Improvisation and Healing: Wayfinding as a praxis of knowledge

Hassim, Kamil

Improvisation and Healing: Wayfinding as a praxis of knowledge

Thesis / Dissertation

2023

Abstract

Two Zen monks upon hearing a wind bell ringing: “ The Master asks: ‘What makes the sound? Does the bell make the sound or the wind make the sound?' The student answers: ‘My mind makes the sound, because the wind causes the bell to strike and vibrate the air, but there is no sound until that vibration reaches my ear and is interpreted by the mind. Sound exists thus only inside of our mind.' The Master says this is not true: ‘Even if my mind is working, if the wind does not blow, the bell does not shake, and the air does not vibrate – then there is no sound. In reality, they are all making the sound. There is no subject who listens and no sound that is heard, but the entire universe is making the sound through this person. This is total dynamic function.1' – Zen koan from Master Dogēn's Shobogenzo (Cross & Nishijima, 2006) The attached document is the digital library submission for the text which accompanies my MFA body of work. The works I create explore modes of investigation and knowledge in a histor- ical, contemporary and futurist setting. Taking the form of sonic sculptures, instruments, visuals, videos and performance pieces, I consider the artworks as philosophical larynxes2. I used the project to explore how art can be a tool to seek and represent information about certain experiences in my social world and how an individual path of healing through artistic practice is possible and can be realised in the exhibition

Keywords

Fine Art

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Masters

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