Tag Archives: Creativity

Foraging as a way of life

Maria Medina-Schechter (born Pasadena, California, 1976), is a bio artist whose work is informed by the natural world, including Middle Age illuminated manuscripts, scribes, and recipes. She is inspired by Hildegard of Bingen, a German mystic of the High Middle Ages. Maria works primarily with bio materials, mycelium, tree resin, and foraged botanical materials. Her early work involved the use of living organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, as art materials, creating sculptures and installations that were alive and growing. In the 1990s, she began to integrate digital technologies into her work, exploring the relationship between virtual and organic.

Encrypted beauty in Rita Rodner’s ‘Universe for Beginners’

‘Universe for Beginners’ is a pattern-rich cosmos conjured up by British-based, Polish artist Rita Rodner. Brooding black-and-white paintings, photographs and drawings appear, on first glance, to be traditional landscapes evoking notions of the sublime. But, lines of code dotted across the surface invite audiences to question if these images are, in fact, virtual. Using experimental techniques, and working directly from source code, Rodner encrypts beauty into her layered realms, reflecting the connections between art and science, dark and light, chaos and code.

Amalur

Patxi Xabier Lezama is one of the contemporary Basque sculptors considered one of the main innovators of Basque sculpture. He grew up in the Franco dictatorship of Spain; An experience that marked him for life, and also marks his art and his way of expressing himself. The presence of mythical figures with a strong historical burden is very characteristic of his work. These are signs that reveal the weight of history and the mythical and literary elements of the Basque cultural past. . In Amalur, he discusses his sculpture that not only connects the world of science and the world of art, but relates the work to the legends of the Basque people, where the Earth, Ama-Lurra, is the main divinity.

Exploring Segments of Dissociation in Neurological Disorder

Luca M Damiani is an Artist, Author and University Fellow, focusing his ongoing creative practice and research on neuroscience/health, technology and nature. His work also crosses over with human rights and social design. Luca has a neurological disability and has had various visual art books and academic articles published, as well as being exhibited internationally.

“Focusing on my neurological-brain trauma (caused by an accident in 2018), my ongoing research-based practice looks at various areas of applied art and design, with the main focus on my own sensory disability as well as various branches of neuroscience, social design and technology.”

Cortical

Artist and writer, Richard Bright, has addressed the relationship between art, science and consciousness for over 40 years. He studied Fine Art and Physics before founding The Interalia Centre in 1990. Since then, he has lectured extensively on art and science and written articles on James Turrell, Andy Goldsworthy and Susan Derges, among others. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally and was the recipient of the ‘Visions of Science’ Award, The Edge, Andrew Brownsward Gallery, University of Bath (Second Prize Winner). Co-author of ‘The Art of Science’ (Welbeck Publishers, 2021).

On the relationship between AI, Human and Art.

Freddie Hong is a London-based researcher and computational artist. His work delves into the impact of emerging technology on our relationships with the physical world and society. With a PhD in the advanced manufacturing of interactive devices, he has critical insights into merging art and technology. Through interactive art installations and performances, Freddie explores the boundaries between authorship and control in Human-Computer Interaction. He is interested in capturing the current issues in digital technologies and creates compelling interactive artworks that encourage participants to experiment with “intelligent things,” fostering conversations about the role of digital agents in our lives. Freddie is currently a resident researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge, where he focuses on robotics research within the CRAFT group (Creative Robotics and Future Technologies).

The Archetypal Influences of Film: Revelations from the Collective Unconscious and Interdimensional Realities

Humanity is faced with serious decisions. Will it follow the dangerous path toward transhumanism, or will we commit to the unfolding of a greater intention: the discovery of a more meaningful power, purpose, and truth within each one of us, the call to Individuation? Carl G. Jung discovered unifying themes, regardless of whether they came from a hidden tribe in the Amazon, African desert, or a major world religion and called it the Collective Unconscious. He named specific Archetypes manifesting from this realm. This Archetypal journey is Alchemical in nature as described in ancient writings by early Alchemists and Mystics. Mystics have always pointed toward an inner process leading us to spiritual individuation and unity. Ultimately, this is a psychospiritual quest. Along this journey we can be motivated by archetypal influences of compassion and fierceness. As we assimilate these initiatory qualities, we come nearer to the knowing of the authentic spiritual power within us. Many modern movies and television series are doing a better job of illustrating this journey than most religious traditions. The battle between good and evil (what benefits compared to what destroys or prevents consciousness and related development) is real as are the images and stories of interdimensional realities expanding our understanding of new possibilities. They manifest via media and entertainment forms. The themes and messages are influential at both conscious and unconscious levels, preparing people for the end of an old paradigm and the beginning of the next. The threat of Transhumanism is addressed in this article as it moves humanity away from the work of individuation (Carl Jung) and Self-Actualization (Abraham Maslow). The emphasis toward wholeness includes love and human feeling. Transhumanism, focused on efficiency through artificial intelligence, is a threat to the path of becoming an authentic, courageous and compassionate human being. Thus, movies and series depicting superheroes, aliens, portals, and alternative realities are rapidly increasing at a time when many people have lost direction. This article supports their messages.

Hello Brain!

The Francis Crick Institute, London has opened a new exhibition about the brain – the most complex and least understood part of the body – and the journey to map its intricate connections.

Hello Brain! explores the brain’s ‘connectome’: how trillions of connections between billions of cells – more than there are stars in the sky – shape our thoughts, behaviours and experiences. Crick scientists are aiming to understand how these connections impact how different species, including humans, interact with each other and the world.

Sonic Temporality

Mara Sacof is a music producer, runner, and creative studying Zoology at Queen Mary University of London. Her growing fascination with electronic composition, as well as her interests in philosophy, consciousness, and the natural world, led her to write an essay titled ‘Sonic Temporality’. This piece of text explores the relationship between perception and sound, drawing insights into how the concept of time can be manipulated in a digital world of music. The influence of artistic movements such as surrealism and futurism are also touched upon, offering a reflection into how this led producers to make philosophical enquiries into temporality.

Poems

Meg Freer teaches piano and writes in Ontario. She holds music degrees from Carleton College in Minnesota and Princeton University, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing, and has published two poetry chapbooks: Serve the Sorrowing World with Joy, with Chantel Lavoie (Woodpecker Lane Press, 2020), A Man of Integrity (Alien Buddha Press, 2022) and Still Life Waiting: Notes on a Ghost Town (Wild Dog Press, 2024). Her photos, poems and short prose have been published in journals such as The Madrigal, Vallum Contemporary Poetry, Eastern Iowa Review, Burningword Literary Review, Arc Poetry, Borrowed Solace, Phoebe, and Sequestrum.