Sitting over at the Three Shadows Library – which is just a minute away from our studio at Platform China. At Platform China there is a lot of building going on next door – which is getting really loud – and too distrcting to work, so I have left Pablo and Matt to watch DVDs and I have escaped the chaos to got some work done. The library is a great place to work, however today, there are few americans, italians and english people, speaking english, and I find myself drawn to the conversations – eavesdropping – I guess I haven’t been able to listen to conversations for a while. In our everyday, few people speak english around us – and now, hearing all of these english speakers, its really hard not to listen. Its really distracting actually.
Spending some time researching how chinese medicine looks at emotion. There are traditionally seven broad emotions in Chinese medicine: Joy, Sadness/Grief, Pensiveness/Worry, Fear, Anger, Shock, and Fright. Traditional Chinese medical theory believes the body is in the control “of the Five Elements: Earth, Wood, Fire, Water, and Metal. Each element corresponds to a specific organ as well as a specific emotion. The emotions are not believed to always be the direct cause of an ailment, but have an undeniable connection with the progress and condition of the problem. ” In optimal health, ones emotions flow freely, are acknowledged, responded to appropriately, and then we move on to the next “feeling”. Illness only arise when one becomes “stuck” in emotions, – ignore or suppress them.
We took a bus into 798 district today to pick up the glasses project from the Optometrist. The glasses with the mirrors worked well – This work will be a part of the Nowness Series, (working title – maybe Nowness Excercises) – potentially called Ponder. As you look through the glasses the only thing you can see are your own eyes staring back at you. Its hard to focus – my eyes are blurry. Its a bit confronting, a bit dizzying, Pablo loved them. I guess, they are about taking time out – a small tool for introspection, and taking time out to think about essence, about purpose, about the day.
self-re·flec·tion (slfr-flkshn)n.Self-examination; introspection.self-re·flective adj.self-re·flective·ly adv.
pon·der (pndr)v. pon·dered, pon·der·ing, pon·dersv.tr.To weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care.v.intr.To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.
Ponder is the fourth project of Nowness Series.
The others – Present Perfect Continuous (showing at Pheonix this saturday night) explores present tense – skype changes the conversation to present tense.
Another – Percolate, uses skype video, shifting it, so you can only look deeply into each others eyes at you converse.
Divulge is a chat engine that intervenes by asking a lot of questions.
I have thought of making some sort of mirrored facial wear, but I am not so sure about this yet, how to go about it, what it would feel like to wear.
WE went to the great wall of china yesterday – fantastic. Took the bus from the train station and then a cab – great day. I would like to go again, to find parts of the wall that are still in their older state.
