Let Us Re-Form the Planet with Words of Light

Riformiamo il Pianeta con Parole di Luce

Fivefold installation in Body Art and Public Art in the city of Potenza

Artist’s Manifesto – Lifelong Learning

Locations: Piazza Prefettura, Piazza XVIII Agosto, Parco Europa Unita, Viale Dante opposite the escalators, via Appia railway bridge.

September – November 2009

The work “LET US RE-FORM THE PLANET WITH WORDS OF LIGHT” grew out of the experience of writing Mandalas – which the Artist Teri Volini has practised since 2002 – and, chronologically, out of the Mandala of the Green Earth, in which the continents and oceans of Planet Earth were composed together with hundreds of pupils from two schools in Potenza by writing words of Light, that is, positive and auspicious words.

Writing mandalas refer to the power of words to affect living beings positively or negatively, as also shown by the research of the Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto.

Let Us Re-Form the Planet with Words of Light underlines this possibility.

All this is communicated more easily through the powerful language of art (in this case Body Art, Public Art and Participatory Art).

PUBLIC BILLPOSTING

One of the features of our urban and suburban landscape is the abnormal proliferation of billboards and advertising posters that invade streets, squares, buildings and walls, often in huge sizes.

Their blatant presence is now a constant, since they serve the dominant commercial culture.

With the globalisation of markets, advertising “unifies” all the countries of the world in homologation, with ever more studied and elaborate images and techniques designed to convince us of the goodness of the products for sale and push us to buy.

WOMEN AND ADVERTISING

Alongside the domination and subjugation of nature, this culture subjugates what is closest to nature – through its cycles, its equal creativity, and so on: woman.

In this race towards ever more compulsive consumption every being – human and not – and every element is used to achieve the aim; but it is the female human being who is most exploited, used outright as an object; her body is laid bare not so much to highlight its beauty, or because certain products require it – a suntan cream, say, or swimwear (and even then with little regard) – but also outside any logical context, as a pretext and above all without any scruple: as an accompaniment – an escort – to luxury cars, doors, furniture and whatever else…

One of the golden rules of this display of the female body is the imperative pairing of beauty and youth: the diktat that sees and “recommends” aesthetic perfection “at all costs”.

One of the most despotic patterns of thought of our time seems to be: beauty, youth and fitness at any cost.

Often declared, and even more often communicated subtly, this imperative is spread everywhere by the all-powerful mass media, especially by those trash programmes, films and publications which, just like real waste, stubbornly invade the world.

In short, we slavishly accept what is “considered” beautiful by only one part of the culture, decided under the pressure of great commercial interests and imposed on us through refined advertising campaigns, and not only.

Dissociation

In the work “Let Us Re-Form the Planet with Words of Light” there is total dissociation from these parameters. One cannot even speak of “advertising” if the term refers to a means of selling: here there is no aim to sell anything.

There is nothing commercial in this multiple installation; through the Work a mode opposite to commercial operations is activated: a woman – in this case the artist herself – offers her physical person not to sell something or to advertise herself, but to communicate.

An act of communication

The power of art is revealed precisely in this offering of contributions to the evolution of society; in helping to inspire and to foster cultural expansion and the expansion of consciousness.

The aware artist reveals her vocation to be an example in activating a different way of thinking and a different culture, rather than sharing the conventional yardstick based on the acquisition of fame and on mercantile interest.

Making use of the charisma – and of the privilege art grants – to overcome conformism and convey revolutionary ideas through greater visibility and the highly effective communicative code it possesses, the aware artist can become a forerunner, precursor and co-builder of new worlds;

her works will be privileged means of constructive communication, active bearers of fundamental messages, useful to stimulate reflection – indispensable tools for trans-muting habitual, stereotyped attitudes into ethical and conscious actions: the only way to rediscover our true being and to Re-form the world, outside and inside us.

AT ALL COSTS

There is also a transversal message that contradicts the imperative of the dominant culture: that one exists and can be visible only by conforming to prevailing aesthetic standards. In “Let Us Re-Form” the image displayed is that of an “ordinary” person, in both dress and appearance; not even her age corresponds to socially accepted canons. This signals a change of parameter: anyone who has something important to say can allow themselves to be on display, with dignity, simply to communicate this intuition, this different perception of the world.

There is also a perfect and tragic correspondence between the commodification of Nature and that of Woman. Even in the third millennium, the effects of such exploitation are before our eyes.

Woman and Nature

I have reflected on the woman–nature paradigm, starting from what makes the feminine originally in perfect correspondence with Mother Earth and with the cycles of the universe… Given the state of things, perhaps the parallel between woman and nature can become dramatic, if we think that what is done to Mother Earth is repeated on woman; only one word comes to mind: to slash.

As for free choice: there is much discussion of the fact that in stricter cultures women must wear the veil; yet coercion is not always direct: conditioning can take different forms – education, religion, social approval, cultural induction; are we sure Western women are free of it, even if in outwardly different forms, with the aggravating factor of a claim to freedom and choice? Is it not an age-old conviction in women that they are worth something, and accepted by the world and by men, only if young and beautiful?

Part of the National Day of Contemporary Art, 3 October 2009 (amaci.org)

In the installation of 5 giant prints in as many locations in Potenza, the Artist bears witness to the need for a new ethical order starting from words, which through their vibration can influence our lives for good or ill.

Let Us Re-Form the Planet with Words of Light

Action in Public Art

Like most of the works the Artist has created since the mid-1990s – with a natural inner force that anticipated what later became a trend in contemporary art – this one too belongs to what is called Public Art: an art form that goes beyond conventional places such as galleries or museums, exhibiting in public spaces with which it interacts, offering and receiving vitality and substance.

Action in Body Art

Let Us Re-Form the Planet with Words of Light is also a work of Body Art, in which the Artist uses her own body as an expressive tool: in Body Art the artist’s body becomes a creative event in itself. The artist’s body is the work of art itself. It can simply be contemplated, although it prefers to go among people, more or less discreetly depending on the case; it demands their attention, can provoke reactions and questions, and is never neutral. In this way an Action takes place in which the revolutionary force implicit in art is especially visible since, by deliberately exaggerating certain behaviours and so “emphasising” reality, it sets off processes capable of bringing about personal and social awareness.

At the heart of the Work

Let Us Re-Form the Planet with Words of Light follows the Mandala of the Green Earth, a Work in which Planet Earth was redrawn by the Artist and the children of two schools in the city through the circular writing of luminous words in green and blue.

With carefully chosen words the continents and oceans were re-formed, as a wish and a commitment for the Earth to become healthy and harmonious again.

Starting from Words

To change our approach to the world and improve it, we can start from the words we use every day.

Human beings who wish for a higher consciousness must first of all realise the importance of language: how, by eliminating offensive, harsh and coarse terms, it is possible to influence our behaviour, so as to reach more easily peace of mind and thought, and therefore the non-violent human being, trusting and trustworthy, able to transform reality for the better.

The importance of spoken and written words

If our thoughts alone can influence our lives for good or ill, words do so even more. The written word further confirms these possibilities: writing consciously can help us regain our true nature.

Words of light for our life

Today more and more people are aware of the incredible creative power we exercise with our thoughts and words. Positive and bright words have a special power. They produce an enormous energy that creates a future full of joy for ourselves and for the whole world. If we truly wish to be happy, let us use at every moment only splendid, inspired, wonderful words…

Masami Saionji, president of the World Peace Foundation, New York, and of the Goi Peace Foundation, Tokyo.

Words and water

Science, too, confirms these statements. The Japanese researcher Dr Masaru Emoto developed a scientific procedure to show that water has a memory influenced by pollution, music, words, writing and intentions.

With his team, Emoto developed a technique for examining under the microscope – and photographing – the crystals that form when different kinds of water freeze, noting that water exposed to music, prayers, spoken or written words, mountain water, polluted water and so on reacts very differently each time: we can thus observe wonderful, well-structured crystals, or disharmonious ones, or ones that struggle to form.

All this shows that water is a kind of liquid magnetic tape capable of recording very sensitively the energetic information it receives from the environment; we thus understand the importance of positive vibrations and of words for everything that lives – and if we consider that the human being is more than 70% water, the conclusions are ours to draw.