Introduction:
In 1910, Vassily Kandinsky wrote Concerning the Spiritual in Art. The now famed treatise emphasized abstraction of color and form. André Breton, in his 1924 manifesto announcing Surrealism, stressed the unconscious, dreams, and free association.
A hundred years later, a new manifesto is being born out of Dominique Mazeaud’s longtime exploration of the spiritual in art in our time. Actually, or more descriptively, her “heart-burst” manifesto fits better into the opinion category.
"We are in a time when the unconscious is becoming conscious."
--- Dr. José Argüelles
Dominique’s heart-burst
Art manifestos of the 20th century all predicated revolution. Mine delves into evolution. All had a leader. My vision for the 21st century is a leaderless movement made up of a multitude stirred by a common spark—an organic arising out of the current ominous evolutionary times: a r-evolution. It is therefore impossible to affirm one way or another, or one way over another. What is certain is that the art I notice is now rising out of consciousness, and the dreaming goes beyond the self toward a wider world.
Evolutionary Consciousness for the New Spiritual in Art
We used to do Art for Art’s Sake. Now we do Art for Life’s Sake. Spirit is One.
We are called to focus our creativity into renewing the earth and the human spirit. “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]
Through participatory performances and community projects, we are (re)weaving the broken threads of our planet. The unitive aspect of Spirit can be seen in increasing collaborations, not only of artists teaming up, but also artists working inter-disciplinarily with scientists, engineers, or other researchers (i.e. eco-art).
The embodiment of spirit in icon painting now includes fauna and flora. The “canonization” principle embraces the celebration of non-human beings.
We are dreamers; we are artists and activists; we are heartists longing for peace and renewal. We are painting, performing, poeticizing; it is the longing for renewal that makes us one movement.
We return and discover our place in the order of things. We do art for the Earth and with the Earth. We are entering a great process of moral imagination. From ego to eco. Passion to compassion. We have “the humility to see the world as it is, and the audacity to imagine the world as it could be.” [Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen’s manifesto]
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” [T.S. Eliot]
Spirit is Oneness. Spirit is Infinite. Spirit is Consciousness. Spirit is Inter-connectedness. Spirit is Union and Reunion. Spirit is Renewal. Spirit is Liberation . . .
With the Earth in my heart,
dominique
"From ego to eco". That is my personal guiding advice.