Technology of Enchantment
Leonardo Di Vinci says: Art is the Queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all generations of the world –Leonardo di Vinci
The exceptional quality of enchantment is a sophisticated technology that allows Art to communicate on a higher level in a transformative process to discover new visions. It explores the mysterious and timeless nature of worlds. It is the key to unlocking our relationship with worlds within worlds and the Artwork.
While 'Technology' includes computers, machinery, and all things mechanical, it has a much more encompassing and rich history. Its' history coincides with the evolution of human life on this planet, allowing humans to thrive for more than 200,000 years by providing shelter, food, clothing, medicines, communication, and protection. Making stone axes, spears, fire, clothing, and marks on cave walls to diarize when to hunt and when to restrain from hunting all require technology.
In its elemental form, technology is the application of knowledge. It is the technique or skill of using tools and methods to produce goods and services.
How can the technology of enchantment be invoked for the artist?
In my experience as a painting teacher, humans crave structure, particularly in a learning environment, in other words, a method. So, to invoke the technology of enchantment, I propose the following approach: The artist visualizes a three-part process to facilitate the creative process and the Artwork.
Here, I reference the groundbreaking theory of Anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep's' Les Rites de Passage, ' which found mind-changing patterns in transitioning from one societal status to another when rites of passage such as births, deaths, and marriages are enacted. These rites mark the new status and shift of consciousness in both the participants and those who witness them.
The first phase has four parts,
1. to set intention (What Artwork will you create?)
and retain a mindful focus throughout the exercise -
2. Choose the container to hold the enchantment, as it psychologically breaks the pattern of normality when the artist sets a focused intention, creating a designated boundary or border.
Examples of containers are:
The physical space or room.
The canvas.
The piece of paper.
The clay.
The theatre stage.
Material can also be a container—for example, the sculptor's stone, a roll of wire, or the potter's clay.
3. Choose materials with your intention in mind.
Examples, the materials are:
· Paint.
· Textiles.
· Words.
· Charcoal.
· Pastels.
· Wire.
· Clay.
· Stone.
Some materials can also be containers, like the potter's clay or the sculptor's stone block. When we start to work on the clay or stone block, we disrupt the boundary and enter the second phase of the creative process status quo by changing its boundary.
4. Choose tools with your intention to create the Artwork.
Examples of tools are:
· Keyboard.
· Computer.
· Pen.
· Brush
· Film.
· Hands.
· Musical instrument.
· Potter's wheel.
The second phase is the Liminal Phase – time to create.
Disruption of the continuum occurs in the liminal phase when we cross over the edge of the container's boundary into the creative process, the betwixt and between phase, where unleashed creativity happens. It is neither one state of being nor another. It is the Netherlands – the party/celebration.) It is where anything can happen.
The third phase - the aggregation phase
We are now at the denouement. The threads come together as we complete the Artwork and move out of the liminal phase into our new state. We arrive in the everyday world with the physical Artwork ready for the spectators' exploration.
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The story of Alice in Wonderland demonstrates the technology of enchantment and the creative process. It is a good way to understand how imagination can take us into a wonderland we have created.
In Alice in Wonderland, Alice and all the characters and situations she meets down the rabbit hole transform from ordinary to extraordinary and enchanting. For example, the characters Alice meets on her journey down the rabbit hole are ordinary things that become extraordinary and enchanted. Lewis Carroll knew how to create enchantment. He drew us down into the rabbit hole with Alice, falling into a curious, wonderful world where anything can happen and does.
There is tension between our lived experience and our new experience. Once we enter the rabbit hole, we can never be the same again and are changed forever, transformed into a new state of being. Changed forever, we wake on the grassy bank, wondering if it was a dream or real.
The experience awakens us to the possibilities around us. We can fall into enchantment quite unexpectedly.
One such moment for me was seeing the marble statue of Winged Victory of Samothrace—Nike,2nd century BCE, in situ in the Louvre Museum, Paris. She imprinted on my memory and captured my imagination, and I became enchanted with her mystery.
The Nike is considered by the art world a peerless masterpiece of Greek Art. There are many mysteries surrounding this statue. Her maker is unknown, her history vague, and together, these things seem to render her enchanting. Otherwise, how could a broken statue recognized as a masterpiece be anything but enchantment? No one in living history has ever seen the whole statue. Nike was found in 1893 broken with both wings, both her arms and head gone. Only the lower torso and legs remained. Although the reconstruction of wings renders her less deconstructed, she draws the viewer into her story.
How, why, when, and where did she lose her wings? What did she look like? Overwhelmingly, we want to give her wholeness with our 'structure craved 'mind. In my research, Art Historians speak of the masterly execution of her wind-swept robes. They do not speak of her brokenness but seem to gloss over those missing parts. The question is, would this still be a peerless masterpiece if she was whole? The missing parts accentuate the flowing robes, engaging the mind in a creative story. Making her an enchanting, alluring object of intrigue and the peerless masterpiece she is.
Niki, Winged Victory of Samothrace housed at the Louvre in Paris, France
The idea of invoking enchantment into our Artwork is appealing. Please consider the many encounters you have each day that seem quite ordinary. Consider applying a little imagination to the ordinary or the broken. Surprise yourself and find a new world.
As artists, we must have courage and be fearless in our pursuit of enchantment for ourselves and others.
We must open these worlds, which will enchant and enrich our communities for a better world.
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