Exploring the Void Within Its Context; A foundation for understandingView pictures of this exhibition
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here.space
noun
1 a continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied
Particular spaces define our lives:
1. Nature is the space that holds force in causing and regulating phenomena. These are the laws of nature that bind us to the earth.
2. Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future. Within a space in time we will define our self as a whole.
Nature and time are constant spaces that thrive with or without us. Nevertheless, with them we can recognize our self as organic and grounded. Therefore, our aptitude as humans to recognize our free will allows us a quest for liberation.
3. Being free willed, organic and grounded gives us the ability to define our own personal space within nature and time.
Defining personal spaces is of primary concern. How does one conclude that we are truly able to define our own spaces? First, one must determine that we actually exist within space. Second, one must determine existence of space as a reality.
Rene Descartes determined the existence of space through self-exploration. Cogito ergo sum or, I think therefore I am, is his conclusion determining that we truly exist within thought. Descartes also established the necessity of a material world by recognizing that sense perceptions take place whether willed or not through thought. The conclusion suggests we exist as both mind and body; two distinct spaces.
mind
noun
1 the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought
body
noun ( pl. bodies)
1 the physical structure of a person or an animal, including the bones, flesh, and organs
the physical and mortal aspect of a person as opposed to the soul or spirit : a duality of body and soul.
Cartesian Dualism turned the world on its head with explosions of thought. His philosophy is often criticized by its lack of explanation of how the body, a material object, and the mind, being nonmaterial, can interact to produce a vital functioning being without supernatural explanations that constitute a metaphysical space.
metaphysical
adjective
1 of or relating to metaphysics : the essentially metaphysical question of the nature of the mind.
based on abstract (typically, excessively abstract) reasoning : an empiricist rather than a metaphysical view of law.
transcending physical matter or the laws of nature : Good and Evil are inextricably linked in a metaphysical battle across space and time.
Even so, few argue against the existence of a body, or material world completely. Even those that believe the physical world, especially that defined by science cannot be trusted, rarely refute its existence although it is often explained as an extension of our mind.
And even the mind in all of its complexity remains largely an unmapped space. Many thinkers have gone so far to deny that explanation between the relationship of mind and body is even relevant. Some believe, or think, the mind is simply a psychological myth.
For example, Materialism states that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications. In this sense, the need to explain the problems within Cartesian Dualism is obsolete. Nevertheless, even modern sciences struggle with the definition of matter. Most believe that matter cannot describe the mind even using arguments rooted in modern neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Remember the need for a metaphysical space?
Also, Eliminative Materialism argues that the mind and its functions do not exist and are simply a false perception of humans. Of course, using basic functions of the mind to disprove they exist is arguably self-refuting.
It is evidently difficult and often problematic to disprove the existence of both mind and body. Therefore, accepting mind and body as true spaces still leaves us with questions between the connections of metaphysical spaces and that of what we can only relatively understand within the space of the material world.
In exploring the relationship of mind, body and the metaphysical spaces they suggest one must also consider a breadth of relevant questions that may include things such as the necessity for either a god or God. All of these multifarious questions will help in naming the definition of the spaces we call our own. In other words; the meaning of life.
Exploring the Void Within Its Context is an exhibition chronicling a personal journey in defining ones personal space. It is through the reconciliation of slippery positive and negative spaces that understanding has occurred. The work suggests space as a contingent totality. In other words, positive and negative spaces exist dependent on each other to define a whole of something.
Emphasis is placed on exploring that of which seems hardest to understand, the void.
void |void|
noun
a completely empty space
an emptiness caused by the loss of something
an unfilled space in a wall, building, or structure
Completely empty; free from; lacking; vacant.
The void exposes crucial questions that are a guide to personal understanding. Architect Louis Kahn touched on these silent truths when he wrote:
The order of making the wall brought about
An order of wall making which included the opening.
Then came the column,
Which was an automatic kind of order,
Making that which was opening,
And that which was not opening.
A rhythm of openings was then decided by the wall itself,
Which was then no longer a wall,
But a series of columns and openings.
Such realizations came out of nothing in nature.
They come out of a mysterious kind of sense
That man has to express those wonders of the soul which demand expression.
soul
noun
1 the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
a person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity
the essence of something
emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, esp. as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance
The answers derived from the process of creation, the retrospective look of development within time, and the work that will be generated play vital roles in defining ones personal existence through the understanding of space.
Definitions approriated from:
Dictionary, Version 1.0.2 (1.0.2) Copyright © 2005 Apple Computer, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
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