unpacking the concept

Synaesthesia is the neurological condition where more or one of the senses come into play to create one overarching sensation. I have chosen to unpack this concept with a focus on the idea of what is real in the context of the psychological; specifically, the psychological state when the soul and the body separate at death, or if they do at all.

I have been heavily influenced by the work of Sonya Peters, an Australian artist who explores the soul in the absence of the conscious; in death and in sleep. She often uses the zoological symbolism of the bird as an earthly link between the heaven and physical world, which I have chosen to emulate. In terms of subject matter, I have used similar subjects to Marian Drew and Bill Henson, whose personal aesthetic I have identified with and tried to emulate.

Looking at sources like the Tibetan Book of the Dead and the novel 21 Grams, I examined the exact moment in which the soul leaves the body. 21 Grams explored this question from both a scientific and Christian-centric theological standpoint, which is where I first formed the ideas surrounding my focus. This was then honed in on when I discovered The Book of the Dead and learned about the concept of the bardo; the phases of death the soul goes through to be reborn. This reminded me of something I had identified as a child – the superstate, a superconsciousness associated with death. The superconsciousness, in my mind, cannot operate when the brain and body are in place, and these forces are controlling soul.

The series is trying to explore the void between what is real and what isn’t; a void that is most commonly referred to in the context of death, in that period when we are neither alive or death. I do not believe that death happens instantaneously, but over a period of time.

I have used, predominantly, the symbols of birds and water; two things that (funnily enough) I was scared of upon starting this project. The bird, the soul carrier, has always seemed like an ominous creature to me, but after meeting Sonya Peters, birds were given new life to me (no pun intended) and now I love birds. Water, a cleansing force in both a religious and practical sense, has frightened me too, but I employed it as a metaphor for the void. I was scared, but now I am less so, which is strange. I would think that making these symbols synonymous with death would make me more scared of them.

I would like to display the pictures I have taken as straight images, to make them plain and simple and easy to understand. I have ideas for a film, which I plan to record this week sometime. I would have that up on a screen, large, with the sound from it filling the room.

THE VOID

The series I have created underwater, to me, really examine this idea of The Void - the halfway point between life, consciousness, reality and the pseudo-reality, the superconsciousness, death.

Many of the images feature a body halfway emerging from the water. Water is a cleansing agent, in a spiritual, theological sense and in a practical sense. In Christian mythology, it is the water that allows one a clean slate. It is used to Baptise and heal. I used it in my first series, which featured the bird, for a few reasons: to allow the bird movement it would otherwise be denied, and to also utilise the water a symbol of life. The bird was bathed in life; martyred, stolen, sacrilegious.

The sections of the body that are not seen represent this idea of "crossing over" into the unknown realms. This is probably the series that draws my other images together. The ideas of the bird being the guardian, the soul-carrier, the connection between the spirit and human world, the transition between the human world and that of the death, the idea of rebirth and the concept of that "half-way" point. Any other advice to tie these altogether in these last couple of weeks would be greatly appreciated!

TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, aka The Great Liberation Upon Hearing the Intermediate State, examines exactly that; the intermediate state.

In the text, the different "bardos" or states of reality are examined. I listened to it on an audio tape (that had an accompanying book), but I have also done some research online.

The Bardo Thodol teaches that once awareness is freed from the body, it creates its own reality as one would experience in a dream. This dream occurs in various phases (the "bardos") in ways both wonderful and terrifying. Overwhelming peaceful and wrathful visions and deities appear.

(from this website)

This reminds me, however vaguely, of the idea of lucid dreaming. Being somebody who is quite in touch with my dreams, I understand that lucid dream is the Eeden concept of knowing one is dreaming while the dream occurs. The idea that within the bardos, ones own surrealist reality is created, reminds me of lucid dreaming. I wonder if it has this quality of being able to come into contact with this "reality" consciously, despite having entered a 'superconsciousness'.

I'm not sure where I cam across this idea of the superconscious, or a superstate; I can't find it anywhere. I remember thinking about it quite a while ago, so it must be something I heard as a child. Maybe somebody just made it up.

I think of the superconscious as the height of consciousness reached in death; when reality is no longer a factor, all that is 'real' is this heightened consciousness and state of being.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead really challenged this notion of the superconscious; the state between life and death. I'm not sure if I was supposed to get some deeper meaning out of it; perhaps my mind is so deeply clouded by the world I have created... with these thoughts of a superconscious reality.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead also gave me insight into the idea of the soul needing time to leave the body. I do not think that death happens instantaneously, I think it is a gradual process. For all you know, I'm dying right now. In my reality, the soul, body and the mind are separate states of being which human beings can channel at will. They do not all have to operate simultaneously, and perhaps none can function to their full extent with the others in play.

Perhaps the reason we do not reach this "bardo" state, this superconsciousness until we die is because our mind and our body get in the way. In some ways, I welcome death.

I've done a lot of studies into various cultures and religions; you know, why people feel the need for religion, why they feel the need to seek (or perhaps fabricate) an afterlife. Like it's all some ridiculous coping mechanism.

I wonder if that's what I have done - if I actually believe it or if I know, deep down, I've made it all up. I guess I won't know - and that void between the conscious and the subconscious, so often paralleled in this idea of death and soul - is the best way I can illustrate the overarching idea of this void. Maybe I will never know what parts of my life I fabricate; but perhaps that doesn't mean it's not real.

PHOTOGRAPHY

The last couple of weeks I have been preparing work to stick into my visual diary but, for the purpose of not wasting paper (since I'm onto my second visual diary) I decided I should probably just upload it onto a blog instead.

I wanted a new blog though.

Viola!

Will continue to update with pre-prepared work throughout this busy time.