Constance Hobbs Art & Photography: October 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Creativity

"Creativity always requires taking a chance on one's self...and moving ahead despite self-doubts, discouragement, and anxiety."

Stephen Diamond

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Center de la photographie Geneve

Katja Glass

The Photography Center in Geneva, Centre de la photographie, had an interesting exhibit which I visited recently. I particularly liked the work of Katja Glass. It got me thinking about self image. Have you ever stopped to consider what self image really means? It's an image, a picture, a snap shot in your head of who you are, right? It's a concept really. Something made up. We think in images. An accumulation of images defining who you are. Now how can you be a concept or an image? Can we conceptualize ourselves? We are a living, breathing, changing, moving human being, in the flow of life. An image, a photo, a picture, is static. We are not static. We are constantly in motion. Cells dividing, mutating, dying and being born a new.

Bianca Dugaro

Psychoanalysts say we're supposed to have a good self image in order to be happy. Is that really true? I'm certainly no expert in this area, I'm just a human being questioning these things. I do feel this can be very confusing for most of us. Imagine all these different labels and images vying for your attention. An accumulation of things people have said about you, experiences you've had, insults, praise, parental expectations, all things good and bad. The list goes on and on. Which one of these images is the real you? Maybe none. Which image you select probably reflects your current mood and who you've recently spent time with. Can we choose and select who we are? Pick an image and live up to it. Or are we always in a process of growing, becoming or simply being?

Sophie Brasey

We seem to be so easily influenced as human beings. We either respond to flattery or insults rather quickly.

Now, what if we were to drop all these images? What is there then? Nothing? The real you perhaps? Freedom? Maybe its a relief to drop all these stories in our heads. Plus, its hard to live up to some images. Imagine the effort put forth to keep up an image of something you really are not. What a burden. Or images of failure and success? I say images are a burden and of little value. You are a success because you were born and are alive. You are part of this miracle called life. The greatest mystery of all mysteries. You are much more grand than any image created by yourself or another.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Birthday Wish

Today is my older brothers birthday. I can't imagine my life without him. In fact, I can't imagine my life without any of my siblings. I have sometimes considered what life would have been like as an only child. So much attention, peace and quiet and no competition for ones parents attention and affection. That sounds pretty good. If I had been an only child though, I would have missed out on all the camaraderie, love, and affection that exists between brothers and sisters. The noise, the chaos, the competition and all the rough and tumble were very stimulating and instructive. Life can sometimes be a lonely place and I am a lucky lady to have so many wonderful siblings.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Winter Ahead

The trees are losing their leaves in Geneva. Winter is ahead.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Time

I was thinking about the earth rotating around the sun. Isn't this our concept of time, day and night? How long it takes us to sling shot around the sun with the momentum from the Big Bang. The Big Bang occurred some 13.7 billion years ago. This sequence of events following each other, day after day and night after night, is what we call time. What would happen if the earth got tired just a tad and slowed down just a tad? Well, never mind, let's not think about that.

Our concept of time then, is nothing more then a constant rotation around the sun. So is there really any time at all besides that? Can we define it as a specific event or a thing? It seems to me we are in constant motion spinning, whirling, rotating and going no where.

What about the past? What happened to all that millennia of time that's gone by? The history of all that has happened since the Big Bang. Is there some vast reservoir that holds the past? Or is that reservoir only in our minds? If it exists in our minds, it must take up a lot of space. What's the value of carrying around this reservoir? Particular knowledge of where we live and so forth is important, but what about the rest? Tons of useless experiences of hurts or pleasantries that may be propelling us forward, hurling us along on a trajectory that may be false.

Has our past already become ashes, useless debris in the brain taking up space? If so, what can we do about it? I have experimented with this and it isn't easy. When you try to live without your past you are trying to live without your own identity. Who you "think" you are. But that's really just a story, isn't it? A certain sequence of events and experiences that no longer exist and makes up who we think we are. Are you and I merely a sequence of events? Experiences that have already turned to ashes? At first its scary to experiment with this but as time goes on it becomes a fun game. Its very challenging.

Scientists believe that we use only a small portion of our brains. Is it because the past, time, takes up so much space? It's like a room filled with old furniture. You have to move out all the old furniture to give space for new possibilities. I like what quantum physicists call human beings. Bubbling bits of energy and possibility. Totally cool. Totally awesome.

Now, there might have been time before the Big Bang. Scientists really don't know for sure. The Big Bang is a theory supported by some good evidence, but a theory non-the-less. Our concept of time is very small, day, night, and what we perceive as a sequence of events. It's our small world. A concept of time as everything or nothing is huge. Or the idea that the Universe is limited or limitless. It's fun to try to imagine a limitless universe. I do like one concept of time though. To tell time by the beat of ones own heart, now that's lovely.

Trust

Trust is something hard to come by even in ones own family. Why is that? Why is there such a lack of trust amongst human beings? When do we begin to trust? Or, what gives us an opportunity for trust to grow? I've heard people say that without trust there is no real relationship. I'm not sure I have the answers to the earlier questions, but I do think trust begins inside oneself. One must trust and have a sense of belief in oneself first. How many times as artists do we mistrust the value of what we are doing artistically? Frequently. How many times do we have an idea, think of a great contact, want to connect with another artist only to back track and lose our enthusiasm with a lack of trust in ourselves? A lack of self assurance. I think women may suffer from this malady more then men.

The only way I know to increase our sense of trust is literally to catch ourselves in the myst of non-trust either with ourselves or with another. This means becoming more conscious of what we are doing every day. What we are thinking and feeling. Trust can grow within ourselves or within our relationships to others. Trusting first is a way of extending a hand. Others may be capable of responding or not, but if we are conscious we ought to be able to tell the difference. Some successful artists are not necessarily the most talented, but they are the ones who trust themselves to make it in some facet of the art world. So, as an artist, trust in oneself is a feeling not to be under estimated in its importance.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

An Authentic Life

Is there a fine line or subtle difference between happiness and unhappiness? I think there is. I'm not referring to obvious reactions to stimuli that create deep despair or extreme joy. I'm referring to everyday happiness or unhappiness. As human beings we adapt and become used to things as they are. We form habits and routines and there is a certain comfort in that. Is contentment happiness? I suppose it could be or is part of happiness.

I sometimes think what a nightmare it would be to wake at 60 or 70 years old only to realize that one has lead someone else's life. As a woman, I find my life has been very influenced by my husband and my family. Motherhood also places or imposes restrictions upon us. I want to live an authentic life. One that is uniquely mine and belongs to me. Not a life that has my husband or families stamp of approval upon it. I think its a good idea to ponder the question of happiness, unhappiness, habit, routine and influence. You can throw in authority too. Who is your authority outside yourself and inside yourself. How did it get there? One form of authority is that little bird in your head distinguishing between right and wrong and that big bundle of "shoulds". Are those "shoulds" really yours or very subtly someone else's?

I realize one has to follow ones bliss inside the framework of everyday life. One has to balance the two. A good life or a life well lived, becomes then, a work of art. Perhaps the most important work of art.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Autumn in Geneva

I'm in Geneva Switzerland now. The leaves are turning colors and carelessly tumbling and falling to the ground. I've always enjoyed watching the leaves fall from the trees and toss about in the wind. They twist, twirl and dance about and when the sunlight catches them they turn a brilliant hue. I especially like the sweeping blanket of color they leave behind on the ground. Color. What vitality!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Colorful Florida

I was having dinner one evening in a restaurant in Florida. There was a very boisterous foursome next to us and I overheard a couple say "don't speak ill of the dead." It seemed such a funny thing to say since I don't think the dead really care what you say about them. More importantly I think one should say "don't speak ill of the living". Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if everyone were more kind, generous and forgiving towards one another? Too Utopian you say? Boring you think? I think its important to speak your mind and when necessary to stand up for oneself when trespassed upon, but it seems to me modern man is very demanding and unforgiving. Who sets these standards, rules and regulations for the masses?

Our psyche's are bombarded daily with bits and pieces of information that come to us from myriad sources. Information overload. Is our idea of the way life is supposed to be created for us or do we form our world through our own desires, morality and ethics? What is contemporary culture and society? Who forms your thinking? Are you really free to form your own concept of the way it should be? Or is your world dictated to you without you questioning it? How many of us really stop to think about all this "stuff" coming at us.

Believe me, a smile and a kind word go a long way towards converting people over to your side rather than criticism. People criticize, speak ill and alienate because they are afraid. It makes them feel better about themselves, justified in their actions (I'm right, their wrong, ) and it also pushes people away as a means to protect oneself. Generally people are comforted by sameness. Diversity makes people think and become uncomfortable. It makes people question their own way of doing things, heaven forbid. Perhaps there are other more productive happier ways to live and to be. We can learn from one another but not through criticism and exclusion but with warmth, acceptance, love and even tenderness. I think all human beings crave love, respect and reassurance. So next time someone says to you, don't speak ill of the dead, say, okay, no problem, but lets also not speak ill of the living either.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Florida

After getting one daughter squared away at college in Massachusetts we were off to Florida to check on our other daughter who recently transferred there. Florida is hot, very hot in September. People say June, July and August are very hot in Florida, well, you can add September to that list. I had never been to the gulf coast before and I really enjoyed it. We flew to Tampa and drove directly to Sarasota. It was a beautiful sunset drive along the water as seen in the photo above. Sarasota is a city by the sea. It's a combination of high rise buildings, small shops, galleries and restaurants. A very charming place. There are several keys or islands directly off the coast of Sarasota with lovely beaches. The gulf coast beaches are flat, shallow for quite a distance and the water is warm. Siesta key is a younger, funkier place, with a lively rock' n 'roll night life. While Lido key is more groomed, subdued and upscale. Both have a lot to enjoy. I almost forgot to mention about the sand on Siesta key. It's so white and soft, that no matter how hot the sun, your feet never burn.

We left Sarasota and drove across Alligator Alley to the east coast. Now mind you, I did think I was going to see big alligators or crocks sunning themselves in the marshes along the way. Well, not a one. Still, I wouldn't have wanted a car break-down, especially at night. I should mention that the marshes are fenced off the entire way. Some Floridians say one should be careful making the crossing at night. We made it to Delray, a beautiful little resort town that extends west from the Atlantic Ocean. We explored the area from Lighthouse point to Hobe Sound. It's all very nice. A colorful mix of private homes, condos, seasonal apartments and hotels.

Of course we did all this off season. People informed us that the population swells in season to approximately triple its size. The peak season runs from just after Christmas until March, but the "snow birds" as they're called, start to arrive as early as November and stay until April. It rained hardly at all and when it did it was usually at night. We were lucky. One major draw back was the environmental issues concerning the sea. It seems that between serious jelly fish, sea lice, and other maritime phenomena, the sea is off limits a good deal of the time. That's not good. I also heard tales of Burmese boa constrictors in the everglades and deadly fish from the south pacific in-crouching on Florida waters. When aquarium fish become too big people and some shop keepers throw them into the sea. These animals are introduced into environments in which they do not belong upsetting the delicate eco systems. People should be made more aware of the danger of their actions.

Constance Hobbs Art & Photography