I love these encounters in and with the arts, when they are pure. And, of course, an art that is evoking this subtle, yet all pervading, undeniable presence of something greater.
As a curator and art scientist, I have been asked the question „What does the artist want to tell?“ more times than I can remember. I wonder sometimes – does it say more about an art to which people hardly can relate (anymore) or does it say more about us and that we have forgotten to open up to our own answers and to be touched by our inner self or maybe both?
These days I visited the beautiful chapel of light by James Turrell, one of his few permanent sites worldwide, which has been located in the Bavarian hinterland in Germany for a year now. I like that you have to travel to see it. Traveling for a work of art, a person or a place has a meaning in itself.
"A Chapel for Luke and his scribe Lucius the Cyrene" by James Turrell at the Diözesanmuseum Freising
Standing there in the light, I got approached from two nuns and their caretaker and they were asking me exactly that question. What, honestly, to answer? So, I looked at them as they were standing with me in the space filled with colored light where all outlines of the architectural space were fused together. It was almost mystical in a way. „Maybe it’s that you can’t see the floor right now, but the ground is still carrying you“, I answered. And then there was silence. A silence connected to the simple shift in perception – from the outer to the inner, into feeling and the body.
An art, that can reconnect us to these kind of experiences, is still rare. The pointing to something greater is so immanent that it transcends our human thinking mind if we only would allow it; to let go the urge to understand for a second, but to be more open to feel, to truly see – beyond our divided ideas of existence.
“Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind:
1) Study the science of art.
2) Study the art of science.
3) Develop your senses - especially learn how to see.
4) Realize that everything connects to everything else.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Onward! On a mission! ✨
Love,
Tina
TINA GUTHKNECHT