We are at present surrounded by Art of depressing triviality - the detritus of late post -modernism, an art that lays claim to remedial social virtue and yet "addresses" social issues in a depleted conceptualist language that is as socially ineffective as it is aesthetically boring. Artists are scared of the past and don't believe in the future . Such is our Fin de Siecle that on every side , the idea of quality is ritually attacked , so that many young artists now doubt the most basic experience involved in comparing one artwork to another- namely that there are differences of intensity , articulateness, radiance in the art around us. The fault lies I believe in our decreased ability to look at our world in fresh ways unencumbered by the static of modern life. The mingy products of endgame modernism testify to our lack of patience and ability to see our world as anything but a succession of fleeting images . These are my efforts to date to find a new way (For me at least) of producing and looking at art . I would begin by stating that it has been a conviction of mine for some time now that Art is a part of me (physiologically and spiritually) and that I am a part of Art. When we create or experience Art, we have the clearest view of the 'Mind.' We do not "see" Art, we see a mind.

Outside Art, Inside the Black Room 1. Introduction 2. The Installation 3. Background 4. The Eye Scan Project 5. Art and Environment 6. The S.D. Tank Vs. the 'Motor/Stimulus Deprivation' Chamber 7. The Tank as a Tool for Aesthetic Awareness

Copyright © 1996 Peter Mackay
mackaypeter@hotmail.com