Project 2: Small Projects

The three 'small' projects

I may have gotten carried away with the three 'small' projects assignment leading up to a larger project in the future. As long as I can remember I have experimented and tried various mediums in art outside of class. Since coming to college I have not only attempted as well as conquered new tools, materials, and processes on my own, but have also been forced to do so. With that said I wanted to go back to some forms of art I haven't touched in awhile.

 So this is what I did:


Drawing

 

Why: From my brainstorm I came up with a lot of idea related to "creative vs. analytical" leading to "artisitic vs. scienticfic" and so on. So this drawing is meant to represent how science and creativity can and should be one with the continuing drawing

How: Drawing endlessly and letting the picture take over.

Drawing is something I have missed to my surprise. After taking 3 college drawing classes in a row I came to despise drawing all together. 

With this project I intended to cut out the large, continuously morphing blog of a drawing and make it into a paper sculpture of sorts. As I went on with the drawing I found that I became overly detailed. The thought of destroying my detail with an exacto knife was too much to bare so I decided to keep it as a drawing.

Mixed Media

 

Why: Once again the root of this idea is creative meets scientific. So the parts of my portrait exposed to various layers are anatomically correct, but my history and experiences who make up myself are also embedded within the piece with maps. The maps are of Memphis, my hometown place in my brain because that is the place that made up most of who I am. On my neck there is a map of Florence, Italy which changed the course of my life much how the pulse in my neck seems to. And lastly back behind my head in wood burning is a loose map of Ann Arbor, where I am continuing to form.

How:This was formed using an image I photoshopped showing the various layers of myself including my skeleton, muscle tissue, skin, and inner history as well as creativity. Indian inks, acrylics, and wood burning were used.

Photoshop

Why: Combinations of various things lead up to an experience. Much like with entheogens. The history and treatment of a plant meets the history, feelings, memories, etc. of the person consuming it. This is what creates the negative and/or positive hallucogenic experience the person undergoes with entheogens. Combinations typically take time before they are accepted or rejected. This is due to the viewer's history, feelings, memories, knowledge, etc. meeting the combination in which they are viewing. In this case it is the editing of my photographed subject, which is a friend of mine whom is double jointed. With double joints, a genetic combination, she can bend her arms beyond what most people can. By further editing this unique feature she has the viewer is challenged to accept or reject the combinations.

How: A ridiculous amount of patience, editing, and open mindedness




These all turned out to be a little more work than I think was desired as well as expected. Reasoning for the 'blow up' of each project I attribute to actually being interested in what I was creating. It's been awhile.....Looking forward to continuing to work!

Project 2: Systems & Patterns-Entheogens

Project 2 Research: Systems and Patterns     

           

Entheogens: A Complex System

    Psychotropic plants or entheogens have had a role in human history to open doors into a “greater understanding of the universe” (Danaan 124). Entheogens are hallucinogens or other psychoactive substance believed to cause a spiritual or mystical experience similar to those in traditional shamanic rituals (Blom 172). Even the word “entheogen” is translated from Greek to “inducing a god within”. Around 1979 American classical scholar Carl Anton Paul Ruck introduced the term entheogen as an alternative for terms such as “hallucinogen”, “psychotic”, and “psychedelic” (Blom 172).  Specifically the term entheogen is used in association with a religious or spiritual intention as opposed to recreation. Some examples of traditional entheogens are ayahuasea, mescaline, cannabis, peyote, lucinogenic mushrooms, opium, ibogaine, salvia, and even tobacco.  

             Entheogens have been used for spiritual and healing reasons for thousands of years in rituals among various ethnic groups. Such groups include those of the upper Amazon area and in Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil as well as other indigenous groups (Myers 120).  In addition evidence of entheogen use is found in ancient cultures such as the Egyptians, Mycenaean, Ancient Greek, Vedic, Maya, Inca, and the Aztec cultures  (Rodda, Becky, and Tinsley). There have been many test studies done regarding various entheogen used specifically with these group, but the ‘ultimate entheogen’ is Ayahuasca brew. The benefits of Ayahuasca are divided into three main categories, which are physical healing, emotion healing and moral growth, and mystical or visionary insight. Ayahuasca is a very potent concoction causing the user to throw up at some point, which cleanses the entire body system. Mysteriously the brew has the ability to clean out ones intestinal track as well as the rest of one’s being including emotional stress and difficulties. Historically non-Indians or whites and mestizos became interested in Ayahuasca for its ability to treat jungle illnesses instead of its spiritual side effects (Myers 121).  Myers concludes, “Ayahuasca encourages self awareness and self knowledge, its teaches a universal ethical code, and ultimately, it offers direct personal contact with higher facets of human consciousness and what one would describe as a real and direct contact with the divine” (122).

        Rise of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) caused a decline in entheogen use in some area, usually less indigenous. In Greek ceremonies, particularly the Eleusian Mysteries, and in the Early Modern Age during the infamous witch hunts, practitioners of entheogenic rites were condemned (Rodda, Becky, and Tinsley 87). Most entheogens are not known to have long-term effects, but there is speculation that ones releasing neurotrasnmitters can affect one chemically unbalanced. In other words those with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia are not suggested to take certain entheogens because the chemicals released could cause further imbalance. Although entheogens have been used for thousands of years it didn’t receive extensive scientific attention from Western Science until the early 20^th century.  These studies included several observatory journals as well as the invention of LSD, which was used for psychotherapeutic applications rather than spiritual context (Rodda, Becky, and Tinsley 89). Most entheogens are legally band among most countries, but in others are available in small doses legally. The idea of moderate, controlled doses of entheogens, though not in spiritual context, has been accepted by many European countries.

       The Voice of the Earth: The Path of Green Spirituality is a book, which focuses on the spiritual and healing effects nature has to offer.  Within this book there is an entire chapter dedicated to the ‘energy of the entheogen’ explaining how entheogens work on a natural, spiritual level.  Entheogens stimulate the body via their chemical properties, but also through ‘energies’ that include your mind, body, and the plant’s growing conditions. The author Clea Danaan explains that all plants carry in its cells subatomic packets of energy from the soil it was grown in, the mood of the grower, the water it was given, etc. all leading up to meeting the consumer’s history, intention, feelings, and thoughts (120). In other words the experience derived from the plants is not only affected by the mood of the user, but also the way the plant was nourished. Therefore entheogens through their growth combined with a consumer’s being causes a dynamic, changing, phenomenon, which is classified as a complex system.  

Works Cited

Blom, Jan Dirk. A dictionary of hallucinations. New York: Springer, 2010. Print.

Danaan, Clea. Voices of the earth: the path of green spirituality. Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2009. Print.

Myers, Luke A.. Gnostic Visions Uncovering the Greatest Secret of the Ancient World.. n/a: iUniverse, Incorporated, 2011. Print.

Rodda, Becky, and Suzanne L. Tinsley. Pharmacology. Boca Raton: BarCharts, Inc., 2008. Print.