PAST PRESENT FUTURE

Past Present Future Oil on canvas 30 x 30 cm

 I have called this painting 'Past Present Future'. My thoughts were about how to represent time in its entirety, hence there are no commas in the title. I wanted to capture the simultaneity of the past, present and future. By this I mean that the past is present in the now and is present in the future, as is the future present in anticipation in the now and the past. The past influences the present and future and the potential of the future can affect the present...remembering the present becomes the past in a nanosecond. To some these thoughts might seem a bit like a maze ie: going nowhere, but I prefer to think of these thoughts as more like a labyrinth where there is a pathway which is from somewhere and goes somewhere. Where it goes and where it comes from is part of the intrigue!

In this painting I have used my much loved tree-of-life motif to represent all life which by its very essence is about the passage of time. The red semicircles act as visual connectors or perhaps a moment here and there. I have another painting called 'A Moment' which will be in my solo show at Joshua Levi Galleries in March. Here is the link to my BLOG post about 'A Moment' http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/08/moment.html

I gave a talk to a grade 11 Modern History class today. My talk was 'Art+Artists+Conversations' and I spoke about the agency of art to potentially open up new pathways to peace. Notice I do not say 'role'. I do not believe art has a role as it is such a defining word which lacks excitement, potential, possibility, diversity and open endedness. A role also seems to hold prescribed expectations with rules, whether they are written or implied. 'Agency' is a potent word!

Clues to potential new pathways to peace lie in the conversations people have about art either within themselves or with others. As readers of my BLOG know, I have experienced these types of conversations when I exhibited in Dubai 2004 and Abu Dhabi 2005. I have written about these experiences in many of my earlier posts. I call these conversations agendaless but not directionless.

Now this is where I bring in FRISSON which is a great word. It means a sense of excitement and fear. Think of the pleasure of capturing the moment when you meet someone whose attraction to you causes sudden gut tightening feelings of excitement, fear and thrill. This private yet sensual, earthy, tingly and anticipatory experience is a ‘frisson’. This kind of feeling is charged with possibility. It is the kind of 'charge' I sense when agendaless conversations triggered by art take people in new directions by revealing previously unseen pathways of potential. Anything new can feel both scarey and exciting! The words 'agency' and 'frisson' are two of my most favourite words!

I am working on a free range 'recipe' for Frisson...so keep posted!

UPDATE

I have been asked to present at Brisbane's PECHAKUCHA Vol 14 on Dec 2. The event starts @ 20.20 at Brisbane's Powerhouse with 10 speakers in total. We each have 20 slides and talk for 20 seconds per slide...totally 6 mins 40 secs. This is Brisbane's PechaKutcha website
http://www.blogger.com/www.pechakuchabrisbane.org and this is the global one
http://www.blogger.com/www.pecha-kucha.org I am very excited about this opportunity to have a soapbox for a few minutes!