There is no "sick" art

I just came across a sentence in a book that I got completely stuck on - so I have to sort it out a bit before I continue reading it:

"We are sometimes tired, too, of the arts within our [Western] civilization when they express the sick mind and the diseased imagination."*

Can art really be sick? NO: it can be provoking, irritating, annoying, and so on: but no, not sick.

Can an artist have a sick mind or a diseased imagination?

An artist may have a mental illness, sure. I think I heard somewhere that mental illness is overrepresented in artists, compared to the general population. But most people suffering mental illnesses are not able to create at all, so I still think it must be a sign of something healthy when you can transform inner agony into an exterior expression.

One example: I once saw a documentary of Terence Koh, also known as "Kohbunny" or "asianpunkboy". He didn't look like a happy, well-adjusted individual (whatever THAT is!), but there is no doubt that he is very creative! Many are provoked by his goldplated turds. And while I personally would NOT cough up the money required to purchase one of these items, I am intrigued by the antithesis of putting what we value most (pure gold) with what we value least (shit!).

Another contemporary artist that has caused a lot of upset is Damien Hirst. He got a lot of publicity - and angry public reactions - for displaying dead animals in formaldehyde, and for decorating a skull with billions worth of diamonds and platinum ("For the love of God", see photo above). He also created a stir when Sotheby's sold a collection of his art directly from the artist to the public -becoming the highest paid artist today. (And curiously, this took place in September 2008, when the financial markets seemed to be in freefall!)

Perhaps what people find most upsetting is that he is able to charge such incredible amounts of money for his art! There seem to be a strong remnance of the 18th century romantic movement, where the view of the solitary genius artist was elevated to new heights. I guess we still have a notion of this lonely genius, only interested in his oevre, not bothered about material matters like money... Preferrably a misunderstood loner, who dies before his talent is acknowledged. (OK, I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture! ;-)

I guess each age has it's own preoccupations: today - especially in the current global recession - it seems to be MONEY. So it is rather amusing how upset people get when Damien Hirst rakes it in...

But no, I don't get upset at the artists for holding up these mirrors to our society. Our reactions to their art shows us who we are, what we believe. Suddenly we define ourselves, we see the outlines of our own beliefs in clear relief.

So when a piece of art upsets us - how about taking a deep breath and ponder for a while: what in me triggers this reaction? Where lie my borders?

And no, I don't like ALL art - but I am thrilled to find someone who challenges me to react, and thus to learn more about myself!

PS. I have to add, that in a way you could call it "sick art" when an artists mental illness manifests in the work itself. I've heard fascinating accounts of art created by the Swedish artists Ernst Josephson (schizophrenic) and Carl Fredrik Hill (hallucinations, paranoia - also schizophrenic?). As I mentioned, I think creating art must have been some form of outlet for them, and thus a sign of health in the middle of their madness, but for us viewers, it offers a remarkable insight into a diseased mind. And why should we condemn these artists for their illness?

PPS. Even though I like Damien Hirst, I also like graffiti artist Cartrain, who made his own comments on Hirst's work! It's kind of like having a set of pins around to prick inflated egos, however creative :-)

Now you may ask - but what about beauty? But that is too big a question for this blog entry...

Long live art!

/KrisC

Post-post-whatever: Is Damien Hirst doing it again? I recently heard the news that he is currently - painting. Regular, square canvas paintings. He considered that would REALLY be controversial in today's modern art world! Go Damien!

*I am not going to name the title of the book, as I don't think this sentence is true to the actual message of it. Just a phrase I wish could have been more carefully formulated.

What pain has taught me

In a freak accident on 15 december 2005, I slipped on a piece of paper while passing through the central station area in Stockholm, and dropped straight down on my right knee so that the hipbone banged into the hipjoint with a terrible jolt. While the knee was swollen and sore it healed quickly, but after the accident I developed sciatica in my right hip.

This caused a pain that has been more or less incapacitating since then. At times, I couldn't even walk! I've seen orthopedists, been x-rayed, worked over by a physiotherapist, and met with doctors, but no-one could do anything but subscribe anti-inflammatory medication.

The consequences were that I could not practice yoga any more - certainly not the quite taxing Ashtanga Yoga. I tried Anusara Yoga, but it just triggered a really bad attack instead.

You could say that I hated the pain - sincerely! However, last autumn I bought four sessions with a personal trainer, the hip behaving fairly well for a change, and eager to get ideas on how to exercise withouth triggering further pain. And lo! My super PT Conny Andersson somehow fixed the hip! The exercises and the super-stretches (where he added his full weight on the stretch!) somehow fixed what the physiotherapist could not!

Anyway, my point is, I realized I am after all grateful for the pain! It got me started experimenting with different types of yoga, and even though Anusara didn't work for me, I discovered variations of "gentle yoga" through a book by Louise Grime, and through YogaJournal's magazine and web site. I discovered the therapeutic side of yoga, with for instance the passive restorative yoga, where you lie down in specific positions and let gravity and breathing do the work, like "legs up the wall-pose", one of my favourites.

Even though the sciatica is gone, my back still hurts sometimes, mostly the lower back, but recently I have added other sources for help: Anusara teacher Desirée Rumbaugh's dvd "Yoga to the rescue for back pain", (a bit more vigourous) and Gary Kraftsow's "Viniyogatherapy for the low back, sacrum and hips" (more gentle, when the pain is more acute).

Conclusion: no matter what your condition is, there is a form of yoga that is right for you! Keep experimenting, while listening carefully to your own body!

Of course, I would prefer to be completely free of pain, but still, the pain opened up a whole new world of yoga that I don't think I would have discovered otherwise - thus making my life richer. I know now that I can practice yoga for the rest of my life!

Om mani padme hum -

KrisC

To blog, or not to blog...

I started this blog with two goals: to keep up my English, and of course to reach friends. But the response from my friends was weak, and I got really depressed when one friend claimed that she couldn't be bothered to get another password (you need a password to comment on the blog - however, not to read it. And she could always comment in some other way: e-mail, Facebook...)

Anyway. I lost the impetus, and thus have not written since May.

But now I promise this: to keep up the writing even to an audience of one (me)!

SO here are some good reasons to keep up a blog (even if your friends ignore it):

1. Regular writing improves your writing skills
   


2. Writing in your second language will keep up your skills in that language
   


3. To learn to write regularly is a good way to develop discipline (not my best skill!)



4. Even though there are millions of bloggers out there, sending your thoughts out into cyberspace will still invite the surprise external contact!



5. Making your texts public forces you to strive for a certain quality, something you might not be bothered about when just scribbling in a notebook.



6. It's fun!

At least, this is what I'm trying to convince myself of... So welcome to the re-launch of my blog "Advanced Banter"!!

All the best,

Kris

Guruji Sri K. Pattabhi Jois died today

It was announced today on the official website of the Ashtanga Yoga Reasearch Institute, http://www.ayri.org/ that Guruji died today, on May 18. My deepest condolences to his family, but also to all of us, his students, who lost an inspiring teacher today.

I have tried different types of yoga, and even though I find it physically challenging and I am far from a stellar student, Ashtanga yoga remains my favourite. I had the honour and joy to participate in a week-long work shop in Helsinki, 2006, held by Guruji and assisted by his daughter Saraswati and her son, Guruji's grandson Sharat, who now runs the institute in Mysore, India.

It was a challenging but very inspiring week, I worked better than ever under their guidance! We must have been at least 100 persons in the large hall, but great concentration and energy filled the room - amazing!

And I will of course always be grateful for making two new great friends that week, Tanja from Finland, and Yvonne, who had come all the way from Beijing to practice for Guruji!

Let me finish with one of my favourite sayings of Guruji:

"Do your practice, and all will follow."

Thank you, Guruji, for your inspiration!

/Kris C.

The Bay at the Back of the Ocean

The most beautiful place in the world is called The Bay at the Back of the Ocean, Camas Cuil an t-Saimh in gaelic. It is a bay on the west coast of Iona, with white sandy beaches and a view that goes on forever - on the other side of all that water lies Canada.

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, on Scotland's west coast. "Inner" isn't really correct, as the ocean is, as mentioned, unbroken from this point all the way to North America. To the north of Iona, the Outer Hebrides start, so here Inner here means southern, and Outer northern.

You need to be a poet to describe it well. I'll just try to add some facts: the white sandy sea bottom makes the water shift into all shades of emerald and blue when the sun's out. When the weather is poor, the colour of the sea changes to a metallic grey-blue.

Before you reach the white beach, you will walk across the "machair", the communal grazing grounds that the sheep keep cropped short and peppered with black poop pebbles, that tiny daisies seem to love. (The machair is also a golf course. I don't know who to feel most sorry for - the sheep who risk getting hit by golf balls, or the golfers trying to play such a rough course.)

The rolling hills that change from green grass to white sand are intermittently interrupted by brownish-black cliffs. "The Spouting Cave" is a natural cliff hollow that, when the waves reach a certain size and direction, throws up geiser-like showers at set intervals.

Facing west, the sunsets here are spectacular, if you are lucky to be here on a sunny day (the west coast of Scotland gets a LOT of rain!). Plenty of sea birds keep the sheep company. I once was chased by an upset oystercatcher (strandskata) - quite unfairly, I assure you, I had not even seen his/her nest! We'd like to think we saw whale fins far out to sea one evening (but the dolphins I once had the luck to see up close was on a boat trip to the north of Iona).

The sky here must be bigger than anywhere else. The clouds travel at varying speeds, you can see rain falling way out to sea while the sun still shines on you, and usually you get good warning and can head home before it hits the island, as you can see it coming from far away.

The light, finally, is incredible. Especially in the summer, when the sun sets quite late. You can find yourself just sitting and staring out to sea for hours (until it gets too cold). But don't stay too late - there are no street lights to see you back on the road to the village...

No wonder Iona inspires so many painters and poets! (I especially recommend "Iona: poems" by Kenneth C. Steven)

I always long to go back to The Bay at the Back of the Ocean.

/Kris C.

OK, I admit it: I love Totoro too!

My friend Yvonne introduced me to Totoro when I was visiting her and her husband in Beijing. I thought I was well passed cute cuddly friendly cartoon characters, but there is no resisting Totoro!

The film "My Neighbour Totoro", almost 1,5 hours long, is a simple, well-crafted story of two children, who move to a house in the country with their father while their mother is in the hospital. They discover different natural creatures, like the "soot sprites" ("sotspridarna") the tiny black creatures that take over old houses unless you scare them away with smiles and laughter, and then of course this mysterious creature Totoro himself. What IS he? He's not a cat, not a troll, not a bear. He's just a HUGE furry, friendly thing. The girls' father thinks he is the guardian of the forrest.

OK, sounds very cuddly so far doesn't it, but what I like so much about the film is that it leaves so much unexplained. One moment they all sit up in a tree and play flutes, the paths in the forrest appear and disappear, the plants grow - or do they? It is just full of fun ideas! The best of all: the Cat Bus! Where did they get the idea???

I don't really want to explain too much - just watch it - you'll enjoy it!

And yes, I still have the Totoro-song as ring tone on my mobile that Yvonne downloaded for me...

/Kris C.

Are you a dog person or a cat person?

As a kid I always wanted a dog, but now I have two cats instead. I have always heard the saying that you are either a dog person OR a cat person, but I can vouch for that that is not correct, as I am both.

I would love to have a dog, and do things together with it, like learning agility for instance. On the other hand, caring for a dog is like having a child in the house - they are so dependent upon you. Cats on the other hand are like other adults - even though they share your living quarters, they sort of lead their own lives. That is why it works out better for me, right now, having cats, as they can take care of themselves better than a dog would.

So I would love to have a dog - if I had enough time to care for it well. But in the meantime I really enjoy the company of my cats (even when their stubborness sometimes drives me nuts!)

So you CAN be both a dog and a cat person - so there...

BTW - the dogs portrayed here are of my absolute favourite breed: the border collie... So cute, and the smartest of them all!

/Kris C.