“We are not animals, we are human beings with some consciousness, & that is a deep mystery.” – Alfred Pulyan, private letter to Richard Rose, 12 October 19….
Being conscious that we’re conscious sometimes leads to a sense of awe. We want to know what it means to be alive. Among the many ways that human beings do to investigate this mystery, the artistic way, for some reason, appeals to me most.
What does it mean to artistically express?
This question drove the creation of this website. We live in a world that views art as something uncommon. As a result, the act of creating art, too, is viewed as a luxury, and worse, impractical, irrelevant, a waste of time. My experiences with art-making–––my struggles, successes, obstacles, failures, meetings with others with the same yearning, synchronicities, and above all, the curiosity that keeps on nagging me about it–––challenged these assumptions. I think for some people art-making is a need. Sure, nowadays elephants can paint elephant self-portraits much better than many human beings can paint their human self-portraits, but I am less interested in the product than I am in the process. What is it that I am trying to express? What is the source of this impulse? What does this impulse point to, if anything?
I do not yet have the answer, but I have done and continue to experiment and research. Here I post what I’ve found so far. This website is, too, an experiment.
I use the word art here to cover all forms of expressions on which I have put my thoughts and hands: music, visual arts, poetry, and any kind of writings (including journal entries and honest emails to trustworthy friends). If one day I get into, say, latte art, this will be included here, too.