obliterated
she just wanted to blend in: 01/01/2002 - 02/01/2002
she just wanted to blend in
the use of hands as a form of meditation
1/27/2002
Alighiero Boetti
Conceived and Squared (Pensato e quadrato) Boetti's first work woven and held within a square weft is a perforated lace monochrome that plays on the dialectic between solids and voids; one reads millenovecentosettanta (nineteen seventy)— still horizontally, before the discovery of vertical reading that characterizes the tapestries of later years. In many of the subsequent works the artist preferred not to use his own hands— the skillful hands of the model-airplaine builder—leaving the execution of the works to chance or to the obedient diligence of other hands. In a play of give-and-take, Boetti established the method; events or other people did the work.
Alighiero Boetti -- 1940 Born in Turin, Italy,Lived and worked in Rome ,1994 Died in Rome, 24 April
Formazione-- Autodidatta segue la corrente della Pop-Art, eseguendo bozzetti a matita o con altri mezzi grafici su oggetti di uso comune. Nel 1969-70 ha fatto parte del gruppo dell'Arte povera.
Artist's Statement (1967) In 1948 I tore a large sheet of brown paper to get little rectangular pieces that I piled up, and with which I erected a rather unstable column. In 1954 I straightened out a piece of corrugated cardboard with a surface area of a square metre. Since 1957, without interruption, I have been smoothing out the silver paper from cigarette boxes. In 1962 I began to detach the filters from cigarettes, with which I created long strips; in the case of the Murattis, I was startled to note an extremely interesting granular stratification. In 1958, under the guidance of Mr. Sergio Vercellino, a resident of Vagliumina (Biella) and an agriculturalist, I cut, with a scythe, about 3 m3 of grass. In 1950 about twenty small ice cream glasses, which I collected with some difficulty, were inserted one inside the other so as to form an arch. In the same year I filled a little plastic box with some twelve little matchboxes, and with a great deal of difficulty I bought a packet of Marlboro which I soon took apart, flattened and stretched out. In 1949 I had rolled up a metre of yellow fabric and put my little finger in it to form a kind of tower of Babel. In 1953 I took a red or blue rubber band and stretched it with the four fingers of my right hand to form a square. A pile of sand about 30 cm. high was made in 1949, in Alassio, where I also dug a big hole until I found water. The first pile of matches and the first bundle of pencils date back to 1947. There were also countless works either with salt water or aqueduct water, or with other liquids of various kinds. Using a pencil as a ruler I cut up a manifesto in 1948, and in the same year, if I remember correctly, I poured an inkpot into a glass full of sawdust. In April 1951 I melted tinfoil and other metals and poured them into some water. The first experiments with a sheepskin that I squashed against some glass, not to mention the experiment of pouring liquid sugar on the marble kitchen table, took place in 1952-53. Bending a piece of rubber between two fingers, rolling a sphere on a plane inclined by myself to this end, rolling up a soft wire inside a pencil, mixing different colored powders, these are the works carried out between March and April 1949. From 1946 onwards, I have continuously poked fires with the help of various materials. In 1954 it took me three days to glue together a manuscript that I had torn into a thousand little pieces; two hours were enough to put in a vertical position, in a line, 342 matches; it took me a moment to put a weight on a spider's web; I took advantage of the early hours of the afternoon to strip off the bark of a tree to see its smooth, moist surface.Alighiero e Boetti
Afghan and Pakistani embroidiers....PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- The young woman looks like an unlikely public enemy of Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
She has shed the heavy, all-encompassing burqa that women in her native Afghanistan are required to wear and has donned the female attire common in Pakistani cities -- a calf-length shirt over loose trousers and a light, gauzy head scarf called a dupatta.
But as an exiled Afghan working for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, an underground network known as RAWA, she risks her life daily, the 21-year-old says.
The 2,000-member, all-female organization is devoted to fighting for the rights of Afghan women and exposing what it sees as Taliban atrocities.
"It is more dangerous now," says the young woman who, fearing for her safety, gives her name only as Marina.
"It is an uncertain situation," Marina says about the volatile climate in Peshawar, the dusty, frontier city in northern Pakistan, a hot spot for fierce anti-American protests by Islamic militants. "And with such a high number of (Afghan) refugees, you cannot screen everyone. You could be talking to anyone."
RAWA represents everything that the fundamentalist Taliban regime hates. Founded in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1977 as a feminist organization, RAWA began exposing excesses committed by warring factions that arose after the collapse of the Soviet-backed regime in 1992 and then by the Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in 1996.
....RAWA members working among Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of 2 million have established 24 home-based schools and literacy classes for people too poor to pay for their own educations. Calling themselves social workers, they have set up embroidery and carpet-weaving centers to help women in refugee camps earn a little income.
Dal 1968 attua lo sdoppiamento della propria figura di artista con l'opera Gemelli: una cartolina postale dove si vede Boetti che tiene per mano un altro se stesso, simile ma non identico, mentre camminano in un viale alberato. Alla fine del 1972 si trasferisce a Roma e inizia a firmarsi "Alighiero e Boetti". Il lavoro sul tema del doppio corrisponde spesso alla realizzazione di opere e progetti con interventi esterni, che coinvolgono una pratica anonima e collettiva.
Vengono dichiaratamente affidati a molteplici esecutori le carte ricoperte di tratteggi a penna a biro, i ricami Mappa, riproducenti un planisfero politico dove ogni nazione è indicata con i colori della propria bandiera (realizzati dal 1971 in Afghanistan), altri tipi di ricami con lettere che compongono testi in italiano e nella lingua afghana (farsi) o con elementi figurali accostati l'uno all'altro fino a ricoprire l'intera superficie della tela (Tutto).
Ai numerosi procedimenti che Boetti sperimenta, si affiancano spesso il senso del gioco e la piacevolezza del colore. In un'intervista al 'Corriere della Sera' del 19 gennaio 1992, parlando dei ricami 'Tutto', l'artista dichiara:"Per non creare gerarchie tra i colori li uso tutti. Il mio problema infatti è di non fare scelte secondo il mio gusto ma d'inventare sistemi che poi scelgono per me".
Boetti's maps will always be my favorites. Still incredibly topical, the tapestries were designed by people who were asked to depict different countries according to the pattern of the national flag. Once the layout was ready, Boetti gave the design to Afghan women from Peshawar for the actual weaving. The versions of each map vary because of the manual execution and political changes in the world. Gallery Seno has issued a catalogue for the show with an essay by Angela Vettese.
Alighiero was involved in the Italian arte povera of the 1960s. The arte povera artists (Boetti, Kounellis, Merz, Pistoletto, and others) dealt in a simple manner with everyday situations that usually go by unnoticed. They often made use of natural, authentic materials. However, in 1969, Boetti distanced himself from the arte povera, because in his opinion the artists involved in this movement attached to much value to the materials used. The gist of his criticism against arte povera was that, according to him, the public aspect was beginning to predominate. Boetti’s art undermines the aura of museum-oriented art. Durability and commercial value are not criteria that Boetti takes into account. This becomes clear in the very short performances from the 1970s, in which Boetti is standing with his back to the camera, writing a sentence on the wall, in ordinary and mirror writing at the same time. The writing is perfectly controlled, in fluent movements he writes with both his right and left hands, forwards and backwards. All that remains of Oggi è venerdi ventisette marzo millenovecentosettanta (Today is Friday, March 27th, 1970) is a photograph. Ciò che sempre parla in silenzio è il corpo has been preserved for posterity in the form of a video recording. In this performance, Boetti writes ‘Ciò che sempre parla in silenzio è il corpo’ on the wall, which means something like: ‘the body always speaks in silence’. With these performances, Boetti seems to want to convey that language is a construction of thoughts that originates in the brain. Language can just as easily be made up of signs other than letters (body language) or of other combinations of letters. For example, language could also be learned as mirror writing. Boetti manipulates language by means of mirror effects, which disturbs the real language.
L'artista si fece chiamare fin dagli inizi della sua produzione artistica in un modo che risulta essere emblematico della sua natura di artista e del suo modo di fare arte: Alighiero e Boetti. La "e" che lega il suo nome al suo cognome è indice di quell' idea di alterità così presente nella poetica dell'artista, infatti con quella vocale non si vuole intendere una lettera ma una congiunzione che si riscontra solo con il riconoscimento della distinzione reciproca tra il nome Alighiero e il cognome Boetti. Non per questo bisogna considerare Alighiero rappresentativo dell' individuo privato: era sempre lui, l'artista ma nella valenza complementare di Boetti "...come il disordine sta all'ordine, il provvisorio al definito [...]Non principi antitetici, piuttosto modalità diverse, alternanza di manifestazioni asimmetriche da ordine e caos , secondo le cosmegonie della più antiche saggezze filosofiche, e secondo le più moderne teorie scientifiche sull'origine dell'universo. Ciò che Alighiero amava più nei tappeti turkmeni o nei tradizionali arazzi di Bukhara era, nascosto nell'apparente simmetria assiale del motivo, l'errore sublime, la dissimetria, la dissonanza di una losanga o di un mazzolino di fiori in più, come imperfezione deliberata e omaggio umile alla perfetta armonia divina
And a pair of works by Alighiero Boetti adds a chilling timeliness. In 1969, Boetti drew national flags onto a world map, which he later commissioned four women in Afghanistan — “the best embroideresses in the world” — to re-create as wall hangings. Many of those nations no longer exist; the women have long since fled their homes, while their handwork graces a Midwestern museum.
As America, Italy and Afghanistan share a drastically altered map today, the gritty global spirit of Arte Povera resonates in the Walker’s brilliant white halls.
the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world” the best embroideresses in the world”
A typical day for Germana begins at the crack of dawn when she wakes up to help her mother prepare tea for the family. Later, she assists her with the household chores. Next she is sent to a neighbour Shaano’s house to learn embroidery. Shaano’s own daughter sits there embroidering a cap for her prospective husband. It is customary for the girls to prepare clothes and linen for their weddings with their own hands.
Boetti’s first Afghan embroidery, 11 July 2023 – 16 December 2040 (1971). Bordered with zigzags and patterned with bright flowers like a sampler, the pair of cotton squares bear the date on which Boetti predicted h would die and that of the centenary of his birth. Brancusi-like, the work was realized in other materials, including incised wood and polished brass (the latter also at Sperone Westwater), which has a more obvious commemorative quality.
Boetti's autobiographical pieces have a witty, poetic sensibility which set the tone for many contemporary self-portraits. He capriciously placed a butterfly on the chest of a clay figure entitled "Me sunbathing in Turin on 19 January 1969" and held hands with himself in "Twins", 1968 - one of a number of works illustrating his fascination with the dualities that exist within us. This ultimatelyled to him permanently changing his name to Alighiero e Boetti (Alighiero and Boetti).
Boetti commissioned huge tapestries of world maps, in which each country's flag is embroidered against brightly coloured oceans, from craftswomen in Afghanistan. As his interest in globalism grew they became an ongoing series, epically recording the world's fluctuating political identities for over two decades. His first embroidery is particularly poignant in this exhibition as it incorrectly predicts the date of his premature death by some thirty years.
and via Bob the Corgi, this link: TEDIOUS PIXEL ART....Have you ever looked at a picture and thought to yourself, wow! wouldn't that make a wonderful cross-stitch... if only I knew how to turn it into a pattern!
Andrew Newberg and Eugene d'Aquili studied religious experiences. They brought some skilled meditators who were willing to undergo brain imaging into the lab one at a time and had a technician inject an intravenous tube into one arm. Then each volunteer began to meditate normally, focusing intently on a single image, usually a religious symbol. The goal was to feel one's everyday sense of self begin to dissolve, so that the person becomes one with the image. ....Besides this sense, these religious experiences also carry a hefty emotional charge, a feeling of awe and deep significance. Neuroscientists agree that this sensation originates in a region of the brain distinct from the parietal lobe: the ``emotional brain,'' or limbic system, deep within the temporal lobes on the sides of the brain. This system comes from way back in our evolution. Its function is to monitor our experiences and label especially significant events, such as the sight of your child's face, with emotional tags to say, ``This is important.'' During an intense religious experience, researchers believe the limbic system becomes unusually active, tagging everything with special significance, as being characterized by great joy and harmony.
TRANSCENDENCE is ecstatic awareness of contact with a deeper consciousness within the person, an emotion of joy, sometimes beyond rational thought and self-control, at other times a feeling that one is enveloped with a communal spirit or a religious Spirit that is larger than one's self, a Spirit that transcends one's self. Such an awareness, or consciousness, might be reaching a higher level of understanding, in touch with a new model (paradigm) of reality or a feeling of union with God.
With the help of graphic slides of the brain, Dr. Jeeves described a series of discoveries, studies, and experiments on the brain that verify an undeniable relationship between the physical substrate and mental or psychological functions. There is, for instance, the 1848 textbook case of the very conscientiously moral and reliable railroad foreman, Phineas Gage, whose brain was damaged by a tamping iron. His cognitive functions were virtually unchanged, but he became irresponsible, unethical, immoral, and unemployable-- showing a strong link between emotional personality and brain functions.
Wired for the Ultimate Reality: The Neuropsychology of Religious Experience....it seems that all unitary experiences –ranging from mild aesthetic experiences such as watching a beautiful sunset to the most profound states that may occur only after years of meditation–may have their basis in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and the flux of neurotransmitters. We have even suggested that there is an aesthetic-religious continuum that is based upon the progressive activation of the holistic operator such that the more profound the experience, the greater the sense of unity. Our recent brain imaging studies of Tibetan Buddhist meditators have begun to provide empirical evidence for the specific mechanisms involved in this continuum of experiences.
interview with Dalai Lama: Q: Given the fact that in your tradition there exist states of clarity and there are reports of people experiencing this more subtle state of mind, my question is two-fold: first, do you think that such non-cognitive states of mind could in theory be observed with our external tools? For example, if we were to place a meditator who is in a state of clear light into one of our modern machines with magnetic resonance, using new brain-imaging techniques, would we be able to see something, some sign of this subtle state? Perhaps we do not yet know how to do this but, in theory,. do you think it would it be possible? If so, what, in your opinion, would be the relation between the two levels, gross and subtle, in the field of interdependence? We do not want to succumb to a new dualism, that of grossness and subtlety. What is the nature of causality between these two levels?
A: I think it may be difficult to measure the activity specific to the mind that consists of reflecting one's object and knowing it. But as the experiences of the gross consciousness appear in the activity of the brain and can therefore be observed as such, it seems to me that it should also be possible to study the physical manifestations of the more subtle states of mind. The subtle level of consciousness, referred to by the term "clear light," appears among other things at the moment of death. Those who have practised ahead of time are able to remain voluntarily in this state for several days after death, and for the duration of this time their bodies do not decompose. Modern scientific instruments would be able to observe this phenomenon, and in fact this has already occurred in India. Although it seems to me that it would be difficult to observe the subtle mind in its entirety using these methods, I think all the same that this might give us an idea.
Searching For the God Within by Sharon Begley....A well written article by Sharon Begley in the May 7, 2001 issue of Newsweek magazine, page 52, entitled "Religion and the Brain" goes much further in describing how certain parts of the brain become much less active during esoteric experiences and traces circuits that are active during meditation and prayer, when the brain loses or decreases its ability to distinguish between self and notself. By relating these ideas and others in the article to creating paradigm shifts, one might comprehend better the creative process.
The tension between science and religion is about to get tenser, for some scientists have decided that religious experience is just too intriguing not to study. Neurologists jumped in first, finding a connection between temporal lobe epilepsy and a sudden interest in religion. As V. S. Ramachandran of the University of California, San Diego, told a 1997 meeting, these patients, during seizures, say they see God or feel "a sudden sense of enlightenment." Now researchers are looking at more-common varieties of religious experience. Newberg and the late Dr. Eugene d'Aquili, both of the University of Pennsylvania, have a name for this field: neuro-theology.
repetitive rhythms
Neuro-theology also explores how ritual behavior elicits brain states that bring on feelings ranging from mild community to deep spiritual unity. A 1997 study by Japanese researchers showed that repetitive rhythms can drive the brain's hypothalamus, which can bring on either serenity or arousal.
That may explain why incantatory hymns can trigger a tranquillity and bliss. In contrast, the fast rapturous dancing of Sufi mystics causes hyperarousal, scientists find, which can make participants feel as if they are channeling the energy of the universe. Although the inventors of rituals surely didn't know it at the time, these rites manage to tap into the precise brain mechanisms that tend to make believers interpret perceptions and feelings as evidence of God or, at least, transcendence. Rituals also tend to focus the mind, blocking out sensory perceptions-including those that the orientation area uses to figure out the boundaries of the self. That's why even nonbelievers are often moved by religious ritual. "As long as our brain is wired as it is," says Newberg, "God will not go away."
As Deleuze writes, 'musicians compensate for their individuating closure by an openness created by modulation, repetition' (What is Philosophy?, p.190,). The repetition of Catholic worship and its evocation in the rhythm across movements contributes to the Mozart's Requiem's theme - its consistency. Yet, both sections remain different in melody and tempo. This repetition then is not a simply cloning, but a repetition of self- similar properties. In this way the composer can deterritorialize the closure/opening dichotomy.
A recent study of very young children has shown that children's extraordinary--and sometimes infuriating--propensity to want to hear the same story or the same song over and over again serves a very important purpose in children's cognitive development. The repetition, the predictability, of those songs and stories does not just contribute to an emotional and psychological sense of security and wellbeing; it actually contributes to the formation of dependable pathways in the brain. That auditory repetition is configuring the brain, constructing the neurological framework by which the child will understand and relate to the world.
Alliteration is the recurrence of initial consonant sounds.
Though alliteration is often used to mean any repeated consonant sound, the term really specifically refers to a repeated consonant at the beginning of the word: The refurbished red roof rocked.
Another type, called consonance, plays with consonants at the end of words: Throw the thug in the thick creek.
A third type, called parallel or cross alliteration, weaves consonants: We went on a big-time bus trip to Bert's trailer. (notice the b/t combination is repeated).
A fourth kind is called hidden or internal alliteration; it plays on consonant sounds inside of words: I've never seen a runner in flannel. (notice the double "n" in both words).
I've Got Rhythm Many famous poems are replete with rhythm: The texts often refer to familiar rhythmic patterns (tick-tock, ding-dong, and so on) while the imaginative use of rhymes, repetitions of phrases, alliteration, and sundry other tricks of the literary trade all help us get caught up in the sound, as well as the specific meaning of the words. Not only do the words themselves refer to familiar rhythmic patterns, but try saying the lyrics to yourself: Even if you're not sure of the intended meter, you'll find yourself caught in the spell of those sound repetitions, chanting the words rather than merely saying them. Rhythm is fundamental. If not for the steady beat of our hearts and the even flow of air entering and leaving our lungs, all life would cease. Babies learn early on to clap their hands in rhythmic patterns and respond to the catchy cadence of "Three Blind Mice." Granted, it's a bit more difficult to follow the rhythmic pulsings within a complex work like Scriabin's orgasmic "Poem of Ecstasy," but without some sense of pacing, we'd have no music at all.
What do we mean by a beat? A beat is some kind of `recurring identity', the unique event that defines phase 0 of a metrical cycle. It is some event that is (a) salient and (b) keeps happening again and again. For speech, it seems that the most natural (or salient) beats are located near the onsets of vowels. Thus, if you tap a pencil ``in time with'' speech, the taps will tend to locate themselves near vowel onsets. In principle, any feature of the acoustic signal for which there is an automatic extractor can supply the beat, but in practice the beat is closely aligned with vowel onsets.
Musicologists Manfred Clynes and Janice Walker explained that "the central nervous system transforms a musical rhythm into a movement pattern." This "rhythmic experience of sound largely is not under control—we are driven by it." Nevill Drury illustrates the point: "The rhythms which induce trance states are repetitive energetic and often loud and overwhelming. They lead the dancer away fin the familiar setting of the everyday world into a disorienting atmosphere pulsing wick vibrant rhythms, which usually builds to a climax. In voodoo it is at this point that the loa gods possess and 'ride' their subjects in trance like hones, while in Africa the dancers imitate the movements and footsteps of the possessing spirits."
By 1907, Matisse's predilection for the Fauvist freedom waned and his interest in the work of Cezanne was rekindled. A new concern for structure appeared in his canvases. In a series of portraits executed between l907 and 1911 he painstakingly worked out compositional problems in which he experimented with various figure/background relationships. While in several paintings in this group the subject is presented against either a plain background, or a ground simply divided horizontally, thus effectively placing the focus on the sitter, in two of the portraits the background and the figure are visually almost equally weighted and the interplay between figure and ground is more complex. The Girl with Green Eyes is one of those compositions.
The figure and background compete for dominance, yet they are formally linked. The pendulous curve of the sitter's chin is repeated in the embroidery of her robe and the emphasized contour of the cast of Greek sculpture behind her. The brush handling, whether rendering patterns or broad, fiat areas, is free and expressive. The planes are drawn closer by the repetitive rhythms of the arabesque-like strokes.
Chanting has evolved in every culture from Indian, Native American, Sufi, Christian, and on and on! It has even surfaced in some popular music such as John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance". There are now new age and world music sections in most music stores where you can find chants and spiritually uplifting music from many sources. In new age bookstores and catalogs there is a great abundance of healing music, chanting, meditative music and sounds, and universal spiritual music. The power of music to soothe, relax, invigorate, release emotion, and organize our thoughts is widely recognized and experienced by millions daily. Still, as a central force capable of uniting us with the very source of creation and the vast storehouse of healing energy, music seldom receives recognition equal to it's power.
There are however, now available, volumes of great books and articles about the healing and spiritual power of music. There are thousands of case studies of psychological healing that has taken place through the use of music. Music has successfully been used to access and release deeply hidden and repressed emotions to aid in the healing of unprocessed emotional trauma and psychological damage. The use of music and rhythm has been used to greatly enhance physical therapy when repetitive movement was necessary for rehabilitation but painful for the patient. If you listen to music with a tempo slower than your heartbeat, your heart will slow down! The mind-body connection that has finally gained acceptance and scientific validation tells us that our emotional health directly affects our physical health and vice versa.
Many of the sacred rhythms of certain cultures, particularly Native American, employ at their center a heart beat which we entrain and match when listening to. Our heart beat, respiration, and brain waves will slow down due to the repetitive rhythms created. However, another method of creating altered and transformational states is to overdrive the brain and put us into a trance state. This is true of many of the polyrhythmic sounds of the sacred music of Africa, Bali, and other cultures. The over-driveing of the psyche which occurs can energize us to the point of what seems to be the loss of control. This same frequency response can sometimes be experienced walking down a crowded and noisy city street, but the effect due to the intention may be very, very different. One experience may be a heavenly, blissful state due to the sacredness of the sounds while the other may cause us to feel like we're in Dante's inferno.
"My work as a composer is entirely concerned with the relation between emotional and intellectual energy and the ways in which they can be channelled, accumulated, liquidated and re-accumulated. My pieces are abstract dramas in sound, with characters and an extremely dynamic chain of events; they unfold in a space that is constantly shifting, expanding and contracting, not so much like a mosaic, but rather in the manner of a block of sculpture. I am very interested in a combination of opposites - tonality versus atonality, regular repetitive rhythms versus irregular complex rhythms, tranquil meditativeness versus explosive theatrically - and especially in the way gradually change from one to another. But to talk of the expressiveness of music is always to tread on undulating and unsteady ground, for people understand the meaning of music in very different ways." Erkki-Sven Tüür
Brain disease influenced Ravel's last compositions including his Boléro, say researchers. Orchestral timbres came to dominate his late music at the expense of melodic complexity because the left half of his brain deteriorated, they suggest1. Timbre is mainly the province of the brain's right hemisphere.
TESTPATTERNS
Theta brainwaves range in frequency from 3 hertz to 7 hertz. They are experienced whilst asleep, dreaming [during rapid eye movement, or rem sleep] and also whilst awake when daydreaming. Brain entrainment in the theta range is primarily:
to enhance creativity; for the acceptance of positive affirmations; and subliminal suggestions; as an aid to visualising.
They are also associated with Accelerated Learning, as described above. Whilst in theta you are able to absorb huge amounts of information quickly, and retain it.
Theta brainwaves are slower than alpha brainwaves. As you fall asleep you pass from beta to alpha [where you become deeply relaxed], enter theta [where you are on the border line of sleep] and then slip into delta, where you experience deep sleep.
The High-Performance Mind : Mastering Brainwaves for Insight, Healing, and Creativity by Anna Wise
Anna Wise is one of the world's leading authorities on the use of MindMirror EEGs to measure and train brainwaves for high performance and meditative states. As an educator, she has led workshops in the United States and Europe. A member of the Academy of Certified Neurotherapists, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Our brain produces waves of currents that flow throughout its neural pathways. The type of brainwave is defined by the frequency at which it is pulsing, and the particular rate of pulsation determines our respective state of mind. There are four common types of brainwave patterns, but due to the complexity of our brains there are often several patterns interacting at one time. It is the predominance of one particular brainwave frequency that determines our state of mind. For example, if you are in a beta state, there may be trace levels of alpha and theta but they would minimal compared to the dominating amount of beta present.
Many classes of brainwaves are present at any one time. Usually only one of them will be dominant. So, for example, if alpha rhythms are dominant you will be in an alpha state i.e. relaxed. However, you can train your brain to have more than one class of brainwave to be dominant at a time. Mastery of the same will substantially advance your intellect and mental and physical abilities.
more creativity
In addition to suspending judgment while brainstorming, here are some other tips for creative problem-solving:
Don't give up too quickly. After you think you've exhausted your store of ideas, come up with ten more. They may come more slowly, but they may be more unusual, and better. Let the problem incubate. Edison is said to have kept several problems going at once, and he would switch from one to another when he got stuck. Sometimes, a particularly good solution would come to him when he least expected it, after he had set a problem aside but not abandoned it.
more mind technology
The Awakened Mind For almost three decades we have measured the brainwave patterns of people whose states of consciousness one would emulate – spiritual masters, meditation teachers, and people of optimum creativity in all walks of life. The brainwave pattern that we found, named the Awakened Mind, is a combination of all four categories – beta, alpha, theta, and delta – in the right relationship and proportion.
Knowledge of your brain may be useful in understanding creativity. Did you know that your brain produces electrical impulses all the time – day and night. These electrical currents or more correct these brainwaves are measured with EEG-equipment and are divided into the following four categories:
1) ALPHA (eyes closed, day dreaming, visualization)
2) BETA (normal waking states, problem solving, active external extension)
3) DELTA (deep sleep, unconscious)
4) THETA (subconscious, creativity, deep meditation)
Brainwave Symphony Orchestrate your state of mind!
Throughout the ages music has accompanied men and women in their search for knowledge, balance, and healing. Now, research has revealed music's ability to significantly affect us in our daily lives.
Brainwave Symphony combines carefully selected music from the baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, and Twentieth Century eras with breakthrough audio technology to give you the best of classical wisdom and modern science.
Beta
Gain Heightened focus, Concentration and Peak Performance with music from Vivaldi, Bach, Alberti, Haydn, Albinoni, and Mozart.
Alpha
Achieve Active Relaxation, Tranquillity, and Alert Meditation with music from Bach, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Warlock, Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Bononcini.
Theta
Produce Deep Meditation, Enhanced Creativity, Heightened Intuition with music from Williams, finzi, Debussy, and Britten
Delta
Find Deep Relaxation, Rejuvenation, and Restful Sleep with music from Holst, Barber, Albinoni, Mendelssohn, Parry, Elgar, Bridge, and Chopin.
Intuition is another word for the "heart center." Intuition is a soul quality, or a faculty of our higher nature. Some of the masters call Intuition "straight knowledge," since it can aid us in grasping the aspects of reality without analytical thought or empirical study.
The brain gives off electrical energy that corresponds to certain states of consciousness. The four kinds of brainwave patterns are really descriptive tags for different wave speeds. Brainwaves are measured in cycles per second. Delta is the slowest of the brainwaves (0-4 cycles per second), usually prominent when you are in your deepest stages of sleep and not dreaming. Theta (4-8 cycles per second), is related to creativity and dream activity. Alpha (8-13 cycles per second) is characterized by a relaxed but alert state. Beta (14-26 cycles per second) is the brainwave state when you are in normal consciousness.
Mental balance To a certain extent the left and right hemisphere of the brain produce brainwaves independently from each other. In general the left hemisphere is more active during logical and rational mental processes, while the right hemisphere is more involved in creativity and imagination. The ideal state is when both hemispheres operate harmoniously. This cooperation results in a brainwave pattern where signals of both hemispheres balance each other. One of the aims of the various MindSurfer games is to make you aware of a possible imbalance in your brainwave pattern. This is implemented by a manipulation of the stereo position of the musical feedback in accordance with this imbalance.
neuroacoustic....Biotuning...Human beings have been using sound to access deeper states of consciousness, expand awareness and heal the body for thousands of years. Chanting, toning, Tibetan singing bowls, Chinese meditation gongs, and mantras, are just a few examples of this use of sound. Today, with highly sophisticated technological equipment, we can not only observe the functioning of the body and the brain in unprecedented detail, but also measure the changes that take place in the mind and body in different states of consciousness and different states of health.
Research projects in major universities across the country have explored the neurophysiology of meditation, deep relaxation states and mind/body interactions during healing. In one study a simple meditation technique used for 20 minutes a day caused profound changes in blood pressure, stress handling ability, immune response and feelings of well being - never mind using any kind of high-tech approach which could bring consciousness to very deep levels of relaxation. Using this technology as a daily tool for mind/body integration and stress reduction can have many positive benefits.
Today, hypnotic and brain entrainment methods are being used subliminally and successfully in TV commercials and magazine advertising. A few years back, virtually every auto manufacturer in the world began using New Age brain entrainment sound tracks while they presented their cars.
Meditation...a brain entrainment tool used to go beyond mind to open the doorway to Cosmic consciousness. It can be achieved or practiced by using a mantra, Yantra, or repetitive motion, such as free form dancing, running, or sitting silently like in Zazen, etc. Often thought of as dropping the mind.
brainwave mind voyages...Your brain is always creating brainwaves, and the specific brainwave frequencies produced will influence your mindstate. By using brainwave entrainment technologies, it is now possible to consciously choose the type of mindstate that you would like to access.
art related
frieze.com--i jusi--o1o1o1--cowboy biggest artwork--pictoplasma--gadfly--modern primitive--picklebird--Ingo Gunther --Pin-Ups Revisited--Taliban had wrong impression
ethics and aesthetics
Teaching Aesthetics to Artists....
Artists tend to be repelled by aesthetics, for a number of reasons. Many are suspicious that too much analyzing of their art will harm their creativity; it will encourage them to develop their rational ego at the expense of their creative unconscious. Or they suspect that aesthetic analysis will have no effect on them, that thinking about art in this way is simply useless. Give a group of artists a copy of the latest issue of the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, and their response is likely to be that it simply doesn’t interest them, that the issues discussed are not ones that they face as artists, and that it seems to consist mainly of academic nit-picking and hair-splitting which has little to do with the real worlds of art.
Puzzles about Art, contributor Margaret P. Battin, John Fisher, Ronald Moore, Anita Silvers
An Aesthetics Casebook
A German philosopher, Alexander Baumgarten, first used the word aesthetics in 1744 to mean "the science of the beautiful." Today, aesthetics is generally approached more comprehensively. In addition to ideas about "beauty," aestheticians (philosophers about art) attempt to understand the nature of art in a broader context. Aesthetics can include the study of art from all cultures and all times.
Active meditation is nothing more than staying mentally alert while being in an alpha state. When we first start working with meditation, we usually are kind of slow-thinking. However, with a bit of practice, you can learn to be more and more mentally active while producing alpha brainwaves.
What good does this do you? A lot! You can learn to visualize goals, and work on manifestation techniques. You can learn to improve memory, work on improving sports performance, and many other things.
With active meditation, instead of picturing a static image, you picture a series of scenes. You would mentally run a "motion picture". You may also incorporate a dialog in your head to go along with the scene. The more of the senses you are able to place into the scene (visual, auditory, emotional, kinestetic, smell) the stronger the impression. With practice, you will be able to "hold" the theme of the meditation, actively participating in it's direction and production...all while producing alpha brainwaves.
Creativity is the merger of matter/energy with new information. The process of bringing something new into existence, is an inherent characteristic of life. To live is to create whether we do so unconsciously, or with full awareness.
One Sunday morning in March, 19 years ago, as Dr. James Austin waited for a train in London, he glanced away from the tracks toward the river Thames. The neurologist-
who was spending a sabbatical year in England-saw nothing out of the ordinary: the grimy Underground station, a few dingy buildings,some pale gray sky. He was thinking, a bit absent-mindedly, about the Zen Buddhist retreat he was headed toward. And then Austin suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment unlike anything he
had ever experienced. His sense of individual existence, of separateness from the physical world around him, evaporated like morning mist in a bright dawn. He saw things
"as they really are," he recalls. The sense of "I, me, mine" disappeared. "Time was not present," he says. "I had a sense of eternity. My old yearnings, loathings, fear of
death and insinuations of selfhood vanished. I had been graced by a comprehension of the ultimate nature of things."
The next brainwave category in order of frequency is alpha. Where beta represented arousal, alpha represents non-arousal. Alpha brainwaves are slower, and higher in amplitude. Their frequency ranges from 9 to 14 cycles per second. A person who has completed a task and sits down to rest is often in an alpha state. A person who takes time out to reflect or meditate is usually in an alpha state. A person who takes a break from a conference and walks in the garden is often in an alpha state.
Brainwaves and You For over half a century, scientists have known that the electrical activity of the brain could be measured. They divided this activity into four main classifications. We spend most of our waking moments in beta, in which our brainwaves pulsate at between 13 and 39 cycles per second (cps).
When we get deeply relaxed, however, we shift into alpha between 8-12 cps. Theta brainwaves are associated with deeper experiences of creativity and meditation (at 4-7 cps)
Alpha Brainwaves lie in the 7 hertz to 13 hertz frequency range. They are dominant when you are relaxed or when you are meditating. Alpha brainwaves are slower than beta brainwaves. All peak performers exhibit strong alpha waves. They are associated with health and a stress-free life.
Much emphasis has been given recently to Accelerated Learning. This is achieved by learning whilst in a state of deep relaxation, where the dominant brainwaves are in low alpha, or theta. With learning comes pleasure, mother nature's way of rewarding us. Alpha rhythms tend to stimulate the release of the pleasure neurochemicals - endorphins, dopamine and norepinephrine. This is more so with the frequent use of alpha sound frequencies.
Regular practice at entering relaxation states helps when later you are under stress [for example during a sport]. You will quickly re-enter a relaxation state [without any mind tools] so that you can gain more control over your body and mind and suffer less stress. This will speed up your reaction time and increase your stamina and endurance.
So what is the best music for alfa brainwaves? ....how sound works on the body....
First discovered by biophysicist Gerald Oster at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, brain wave audio technology sends pure, precisely tuned sound waves of different frequencies to your brain via stereo headphones. In his EEG research, Oster discovered that when different vibrations, or sound frequencies are delivered to the brain separately through each ear (as with stereo headphones), the two hemispheres of the brain function together to "hear" not the external sound signals, but a third phantom signal. This signal is called a binaural beat and it pulses at the exact mathematical difference between the two actual tones.....Subsequent research determined that binaural beat frequencies could drive or guide brain activity into a wide variety of specific brain states. Thus, effortlessly and naturally, your brain activity slides into rhythm with this binaural beat, becoming organized and coherent. Within minutes, the sound frequencies start to balance the left and right hemispheres of your brain – creating a remarkable state called hemispheric synchronization and driving the electrical activity of your brain into powerful states, normally unattainable.
Encoded within the human mind and body are autonomic reactions to certain natural sounds that trigger powerful responses. These sounds can be looked upon as analogs to the visual archetypes or collectively recognized symbols that Carl Jung researched and expanded upon. The effect of primordial sounds can be peaceful and soothing to the listeners consciousness. Ocean waves, fire, rain, forest noises, heartbeats and wind are examples.
Continuous representation, where several incidents from the same story-line are shown together in the one "picture". The order in which the incidents are read might depend on how the artist has one follow the composition, on the spectator's knowledge of the events, or even on differential scaling of the figures. Roman sarcophagi and historical narrative reliefs use the technique, as does much mediaeval and >Quattrocento art, such as Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise. The technique highlights one of the problems with "stationary" art (unlike film), in that temporal sequencing can be awkward to arrange. This is one of the ways in which art was recognized as being different from poetry: >ut pictura poesis.
THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE is a book with a peculiar mission. Its goal is to provide the reader with a new way of looking at his world. THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE takes fresh data from a variety of sciences and shapes them into a perceptual lens, a tool with which to reinterpret the human experience. It attempts to offer a very different approach to the anatomy of the social organism, a new way of understanding the operation of its tendons, bones and joints.
In the process, THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE contends that "evil" is a by-product of nature's strategies for creation and is woven into our most basic biological fabric. This argument echoes a very old one. St. Paul proposed it when he put forth the doctrine of original sin. Thomas Hobbes resurrected it when he called the lot of man brutish and nasty. Anthropologist Raymond Dart brought it to the fore again when he interpreted fossil remains in Africa as evidence that man is a killer ape. Old as it is, the concept has often had revolutionary implications. Why? Because it has been the thread on which men like Hobbes and St. Paul have hung dramatic new visions of the world.
Betty Edwards has used the terms L-Mode and R-Mode to designate two ways of knowing and seeing - the verbal, analytic mode and the visual, perceptual mode - no matter where they are located in the individual brain. You are probably aware of these different characteristics. L-mode is a step-by-step style of thinking, using words, numbers and other symbols. L-mode strings things out in sequences, like words in a sentence. R-mode on the other hand, uses visual information and processes, not step-by-step, but all at once, like recognizing the face of a friend.
"You have two brains: a left and a right. Modern brain scientists now know that your left brain is your verbal and rational brain; it thinks serially and reduces its thoughts to numbers, letters and words… Your right brain is your nonverbal and intuitive brain; it thinks in patterns, or pictures, composed of ‘whole things,’ and does not comprehend reductions, either numbers, letters, or words."
From The Fabric of Mind, by the eminent scientist and neurosurgeon, Richard Bergland. Viking Penguin, Inc., New York 1985. pg.1
Most activities require both modes, each contributing its special functions, but a few activities require mainly one mode, without interference from the other. Drawing is one of these activities.
Learning to draw, then, turns out not to be "learning to draw." Paradoxically, "learning to draw" means learning to make a mental shift from L-mode to R-mode. That is what a person trained in drawing does, and that is what you can learn.
'Right-beakedness' Statistical analysis showed that the birds had a definite preference for using the right side of their beaks, albeit not as highly defined a preference as in humans.
Some researchers have suggested that the tendency towards right-handedness in humans is a result of the ability to speak, a mental activity concentrated in the half of the brain which controls the body's right side.
The discovery of "right-beakedness" in crows makes it look more likely that handedness has a more general origin.
. Intuition has been a difficult subject for scientific research because it’s nature is uncertain. For example in Intuition and Science, Mario Bunge states that intuition is a group of intellectual mechanisms which are difficult to define or analyze. The intellectual mechanisms Bunge cites include drawing inferences so quickly that reasoning seems to be absent, imagination, synthesizing disparate elements into a grand vision, and sound judgment. More common every day terms include gut feeling, educated hunch, sixth sense, picking up “vibes,” and the Eureka or “aha” experience. The common element in all these descriptions is that intuition is a form of thinking, but not a conscious analytical—logical, sequential, step-by-step, and reasoned process of thinking. In other words, intuition is defined in terms of what it is not.
One thing seems clear: intuition is a product of the brain.
Intuition, The right brain as "unconscious mind," Two minds - two personalities, Dreams and the right brain, Is the unconscious mind really conscious? Intuition is a catch - all word for thinking processes that we can't verbally explain. It is obvious we are referring to right brain function. Intuitive judgments are not arrived at step by step, but in an instant. They typically take into consideration a large mass of data in parallel.
Information in a living system is a feature of the order and arrangement of its parts, which arrangement provides the signs that constitute a ‘code’ ‘language’. The essential feature is that when the signs of the codes are transmitted along suitable channels they provide the control that helps MAINTAIN THE ORDER OF LIFE. So to understand the language of the BRAIN we must learn to recognize and interpret the elements of the script and the meaning of the signs in which it is written. Neuroscience is beginning to do this.
The right side of the brain helps people recognize themselves in a picture....joins a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the right hemisphere plays an important role in self-awareness, which scientists believe is one aspect of human consciousness.
: Pheromones and olfaction are more important to the development of human sexuality than are visual stimuli. Pheromone production/distribution, olfactory acuity/specificity, and hormone responses, especially the luteinizing hormone (LH) response, which is elicited by human pheromones, explain the development of human mate preferences, just as they explain mammalian mate choice and properly timed reproductive sexual behavior. The absence of a mammalian neuroendocrine model for sexual attraction that is primarily based on visual input suggests that olfactory input conditions visual aspects of human sexual attraction.
Bicameral Images reveal our two selves....-- each of us is really two people. No, I don't mean in the traditional sense of having an alter-ego, or a good and bad side. Nor do I mean that we are all schzoids. I mean we are literally two thinking beings residing in the same body.
Exercises to Strength the Right Side of Your Brain
Bliss and the Brain ...While many researchers have tracked the molecular mechanisms of depression, fear and anger, they mostly ignored happiness. In recent years, however, a cadre of scientists has turned their focus to this positive emotion. Studies indicate that pleasant feelings are associated with certain brain responses that appear to vary in intensity between individuals. The research may lead to new ways to pump up happiness in unhappy humans.
Neuroactive Material: from Noodwarfism to Biotronic Forms.....In the way humanity hides its own global representation away from clarity, away from inner reach of its collective memory, away from outer exploration of its science, it reveals a certain syndrome of cosmic mimicry directed against any globality in both mental and spatial contexts. Even stronger the role this mimicry plays in technology, where mentality and spatiality interpenetrate each other to create constructs so vague and obscure that not only rationality, but life itself becomes lost among acquired alien clowns in the transcendental world of a black box intellectual simulation. The twisted production of global economy is as much material as it is mentality; various examples of theories from Marx to Bataille can illustrate that material production was always directly linked to mentality through alienation and morals.
Meditation is also an adventure of self-discovery. How can you live without knowing who or what you are? If someone asks you who you are during the day you may state your name, as if a temporary label actually means something important. Ask yourself who you are when you are in deep sleep, unconscious and without even a dream to prove that you exist at all. Ask yourself who you were ten months before you were born and who you will be just one moment after your body dies. Meditation increases awareness of the natural phenomena that is actually going on behind your own eyes. Self-knowledge has intrinsic value, even without the indescribable bliss nature generously unleashes in those who practice meditation with sincerity and patience.
If you want to change your life experiences, learn to change your mind specifically your brain waves. Every thought, feeling, sensation, and level of awareness has a corresponding brain wave pattern, which can trigger neurological activity throughout the body. Methods of thought awareness and control have existed for thousands of years, such as yoga and meditation. ...Brainwave training via bio/neurofeedback helps people improve their health by using signals from their own bodies. Just like the muscles of your body, your brain can be trained as well! Healthy brainwave patterns are closely related to healthy mental and behavioral states. Since the brain can be quickly trained to regulate itself, habitual brainwave patterns which cause harmful behaviors and emotions can be replaced by balanced and healthy brainwave patterns.
Medical scientists are beginning to discover : that there is healing power in helping others. This new field of specialization, psychoneuroimmunology or PNI for short, researches the power of the mind to influence health and healing. This research has produced some startling results. IgA is an antibody that helps the body defend itself from infection. Harvard psychologist David McClelland measured this antibody in students before and after watching a film on Mother Teresa, the Nobel Prize laureate, for her work helping the homeless. Dr McClelland found that merely watching a film on selfless service strengthened the immune response in the students.
The Neuromuscular Laws as Applied to Yoga....Therefore yoga, when appropriately practiced, allows a reversal of the stress-tension-pain cycle which is accomplished when asana along with coordinated breath control interrupts afferent impulses to the spinal cord, thereby reducing the intensity of nervous activity within tissues and mechanically forcing out toxic irritants, which accumulate at nerve receptor sites. Hypertonic tissue then relaxes; circulation is increased and the body begins movement toward normal neuromuscular integrity and balance. An appropriate yoga practice of asana and pranayama addresses the progression of pain from acute, to chronic phases, in terms of the above physiological Principles and Laws.
meditation and visualization
Visualization, also known as imagery, is the use of our imagination to create an internal multi-sensory representation of an object, situation or event. We use visualization passively when we worry, dream, read a book, listen to a story, or smell something cooking. We use it actively when we plan our day, consider possible outcomes when making a decision, and mentally dress rehearse a golf or tennis swing.
Creative visualization is the active and intentional use of visualization to influence or create a specific outcome or goal. Creative visualization can be used to change our physiological or emotional state, enhance our creativity, and improve our athletic and social skills. It is characterized by the use of a script, whether the script is spoken or read by a trained facilitator, prerecorded, memorized or created impromptu as part of the imaging process.
Most people don't realize they've been dreaming until after they've awakened and the dream has come to an end. Some people, however, are conscious that they're dreaming. These people -- called LUCID dreamers -- can literally direct the content of a dream, scientists have discovered, deciding perhaps to talk physics with Einstein, woo and marry a movie star, or assume the powers of Superman. For those who have acquired the knack of lucidity, the benefits can be enormous: Lucid dreaming gives one the chance to experience unique and compelling adventures rarely surpassed elsewhere in life. These experiences can enhance self-confidence and promote personal growth and self-development. By facing fears and learning to make the best of the worst situation imaginable, lucid dreamers can overcome nightmares. Because recent scientific studies have demonstrated a strong connection between dreams and the biological functioning of the body, lucid dreams might facilitate physical as well as mental health. And finally, because lucid dreaming allows us to tap the power of the unconscious, it may also be useful for creative problem solving.
Our body is a fantastic chemical factory that is capable of seemingly unbelievable things. For instance, there is the case of a 95-pound woman lifting up a two-ton car to save the life of her child who was trapped under its weight. This was due to a gigantic adrenaline release. As impressive a display of adaptability to a need this is, our body is capable of doing even more seemingly miraculous feats. Perhaps the most impressive of all is its’ ability to heal itself - of anything!
There are several methods dealing with visualizing healing meditatively at the cellular level. To begin any of them, use the position, breathing pattern, physical relaxing technique, and emptying of mental and emotional reactivity that you have found best prepares you to fill with the object of your meditation.
Visualization is the skill of seeing with your mind's eye. (also called your "third eye") When you can clearly see pictures and events taking place, using your imagination to control the outcome, then it is much easier to direct your will and your energy into making those pictures manifest on the physical plane.
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