more than coral

« Because here’s something else that’s true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship – be it JC or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles – is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things – if they are where you tap real meaning in life – then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already – it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness. Worship power – you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart – you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. »

(from THIS IS WATER)

some weeks ago, my laptop, ipad and drawing notebook were stolen in the parisian subway, while i was dozing after a nyc flight. after the first couple of hours, when shock receded, i realized that it was a chance for me, to stay out of the virtual zone for a while. since i just moved back to paris, i found the idea of staying home, with cat, and focusing on experimenting with analog drawing, very stimulating. i decided to let go of any expectations and accept it. i am now much more at ease on my drawing table, feeling it is the place i should never leave. i have bought a new laptop, of course, because i need to stay in touch with friends and work. while i was finishing my new pages, i realized that the nature i was trying to draw was, in fact, my own perception of pixels. re-create an ideal nature, filtered by me and my experience with the virtual territory i’ve been visiting, exploring and living in for the last five years or so. through pen and paper, i am now trying to express this nonsensical world, find the right tools and stop worrying about not getting it : i am getting it because it is my own version of compassion. i call it hypernature, and my idea is to extend bachelard’s idea of material imagination to the « fabric » of virtuality. it is whimsical and it is utter nonsense, of course, but if i want to engage in playful activities in a never ending landscape, i need to accept the fact that nothing about it is serious.

i will unravel the concept at two conferences in the next months. the first one has been hosted at the french sci-fi/fantasy festival of LES UTOPIALES, with Eric Chahi, Jehanne Rousseau and Laurent Genefort. here it is (in french). the next one will be hosted on december 7th at Paris Games Connection, and will deal with PAIDIA design (an absurd take, if there ever was one )