L E V E L S O F P E R C E P T I O N
"All civilization in a sense exists only in the mind. Gunpowder, textile arts, machinery, laws, telephones are not themselves transmitted from man to man or from generation to generation, at least not permanently. It is the perception, the knowledge and understanding of them, their ideas in the Platonic sense, that are passed along. Everything social can have existence only through mentality."
ALFRED L. KROEBER
ALFRED L. KROEBER
The business of the magician is to artfully manipulate powerful forces which are accessible via the personal unconscious; easier said than done. The tools that we have at our disposal to achieve this impressive feat are the physical senses. Pretty ironic really; because these are the very things that have us anchored into the physical world. It's the ultimate paradox but, nevertheless, if we want to access the higher planes of consciousness we have to pass through these meaty portals. The process is termed 'gnosis' and there is a whole section here devoted to it.
The point of this page is to demonstrate how to communicate on these rarefied planes. Sounds complicated but actually you're doing it on a constant and ongoing basis albeit just below the threshold of consciousness.
What do you think dreams are? To illustrate my point there is a rather spooky correlation between the 'language of consciousness' and the drama that has been unfolding in the visual arts since the turn of the 20th century. Bear with me on this one; think of everyday consciousness as figurative painting - paintings that are aimed at fooling the eye into believing a that a two dimensional surface is, in fact, a three dimensional object. And as we penetrate deeper into the unconscious, that is further into the 20th century, objective representation becomes progressively less and less important to the point where concept alone remains.
The point of this page is to demonstrate how to communicate on these rarefied planes. Sounds complicated but actually you're doing it on a constant and ongoing basis albeit just below the threshold of consciousness.
What do you think dreams are? To illustrate my point there is a rather spooky correlation between the 'language of consciousness' and the drama that has been unfolding in the visual arts since the turn of the 20th century. Bear with me on this one; think of everyday consciousness as figurative painting - paintings that are aimed at fooling the eye into believing a that a two dimensional surface is, in fact, a three dimensional object. And as we penetrate deeper into the unconscious, that is further into the 20th century, objective representation becomes progressively less and less important to the point where concept alone remains.
B O D Y C A L L I N G B R A I N
“Intuition is perception via the unconscious”
CARL GUSTAV JUNG
Sensory input comes in a range of modes; here are five of the most obvious. [1] 'focussed' = appreciating a painting or listenning to a symphony [2] 'controlled' = meditation or ritual [3] 'uncontrolled' = extreme sports or sexual activity [4] 'involuntary' = car crash or mugging [5] 'passive' = watching TV or supermarket shopping. Peak experiences are reported in the first four modes. Rarely do you achieve such clarity in mode five e.g. watching soaps or buying corn flakes.
In 'focused', 'controlled' and 'uncontrolled' modes the peak experience is very much the objective. In Involuntary mode peak experiences can be the unexpected by-product of body chemistry activated by trauma. The majority of our time is spent in the 'passive' mode leaving the unconscious to prioritise activity based on information received.
“Intuition is perception via the unconscious”
CARL GUSTAV JUNG
Sensory input comes in a range of modes; here are five of the most obvious. [1] 'focussed' = appreciating a painting or listenning to a symphony [2] 'controlled' = meditation or ritual [3] 'uncontrolled' = extreme sports or sexual activity [4] 'involuntary' = car crash or mugging [5] 'passive' = watching TV or supermarket shopping. Peak experiences are reported in the first four modes. Rarely do you achieve such clarity in mode five e.g. watching soaps or buying corn flakes.
In 'focused', 'controlled' and 'uncontrolled' modes the peak experience is very much the objective. In Involuntary mode peak experiences can be the unexpected by-product of body chemistry activated by trauma. The majority of our time is spent in the 'passive' mode leaving the unconscious to prioritise activity based on information received.
T H E M A G I C A L P O T E N T I A L O F S Y N E S T H E S I A
Although synesthesia was the topic of intensive scientific investigation in the late 19th century and early 20th century, it was largely abandoned by scientific research in the mid-20th century, and has only recently been rediscovered by modern researchers. Psychological research has demonstrated that synesthetic experiences can have measurable behavioral consequences, while functional neuroimaging studies have identified differences in patterns of brain activation. Many people with synesthesia use their experiences to aid in their creative process, and many non-synesthetes have attempted to create works of art that may capture what it is like to experience synesthesia.
Take the example of the apple (above) which is painted, obviously, in two dimensions. So effectively does the painting mimic three dimensional reality it activates all of our other senses in train to the visual input. The hand can feel the weight of it and the texture of its skin, the mouth begins to salivate at the thought of biting into it, the ear can imaging the crunch as your teeth take a bite, and you can smell its sweetness. Rene Magrette famously entitled one of his paintings 'This is not an apple'; but in the face of a painting of this quality we all suffer from synesthesia.
Although synesthesia was the topic of intensive scientific investigation in the late 19th century and early 20th century, it was largely abandoned by scientific research in the mid-20th century, and has only recently been rediscovered by modern researchers. Psychological research has demonstrated that synesthetic experiences can have measurable behavioral consequences, while functional neuroimaging studies have identified differences in patterns of brain activation. Many people with synesthesia use their experiences to aid in their creative process, and many non-synesthetes have attempted to create works of art that may capture what it is like to experience synesthesia.
Take the example of the apple (above) which is painted, obviously, in two dimensions. So effectively does the painting mimic three dimensional reality it activates all of our other senses in train to the visual input. The hand can feel the weight of it and the texture of its skin, the mouth begins to salivate at the thought of biting into it, the ear can imaging the crunch as your teeth take a bite, and you can smell its sweetness. Rene Magrette famously entitled one of his paintings 'This is not an apple'; but in the face of a painting of this quality we all suffer from synesthesia.
"My aim in publishing this collection is to make clear the various mythical people represented on the monuments of Egypt, to distinguish them one from another; without claiming to enter into the very foundation of their emblematic or symbolical significance."
JEAN-FRANCOIS CHAMPOLLION (1790 - 1832)
JEAN-FRANCOIS CHAMPOLLION (1790 - 1832)
"The soul never thinks without a picture."
ARISTOTLE (384BC - 322 BC)
ARISTOTLE (384BC - 322 BC)
“The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”
MICHELANGELO (1475 - 1564)
MICHELANGELO (1475 - 1564)
“The deepest and most lifelike emotion has been expressed, and that's the reason they have taken so long to execute.”
REMBRANDT (1606 - 1669)
REMBRANDT (1606 - 1669)
Many people with synesthesia use their experiences to aid in their creative process, and many non-synesthetes have attempted to create works of art that may capture what it is like to experience synesthesia. Psychologists and neuroscientists study synesthesia not only for its inherent interest, but also for the insights it may give into cognitive and perceptual processes that occur in synesthetes and non-synesthetes alike.
"I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them."
PABLO PICASSO (1881 - 1973)
PABLO PICASSO (1881 - 1973)
"Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision."
SALVADOR DALI
SALVADOR DALI
“If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream.”
RENE MAGRITTE
RENE MAGRITTE
"In a composition in which corporeal elements are more or less superfluous, they can be more or less omitted and replaced by purely abstract forms, or by corporeal forms that have been completed abstracted."
WASSILY KANDINSKY
WASSILY KANDINSKY
"I have a clear view of 12 years of history of my inner self. First the cramped self, that self with big blinkers, then the disappearance of the blinkers and the self, now gradually the reemergence of a self without blinkers."
PAUL KLEE
PAUL KLEE
"The emotion of beauty is always obscured by the appearance of the object. Therefore the object must be eliminated from the picture."
PIET MONDRIAN
PIET MONDRIAN
"What I am looking for... is an immobile movement, something which would be the equivalent of what is called the eloquence of silence, or what St. John of the Cross, I think it was, described with the term 'mute music'."
JOAN MIRO
JOAN MIRO
“Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit, and the only means of making concrete the purpose of its varied quickness and stillness.”
MARK ROTHKO
MARK ROTHKO
"During the 1960s, I think, people forgot what emotions were supposed to be. And I don't think they've ever remembered."
ANDY WARHOL
ANDY WARHOL
"Immortality is really desirable, I guess. In terms of images, anyway."
DAMIEN HIRST
DAMIEN HIRST