This past Fall, I attended a talk with Marina Abramovic at the 92Y. She discussed the art of patience in relation to repetition and monotony, the ability to do something over and over again to the point of total and utter boredom with the end goal of achieving something greater.
To illustrate her point, she suggested combining two bags of rice with opposing grains and shapes. Over the period of a week, the singular bowl must be divided into two. Imagine sitting for days, combing, inspecting and separating- it seems as tedious as recombining the faces of paper shreddings (an incredible scene from Argo, if you haven’t seen it). Anything you’ve been troubled by should be resolved upon the completion of the exercise.
These are the references that came to mind after stumbling across Simon Beck’s work last night. He creates his art in the Savoie Valley of France, where he walks miles in pursuit of a perfectly constructed prism. Up close, his steps appear disjointed and chaotic, though from afar, each marking is part of a mathematical equation- one that’s mind-bogglingly perfect. His ability to walk his algorithms from within, as opposed to administering from afar seems supernatural in today’s computer-filled world. Ants do this. Plants do this. People do this with the aid of tools, and rarely do you see feats this magnificant beyond the classroom, the lab or office in the name of art.
At varying times of the day, Beck’s patterns shift, following the sun and reacting to the shadows. The designs are fleeting, and may only last for a few hours…beautiful in the moment for few to enjoy…which reminds me Abramovic’s exercise to some degree.
I was really struck by these works, as was the internet- the post appeared in my Facebook feed several times today. This also wraps the year for me in a symbolic way. Hopefully you all slow down a bit (or speed up if you prefer), recharge and refresh over the holiday for the new year ahead. I leave for Vietnam today and will be back in early January, with a redesign to share with you all. Til then, take some time to explore the art of patience, I’d love to hear what you discover…
-Shayna
