Artist Statement:
“Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form; Mediations on the Heart Sutra”
William Ishmael
Here is the concept:
When I read the Heart Sutra for the first time, I was struck by what seemed to be the potential for great wisdom in the words. But I had no idea what the wisdom actually was or how to apply it to my life. These 49 works were done to explore and begin to understand the concept of "Form is Emptiness/Emptiness is Form", a key concept in that important Buddhist teaching. However, I drew not only from the Heart Sutra but also from the work of quantum physicists whose findings are often compared to Buddhist concepts. I can’t yet claim either field as my own, but this effort has helped me gain insight and the beginnings of understanding how it might apply to my life.
Here is the execution:
To try to express the ‘Form is Emptiness/Emptiness is Form’ concept, I used a variety of materials to express my thoughts and feelings on the topic. In doing this is used materials and manipulations of materials to express the lack of ‘intrinsic existence” and the absence of a solid form. For this I used: plexiglass, mirrors, sand/concrete, steel and the oxidation of steel, ceramics, and, yes, even paint.
Additional inspiration:
During the course of preparing this work, the artist who stood out as the inspirational force was John Cage. Although he is best known for his musical works, he was an excellent visual artist, applying the same principles (Zen influences, randomness, chance) to surfaces as he did to his music. This is not the place to expound further, except perhaps to post a couple of his quotations that were important to me during this process:
“There is one term of the problem which you are not taking into account: precisely, the world. The real. You say: the real, the world as it is. But it is not, it becomes! It moves, it changes! It doesn’t wait for us to change. It is more mobile than you can imagine. You are getting closer to this reality when you say as it 'presents itself'; that means that it is not there, existing as an object. The world, the real is not an object. It is a process.”
“Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.”
“Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form; Mediations on the Heart Sutra”
William Ishmael
Here is the concept:
When I read the Heart Sutra for the first time, I was struck by what seemed to be the potential for great wisdom in the words. But I had no idea what the wisdom actually was or how to apply it to my life. These 49 works were done to explore and begin to understand the concept of "Form is Emptiness/Emptiness is Form", a key concept in that important Buddhist teaching. However, I drew not only from the Heart Sutra but also from the work of quantum physicists whose findings are often compared to Buddhist concepts. I can’t yet claim either field as my own, but this effort has helped me gain insight and the beginnings of understanding how it might apply to my life.
Here is the execution:
To try to express the ‘Form is Emptiness/Emptiness is Form’ concept, I used a variety of materials to express my thoughts and feelings on the topic. In doing this is used materials and manipulations of materials to express the lack of ‘intrinsic existence” and the absence of a solid form. For this I used: plexiglass, mirrors, sand/concrete, steel and the oxidation of steel, ceramics, and, yes, even paint.
Additional inspiration:
During the course of preparing this work, the artist who stood out as the inspirational force was John Cage. Although he is best known for his musical works, he was an excellent visual artist, applying the same principles (Zen influences, randomness, chance) to surfaces as he did to his music. This is not the place to expound further, except perhaps to post a couple of his quotations that were important to me during this process:
“There is one term of the problem which you are not taking into account: precisely, the world. The real. You say: the real, the world as it is. But it is not, it becomes! It moves, it changes! It doesn’t wait for us to change. It is more mobile than you can imagine. You are getting closer to this reality when you say as it 'presents itself'; that means that it is not there, existing as an object. The world, the real is not an object. It is a process.”
“Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.”