Below you will find a series of works I did in Changchun, China. They are arranged within a small community in the order presented here, along with a few others I neglected to photograph. The first work can be seen from the street and, should the viewer decide to walk toward it, more and more works will be continually revealed as one traverses the maze of tunnels and courtyards going up and down a winding path in the center of Changchun.
Little over 100 years ago Changchun was under the control of Russia which benefited greatly from its geographical location as a hub of commerce and trade because of the crossing of many great rail systems. The Japanese took control of Changchun around the time of the Second World War, used it as their capital in China, and added to its already strong energies with their practice of feng shui at a city-wide or global scale. These features can still be seen and felt today. After the Japanese, it was soon recaptured by the Russians only to be captured yet again, but this time by the Communist Chinese. In my travels and interaction with the city's peoples, it seems that the Communist Chinese did and continue to do the most damage to both the land and the people of the area. Unlike southern China there seems to be almost open resentment of the current government both because of its present actions and it's history. Perhaps this is in part due to the fact that many who suffered at the hands of the Chinese invasion of Changchun are still alive and make up the larger part of the population. Add this to cultures that greatly respect older generations, and you have many direct stories of suffering and an understandable desire to be rid of the bureaucrats from Beijing.
It is my understanding that it is in part due to the history and the particular energies within this city that Changchun gave rise to the fastest growing and largest spiritual awakening movement that the planet has ever seen. From zero to well over three hundred million practicioners in China alone in only a few years, Falun Gong was once seen everywhere at all times of day in Changchun, the hometown of its founder. But then, in the infancy of its existance, it was swiftly outlawed and continues to be brutally persecuted by the Chinese government. What remains hard for me to imagine while walking around places like Changchun is the image of every square or open plaza being filled with people practicing modern Chi cultivation. The people remain, but now they walk about the parks as if nothing happened. But in private, and especially in Changcun, QiGong continues to be practiced, a revolution is still going on, and it began from within.
My goal is to add to public space in what little way I can. To reinforce positive emotions within all vieweres and to question negative schemas when possible. To develop and cultivate a light within which will be strong enough to help others kindle and grow their own fires.
Enjoy!
Listen great being: do not create duality from the unique state.
Happiness and misery are one in pure and total presence.
Buddhas and beings are one in the nature of mind.
Appearances and beings, the environment and its inhabitants, are one in reality.
Even the duality of truth and falsehood are the same reality.
Do not latch onto happiness; do not eliminate misery.
Thereby everything is accomplished.
Attachment to pleasure brings misery.
Total clarity, being nonconceptual, is selfrefreshing pristine awareness.
-Longchenpa
stuffedanimalbrigade.blogspot.com/
I had the above dream while lying in a fever suffering from air pollution. I find that such states provoke the most vivid visions of places and peoples from distant lands and perhaps times. However, in dreams where I float in space unto myself I am usually healing and do not travel or see anything much out of the ordnairy unless others intefere. The tentacle-like bed of fingers or seaweed was the interferance of another and startled me awake.
I have come to understand that our potential is sleeping while our primitive side narrates humanity's story and it isn't hard to see the cyclical nature of where we're headed, or, as Oppenheimer hinted at, where we've been. Our internal and external narratives are spelled out for us in symbols. But in this day and age it seems difficult to take the time to call them by their names.
See the Full Panorama Here:
stuffedanimalbrigade.blogspot.com/2011/07/dream-2-of-2_86...
Small note on meaning:
Dr. Carl Jung made widely available the fact that we see glimpses of our potential in dreams.
William Burroughs made the logical proof that our dreams are preparing us for something. But, "For what?" he asks us to ask ourselves. The answer given; Space. You may enjoy listening to his discussion below to hear it more eloquently put. Or search Youtube for; Dreams, William Burroughs, EKF
We are all on our journeys. Good luck on yours.
If you are not familiar with Carl Jung or William Burroughs, I highly recommend their work to everyone.
Here's a link to that beautiful talk by Burroughs.
stuffedanimalbrigade.blogspot.com/2011/07/tel-aviv-street...
Nature will reclaim the land.
I find it's always so interesting to see the end result of paintings done in the pitch black of night where the wall appears solid black and even white becomes nearly impossible to distinguish in the darkness.
www.loaf.es
stuffedanimalbrigade.blogspot.com
The concept of "holding office" is traditionally represented in this way. The idea itself I'm still trying to grasp at. Apparently, it's almost as ancient as it is complex. Both the horse and the hairstyle denote a person who "holds office."
Painting a person who holds office in this way with a halo in China indicates both a love of ancient Chinese culture (somewhat illegal) and a distaste for current government officials and corruption (highly illegal). This, to all people who passed was a highly enjoyable but very provocative work.
If painting religious iconography was not inflamatory enough in a land where any dissent concerning government practices is highly illegal, certainly this was enough to be the icing on the cake.
But did I stop there? Of course not!
And then we come to the frog in the well.
Without a doubt, if a person had seen the other pieces in the correct order and continued along the maze of buildings following all my works (many undocumented), this piece would strike directly home in the soul of this land. I call out to the earth and beg forgiveness. With these works I am clearly defining what is good and what is bad, but I am leaving it up to the individual to make their own distinction. Hopefully there are particular icons and symbols which will illucidate a more exact meaning, if not enlighten directly. But it will be up to each person's higher-self, unconscious mind, greater thinking, to define what aspects of their world are being highlighted here.
So what might this painting mean to a Chinese?
There is a great story in China, like so many others, and this story is about a frog in a well. He sits there in his well and thinks the sky he sees is everything that there is. One day Turtle comes along and attempts to tell Frog of the world outside the well. Frog refuses to listen, he says he already knows everything and all that there is to see can be seen by him. Then Bird comes and tells him of the sea and the wonders of the sky! Again, Frog says there is only the sky which he can see from the bottom of his well. Bird, like the other animals, must be lying. Eventually, all the animals gather together and convince him to come out and have a look for himself. When he finally comes out he sees a world beyond compare, beautiful as the dawn. He eventually regrets the way he once was and the life he wasted while denying reality.
This is a painting of a dream I had where many of the wells were burning and there were so many that they looked like stars as they faded into the distance. I painted an approximation of my dream, anything like the dream itself would take longer than this one short life to paint, much less when done hurridly in the middle of the night. A few local guys stopped for a chat after basketball and really loved my work. And as an added bonus they told me that when people dream of fire it is a sign that they will be very wealthy. Well, I don't know about that, I'm already wealthy in all the ways that matter most, but here's to them anyway, cheers!
And then we have these last few pieces. And what I want to say is that when all is said and done, all I'm wishing upon others is a bit of peace, love, and enjoyment in this world. That's the whole point after all, isn't it?
Enjoy!
Loaf
The First of September, 2011
8:44 am
