Idea-The Unknown

"Creative people tend to be comfortable living in this space of non-space. When artists are working, such a phenomenon often results in the feeling that, although something is moving them in a particularly creative direction, they are also allowing themselves to be moved."

"To be receptive, philosophically, to the 'unknowing mind'  requires 'fuzzying' the brain, creating a soft focus, a willingness to allow things not to become completely clear all at once, but to remain diffuse at the edges"

(see source below)

I am exploring a spiritual way of thinking with this project. I do not claim a specific religion and don't necessarily wish to discuss one in my work, but my concept does address a connection with myself and the world around me in a large way. By artistically representing my struggling to be my own island, I am almost posing an unanswerable question, exploring an unknown that could possibly lead to no where. I have to open up my thinking, accept that I don't know the answers to my own questions or how to obtain them, that this project may expose itself to me when I least expect it. 

Becker, Carol. "Intimate, Immediate, Spontaneous, Obvious. Educating the Unknowing Mind." Buddha Mind In Contemporary Art. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California, 2004. 87-95. Print. 

Buddha Mind In Contemporary art contains a collection of essays from people in the art, or academic, or spiritual community, that discuss the integration of buddhist principals/thinking in art making today. More specifically, the essay I referenced today by Carol Becker, talks about "educating the unknowing mind" and her journey through conventional and unconventional thinking. She gives insight on developing concepts and ideas through a teachers perspective and also incorporates buddhist teaching she has adapted to thinking about art. This book is proving to be beneficial to me even though I don't focus specifically on buddhism, I believe there is a lot to be learned by studying other ways of thinking. 

Marina Abramovic "Nude in the Cave" 2005, C-Print 100x130 cm