field. Or look at the context out of which the finger arose: birth of the body, explosion of stars, and singularity of the big bang]
So we will start with the contexts in which the pointing arises, the art experience and consciousness. Consciousness can be seen as both the beginning and end of aesthetic experience and therefore what we perceive as the manipulation of material, virtual, or conceptual mediums may be viewed as an act of representation one's consciousness. Representation here is meant not the typical sense of appearance or conceptual representation. Rather, these types of representation are only modes within an infinite continuum of representation, only limited by that which can be perceived within reflective consciousness and by the practical constraints of matter in general. Any human activity or the output of any self-aware system can be seen as such, yet artistic expression is typically the one medium most free of constraints, thus allowing expression that is not based on conditioned ways of perceiving. What emerges not only exchanges and reinterprets meaning within and beyond cultural contexts, but also has the potential to change the very way the art viewer or participator perceive both their inner and outer realties.
This comes to part of the why of art and the other theme of our presentation, attention. In our article we examined attention in relation to the creation and observation of art and in relation to the creation and realization of consciousness.
It is our view that attention plays a primary role in art; specifically within the type of art we are concerned with here, transformative art. We posit that a subject [or interconnected group of subjects] engaged with any object or content of consciousness including any perception or cognition, increases the "depth" of the experience with an increased level of attention. By "depth" here we are pointing to an experience in which the object of consciousness expands into deeper meanings within both axiological and noetic dimensions. Ultimately, it expands beyond our conditioned notions of the object, into layers of deeper understanding such as intuition, finally ending in an experience of unity with the object in which the subject-object duality is completely fulfilled.
When one has such an experience if they are to communicate it they must attempt to move beyond conditioned means of expression. In the process one must attentively observe their continuing mental processes, separate from whatever preconceptions they may have in regards to the experience. What emerges is a representation of their consciousness, however fragmented or limited that representation may be. Then for those observing, the extent in which they attend to the representation, or more specifically, the extent in which they attend their own mental processes while experiencing the object, is the extent in which they can creatively enter into the consciousness of the artist even if only in part.
Although it may be perceived as such, the represented object here is not meant to be some static thing, as it is as transitory as experience itself and can equally be viewed as a process. [the object or content of consciousness that the subject originally experiences can also be seen as a process]
Also, the artist and the observer of the art work need not only be identified as separate identities, but can also be viewed as a set of processes engaged in a single mind, or an evolving set of processes within a system of minds operating within a spectrum of relative harmony or disharmony.
The subject's level of attention (or awareness) can be seen as a continuum, that of which can proceed from our everyday habituated level of experience, to vivid aesthetic or inner spiritual levels of awareness .
The level of attention is also linked to the experience of time. All reflections are extended in time, and here we will posit that in vivid aesthetic or spiritual experience, the more vivid the experience is, the more time is reduced as a background phenomenon of consciousness. The concept of time here can not only represent experiential time, but also chronological time, such as subconscious memories or instincts that affect the way an object is perceived in advance. The most habituated experience would then be that which is most extended in time, either as a part of the subject's experience or extending through past levels of instinct and conditioning within the organism. The vivid spiritual or transformational experience would be that in which time is reduced both experientially and chronologically. As in the act of a direct perception, the content of consciousness increasingly disassociates itself from past instincts and conditioning and from the temporally extended concept of what is being experienced.
Thus attention is not only primary in the inspiration or means by which art is created, it is the primary factor in the art viewers (or participators) ability to enter into the work of art and change their consciousness as a result.
Realizing the primary role attention plays in the transformative art experience, next we will take a look to a deeper context, the role attention plays in consciousness itself.
In a recent review by John Taylor titled "Mind and consciousness: Towards a final answer", he claims that attention is the "gateway to consciousness". He uses a single control model to map the movement attention. The model works for both bottom up control (such as a glimmer of light), and top down control (such as searching for a friend in a crowd). Though these are examples for vision, his model applies to other sensing modalities as well as to motor operations.
Through the execution of his model, working memory buffers are created, and “gaps” emerge within consciousness as content free experience. He claims that these “gaps” are the result of a pre-reflective self and leads to the conscious experience of ownership, which is the “error free ‘I' experience” that is ever present within consciousness.
[Husserl showed that the individual 'I' identity is only another reflection within consciousness. Yet in the experience of pain for instance, we have the continuous feeling that it is our experience. According to Taylor, he solves this problem by introducing a pre-reflective self as an integral part of his model of consciousness.]
Further, he claims that this pre-reflective self can be experienced in heightened states of awareness in which the subject “attends his own attention”. Taylor cites studies of subjects meditating which relate both phenomenological observations with data from various forms of brain imaging that support the claim of an experience of pure consciousness, or pre-reflective self, during the period of meditation.
Thus, not only is attention a primary factor in creating consciousness, it can also be used in realizing consciousness by directly contacting the origin of reflective awareness.
By looking at the contexts in which the pointing arises, that of the art experience and consciousness itself, we arrived at a common principle of process, attention. The fact that attention plays such a key role in both art and consciousness is not mere coincident or speculation. Rather, it speaks to the transformative potential inherent in the art experience.
Upon deeper looking, the transformation of perception we are pointing to is realized as ever present within the very pointing. The confrontation then is devoid of abstract logical or spiritual connotations, nor is it the seeking of content within consciousness including the seeking of consciousness itself. [who is to do the seeking?] The confirmation lies on the threshold of consciousness and content recognizing itself as a single awareness.
Now I would like to take a look for a moment at our work and its deeper meaning from a technological perspective. Though the use of technology in our experiment was relatively minimal, what is most important about our work in respect to technology is the process.
The music I made for these painting experiments represents a process of creation similar to the painting. I used a graphical based digital audio editor and sampling program called Reason to produce the music. In the process I would load various samples downloaded from the Internet into digital samplers. I would then work with the song in one relatively short repetitive movement correlating each sound in a single mental space. This could be viewed as constantly working with the climax of the song until all of the pieces fit together as a single harmonious unit. Only after this is completed do I then unpack the song, so to speak, in an arbitrary fashion adding a beginning and an end.
It is really a matter of perspective, or consciousness. And it is about the means of the process rather then the ends of the process. By engaging an absolutely free means absent the constraints of inner time and conditioned levels of perception, the full potential of the medium is effortlessly utilized. What this can mean for the expanding realm of interconnected real time communication and interactive art is hard for me to fathom. Yet maybe that is how it should be, as one would not want to come to any conclusion on such. Rather, it is the working synthesis of art's inherent ability to transform ones perception along with technology's universality that provides increasingly deeper and wider contexts and a unified space in which art and technology can arise simultaneously, and then be transcended. It is the fulfillment of this synthesis that will ultimately gage our understanding and expansion of both consciousness and technology.
Yet by taking this view, it sets the fulfillment of this synthesis not somewhere in the near or distant projected future, but in the here and now of the present moment. Like our painting experiment, this synthesis has the potential to serve as a pointer ultimately directing one to the direct contact of the origin of perception itself, the universal Self or pre-reflective awareness, which is eternally present. Yet, the synthesis of art and modern networking technology has a potential to do so on a scale unlike any other medium. It will not somehow act as a container or creator of consciousness, rather it will be an interconnected vehicle through which consciousness expands and then is abandoned as an object of experience. It can be viewed as equally a force of nature as gravity, similar to bodies taking the least path of resistance within gravitational fields, minds will take the least path of resistance to the realization of consciousness within a unified mental space.
What will drive this unfolding of art, technology and consciousness is a technological embrace founded on absolute acceptance. Not simply the following of an image of acceptance, but an acceptance that flows out of the realization of what is . From this comes a deeper understanding of technology, in that like our environment and society, it is composed out of our projections.
Since it's conception, digital technology has supported and helped develop many facets of human problem solving and expression and will continue to do so. Yet, by primarily projecting technology as a human extension of will or perception, we limit it to our ideologies and to our ways of thinking and perceiving. Even if this is recognized, it may not get to the heart of the matter, which is the depths of experience itself and the subtle peripheral workings of the mind that sets limits to the way we view our experience thus limiting the way we incorporate technology into our experience. Therefore it is our view that in order to tap into the full transformative potential of art and technology, we must awaken to our mental projections in order to move beyond them.
Finally, I would like to touch briefly on what we will be presenting for you here today. It is the second experiential painting experiment that we have created in a similar manner to the first. We have titled it "Omega Point" which takes Teliard de Cardin's concept of an evolution and unification of consciousness not as a scientifically questionable "horizontal" evolution, but as a "vertical" arising within ones consciousness. [Thus on the brink of the end of inner time, lies infinite life.]
Thank you for your attention.
