As part of the programme in the Asia Consciousness Festival, Sin Sin Fine Art is delighted to present "The Journey", a group exhibition featuring three artists from the gallery collections to explore the correlations of consciousness through and within the language of art. Art has long been seen as an aesthetic reflection of our inner and outer experiences. Sigmund Freud who developed the idea of forms of consciousness has led to the subsequent development of projective tests in psychology, the argument being that humans have conscious and unconscious attitudes and motivations that are beyond or hidden from conscious awareness. The best known and most frequently used projective test is the Rorschach inkblot test, in which a subject is shown a series of irregular but symmetrical inkblots, and asked to explain what they see, their response is then analyzed in various ways. This shows that some psychologists believe that there is a correlation between visual images and human consciousness. Besides psychotherapy, Art is now much more commonly employed as a kind of spiritual therapy for physically ill and even normal people. It is particularly in this light that we are presenting this time three of our artists who treat art as a spiritual quest.
Three artists, Sun Guangyi, Thep Thavonsouk and Tisna Sanjaya walk us through their journeys experiencing and discovering their spirituality and consciousness via the canvas.
Sun Guangyi, Chinese artist based in Yunnan and Beijing, reflects his search in his spiritual path in becoming a devoted Buddhist through his recent Blessings and Awake series. Having been to the “Garden of Perfect Brightness” Artist Village, Sun experienced the greatness of Eastern philosophy. The experience cleansed his soul and made Sun realize the vastness of the universe. In 2007, Sun became a monk for a short period of time to practice Buddhism in life and visited holy land in Xishuangbanna of Yunnan Province and Burma, and walked to Jizu Mountain of Dali from Xishuangbanna with a thankful heart for twenty five days.
Tisna Sanjaya, Indonesian Artist based in West Java, influenced by terrorism, fierce ethnic rivalries and immense political upheavals, voices out his social awareness about his country through his works. As a Muslim, often with a warm and smiling face, Tisna encompasses all the issues of hardships and reality in his works with materials collected from his surrounding environment.
Thep Thavonsouk, based in Laos and Canada, finds his heart and soul diverse from his inspirations geographically, but his works are across all cultural boundaries. A true consciousness from Laos but blended with all sensations he has come across. Fascinated by the Laos monks, nature and various cultures, Thep continues his discovery on the canvas.
About Asia Consciousness Festival
ASIA CONSCIOUSNESS FESTIVAL – UNDERSTANDING THE MIND AND BODY
Who are you? What is real? How does the body create the mind? Or is it the other way around?
Over the past two thousand five hundred years, western science has developed explanations for nearly every aspect of life; how our bodies function, our cells, and down to our DNA. Despite our advances, we still have very little insight into the relationship between our mind and body. Nearly all top scientists consider the problem of developing an understanding of how the mind emerges from the body to be greatest challenge facing science today.
From June 5th -21st, Hong Kong hosts the Asia Consciousness Festival that includes over 30 events, bringing together leading international scientists, philosophers, spiritual teachers, artists, and performers to shed some light on this most illuminating topic. Among the highlights include the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference, now in its 15th edition and Hong Kong debut; the inaugural About Consciousness Conference; the IEEE Conference on Cognitive Informatics; several one-day conferences on Social Approaches to Consciousness, Meaningful Media, and Machine Consciousness; the Asian premiere of several consciousness-related films including The Living Matrix, What About Me, BlindSight, Consciousness and Beyond, Flicker, Leap, and Ambition to Meaning; Art exhibitions throughout Hong Kong; musical and theatrical performances, including an inspiring performance by violinist Martha Curtis, who also talks about her experiences with epilepsy; many hands-on workshops by renown teachers; social activities that highlight Hong Kong; and trips to spiritual sites in China.
http://www.asiaconsciousness.org/
Sin Sin Fine Art 將於6月伙同 Asia Consciousness Festival 舉辦《歷程‧THE JOURNEY》藝術展覽。長久以來藝術都被視為我們內在與外在經歷一種美學形式的反映。自從佛洛伊德開拓了不同模式的意識層之理論，心理學家們基於人類擁有各種自身未能察覺的潛意識內的態度和動機這個論點，發展了各種投射測驗，而其中一個最著名及最常用的要數羅夏墨跡測試(Rorschach inkblot test)。測試對象會被要求對一幅不規則的墨跡圖像作出解說，他們的反應會以被加以分析。這顯示出部份心理學家們相信視覺圖像和人類意識之間有着一定的牽連。除了精神科，藝術於現今亦常被病者甚或普通人用作一種精神治療。
是次展覽將展出三位藝術家：孫廣義、Thep Thavonsouk 及 Tisna Sunjaya的油畫作品，帶領我們走上他們的覺知與精神之旅，體驗藝術如何以美學角度投射人類內在與外在的經歷。
以北京及雲南為創作基地的孫廣義，在《醒覺》及《祈福》系列中展現他對東方哲學及佛學的追尋。在入住北京圓明園藝術家村期間，孫深深感受到宇宙的浩瀚，這次藝術體驗也成為一個洗滌心靈之旅。2007年，孫於雲南大理雞足山放光寺短期出家，在二十五天裡用雙腳走過雲南西雙版納及緬甸，以行動和誠心感受世界，也成為他創作的源頭和成果。
紮根於寮國及加拿大的藝術家Thep Thavonsouk 在世界各地得到心靈啟發，他的畫作也融合及蘊含了多種文化。在內心深處，Thep 深深體會到他的故鄉──寮國和當地的僧侶、自然及文化與他的精神和覺知融為一體，並牽引他繼續走上油畫心靈之旅。
來自印尼西爪娃的Tisna Sanjaya，生活環境盡是被恐怖主義、激烈種族對抗及政治動亂包圍。作為一位虔誠回教徒，Tisna 以親切的笑臉回應世界，利用從周邊環境收集得來的材料加進自己的作品裡，表達對社會的覺知與關注。
關於Asia Consciousness Festival
2009年6月5 日至21日，包含超過30個活動的Asia Consciousness Festival將於香港舉行，集合國際頂尖的科學家、哲學家、心靈導師、藝術家和表演者。其中重點節目包括世上第十五場，香港首次Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference；首個About Consciousness Conference； IEEE Conference on Cognitive Informatics；幾個一日會議，命題為Social Approaches to Consciousness、Meaningful Media和Machine Consciousness；有關主題的電影的亞洲首映，包括：The Living Matrix、What About Me、BlindSight、Consciousness and Beyond、Flicker、Leap和Ambition to Meaning；藝術展覽、音樂劇及舞台表演，包括小提琴家Martha Curtis精湛演出；著名導師帶領的工作坊；環繞香港的社會活動；及探訪中國內地靈性地區。
http://www.asiaconsciousness.org/
