SPRING MARCH VOL.51
2015
A Free Online publication about humans and their achievemEnts
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E D I T O R I A L
I
t needs a lot of work to turn from winter into spring, to turn the sun by your side. But NEu Tymes are for everyone and that makes it a good deal for each that relaxing noons and hangouts is a way of living or feeder. Long, comfy with all the proper material about art, design and photography specials. Really landed on the right editing. Circles are mde to be drawn at their whole and NEu Tymes from this issue starts an other one till the end. Everybody loves the sunshine after all. It's how you work to reach the result not just the end of it. Enjoy & have a nice read!
CONTRIBUTORS Pygmalion Karatzas Archit ect Phot ographer Phot o edit or
>
Nassia Kapa
Phot ographer Phot o Edit or
>
Petros Vasiadis
NEU TYMES'
Design & Publishing
I N S I D E Vol.51 Read about Candyfall by Cat Madeira, How Noowit is changing the way we get informed and inform others, Pollock by a ma, Nรกdia Maria's
Photography,
24hrs
Protection by Andre Peixoto and Pygmalion Karatzas' Zen & Photography
a ma Voxel Gonzo Berlin, Germany
www.andreasmartini.com
Pollock
Art Direction, Digital Art, Typography "New needs need new techniques. And the modern artists have found new ways and new means of making their statements... the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or of any other past culture." -J. Pollock "I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image... because the painting has a life of its own." - Jackson Pollock Source Copyright Info
M edia
M ade
How Noowit is changin we get informed and inf
S mar Τ
ng the way form others
T
he Mass Media we are
to the transition from Mass Media
accustomed
ignore
to truly Personalized Social Media.
us. They use a vertical
Its goal is to develop technologies
model
and offer services that facilitate
their
to
to
communicate
message.
In
the
the
creation
know
of content is delivered to everyone
is core lies an innovative Artificial
at
Intelligence
time
Newspapers
indiscriminately.
package
the
same
learning
us
that
us
same
respect
media
case of television, a single stream the
and
of
personally.
core,
what
each
At
capable
of
individual
(or
collection of articles into a single
group of individuals) likes. Content
common issue for all readers. What
is
is
is
multiple and evolving interests of
editors
each one of us and is presented
to
be
decided with
a
broadcast
by
or
managers
single
goal,
printed
and
to
appeal
to
then
filtered
appropriately
so
according
we
to
can
the
easily
the masses and attract advertisers
discover the content that matters.
and
their
money.
They
who
each
of
is.
us
don’t
They
do
care not
Information
Web’s
most
overload
inherent
is
the
problem.
The
take into account our interests and
Web has liberated the creation and
information needs. In most cases the
dissemination
information they deliver does not
in doing so it has created a bulk.
help us improve our lives, become
Most
better at our work, or our hobby,
online via email, blogs, tweets and
discover creations (paintings, music,
photos, designs etc.) that will inspire
our personal interests and in many
us and prompt our creativity.
cases of bad taste. In our effort
to
Noowit
wants
to
contribute
of
distill
the
of
content
posts
the
information,
is
cool
we
but
receive
irrelevant
content
to
from
the rest we consume valuable time
its
and mental effort. As a result we
and its effort to make us smarter
end up consuming only fast food
by
content
anything
that is relevant to our interests and
basically
information needs. Content that helps
losing out on the positive premise
us become better at our work or our
of the web as a new medium that
hobbies.
could
educates.
more
and
we
elaborate.
help
avoid
We
are
us become individually
Artificial Intelligence (AI) core providing
us
with
Content
that
the
content
informs
and
and collectively smarter. Instead we
All
that
are creating a hyper-mass culture
you
is
to
where anything light, funny, extreme
sources of information (i.e., the sites
or shocking goes viral and takes
and blogs you like to read), or your
over the cyberspace.
favorite
Noowit
choose
requires
your
from
favorite
#hashtags (i.e., the topics you
like to read about). Noowit aggregates Media that Knows You
all related articles in real-time and
Now imagine οnline Media that somehow
evaluates
knows us.
multiple
cut the noise and tackle
them and
according evolving
to
your
interests.
information overload on our behalf.
According
to
Media that make sense out of web’s
evaluation
Noowit
information glut and suggest the best
highlight the best articles for you.
content for us, without necessarily
You can teach Noowit what you like
making us narrow minded.
by clicking on the love icon whenever
The
name
"Noowit"
the
results can
of
this
choose
and
combines
you find something interesting or by
the Greek word “noo” which means mind
just sharing those interesting articles.
and the word “wit”, to account both for
Noowit’s Editions Noowit uses his unique AI core, combined with innovative page editing algorithms to produce online
publications
edited
specifically
for
you. So far there are two such publications and more are coming soon. The Stream is essentially a personalized news aggregator. All the content from your favorite sources is presented in the form of a magazine with pages ordered chronologically from the newest to the older articles. All articles are presented indiscriminately, but within
each
page
each
article
occupies
space proportional to its relevance to the reader’s
interests.
What
is
important
for
the reader becomes large and everything else small, so you can easily focus on the content that matters and avoid the noise that accompanies it. If you wish you can even activate The Stream’s
content
filter
and only receive a percentage of the most interesting articles. The Daily is a
for
surrogate of the best articles
you, out of those published the last
All those fluid, self-organizing programs tracking our tastes and interests, and measuring them against the behavior of larger populations, these programs are the beginning of a progression that will, in a matter of years, lead to a world where we regularly interact with media that seems to know us in some fundamental way. Software will recognise our habits, anticipate our needs, adapt to our changing moods. The first generation of emergent software displayed a captivatingly organic quality; they seemed more like life-forms than the sterile instruction sets and command lines of early code. The next generation will take that organic feel one step further: the new software will use the tools of self-organisation to build models of our own mental states. These programs won't be self-aware, and they won't pass any Turing tests, but they will make the media experience we've grown accustomed to seem autistic in comparison. They will be mind readers. Steven Jonson "Emergence" (2002)
twenty four hours by your favorite
or be assigned your private URL. You
sources, or about your favorite topics
can use it privately to save articles
(hashtags). Out of possibly hundreds
you wish to read later at your spear
of
and
time or publicly to share your passion
chooses the most interesting so you
or expertise with friends, colleagues,
never miss anything out.
customer and employees.
Become a Noowit Editor
Noowit’s History & Future
articles,
You
can
Noowit
use
evaluates
Noowit
both
as
a
Noowit
is
based
on
ten
years
of
reader, but also as a content creator
research, but its development started
or
curator.
blogger,
in September 2011 by Nikolaos Nanas
a
journalist,
even
a
and
company, you can use Noowit to easily
the
publish your own personal magazine
despite the difficulties and the lack
with content you collect or produce.
of funding they still move forward
Use the Magit button and bookmarklet
towards
If
you
an
are
a
expert
or
Christos
team
has
a
Spiliopoulos. five
new
Today
members
media
and
landscape.
add anything you find on the web
They are working hard to make you a
to your personal Noowit magazine.
happy reader, blogger and publisher.
to
With
Noowit’s
Authoring
recently
released
Tool, you can also write
your own original articles with all the necessary formating and ingredients (images, slideshows, video and music). Your personal magazine has a unique address and if required it can be
embedded
in
your
personal
site,
Cat Madeira Designer Nottingham, United Kingdom
catmadeira.wix.com/design
Candyfall
Furniture Design, Product Design, Sculpting Winning entry for the Nottingham City Council competition to design an artefact or sculpture for John Farr rest garden. Inspired by everyday objects and kistch culture i designed the giant liquorice allsorts made of fibreglass. People are able to sit and enjoy them. A fun colour splash was added to this small grass patch in the city centre. Source Copyright Ιnfο
Nรกdia Maria
Nadia is a poetic soul in the body of a talented photographer. Her work embodies elements of another world, her figures come out fairy land and poems written by Silvia Plath and sounds of Coco Rosie.
Bio/About Nádia
Maria,
born
photographer She
started
in
living to
1984, in
is
a
Bauru,
photograph
Brazilian
São as
Paulo.
a
child.
She can be dark and
Over the years she explored and studied
colourful, sweet and
photography, having studied Photography
rough, embracing
at Senac – Brazil. Her’s relationship with
human morality in
the camera and the images she captures
an eternal world of stardust, silent angels and flowery patterns. Nadia is a photographer who experiments with wordless communication and she has a lot to share and say.
were
also
born
in
her
childhood,
but
it
became stronger in the youth, becoming her
personal
journal
transformations
that
of she
feelings went
and
through
in her life. The focus of her inspiration is
at
poetry,
music,
her
unconscious.
And is her writing, her intimate feelings, the
darkness
and
the
light
of
her
life.
Nassia Kapa pages: http://www.nadiamaria.com https://www.facebook.com/nmphoto.fotografia http://transparessencia.tumblr.com/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/transparessencia
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Ze &
photo
en
ography
+ Rock gardens I, Diakofto Greece, 2012
+ Rock gardens II, Diakofto Greece, 2012
"I
n a society that assures us that more is better, it’s not always easy to trust that we have enough, that we are enough. We have to cut through the illusion that abundance is security, and trust that we don’t have to buffer ourselves against reality. If we have learned to trust abundance, we can learn to trust simplicity." - John Daido Loori, ‘The Zen of creativity’ "What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral. Become a light bulb instead of a laser beam. Striving for excellence usually entails the sacrifice of everything in the background for the sake of attending to the all-important foreground. Find the meaning of everything around, instead of just what you are directly facing." - John Maeda, ‘The laws of simplicity’ Many past and present photographers have talked about and shown a connection between photography and Zen. From past masters, Ralph Eugene Meatyard is such an example. Contemporary photographers who show a zen aesthetic in their work include: Gregory Colbert, Michael Kenna, Michael Levin, David Burdeny, Nathan Wirth, John Kosmopoulos, Andy Ilachinski, Marc Citret - to name but a few. Some more directly through their own study and intuition and others
indirectly through the impression their work has on viewers. Two sides can be considered in this regard: the perspective of the artist’s approach towards a zen aesthetic and - the perspective of Zen’s approach towards the photographic act. This article tries to bring some light to the latter and by doing so, initiate a deeper dialogue among the two. During Meatyard's time Zen was just beginning to enter into the west. Since then considerable steps have been made in further understanding this tradition and it’s relationship with the arts. One of the books that captures this is John Daido Loori’s ‘The Zen of creativity: cultivating your artistic life’. Loori studied chemistry but then became a student of Minor White. He received shido from Taizan Maezumi and became a Zen Buddhist roshi. He founded the Zen Mountain Monastery in New York. He has written 14 books on Zen and it’s relationship with the arts and his photographs have been exhibited in many galleries and media like NBC, CBS, CNN, Time, Newsweek. In his book Loori explains the basic principles of the Zen aesthetic as they relate to the artistic expression:
1. The role of the ‘still point’ in the creative process: The still point is at the heart of the creative process. In Zen we access it through zazen meditation. To be still is to create a state of consciousness that is open and receptive. It is very natural and uncomplicated. It’s not ‘esoteric’ in any way. Yet it’s incredibly profound. The first step to access the still point is through single-pointedness of mind which builds our concentration (in Japanese Zen called ‘joriki’, the power of concentration). Joriki taps into our physical, mental and emotional reserves and opens our spiritual capacities. One way that our spiritual power begins to manifest is through the emergence of the intuitive aspect of our consciousness. Single-pointed concentration develops our intuition. We become more directly aware of the world. It’s a fruition that comes after discipline and repetitive practice just like any other learning process. It’s a way of being. All our senses become open, alert, free of tension and receptive. If this state can be cultivated in your being and in your life, then it will be present in your art.
+ Reflections I, Selianitika Greece, 2012
2. Seeing with the whole body-mind: Whole body-mind seeing is the total merging of subject and object, of seer and seen, of self and other. In that state ‘form is no other than emptiness and emptiness no other that form’. It also means the ability to experience things directly without evaluation, interpretation, intellectualization, labeling, judging, criticizing. It also means paying full attention to any activity, being in the moment. It means mindfulness in the daily activities.
+ Reflections II, Doxa Greece, 2013
3. The basic elements of the creative process: Each artist expresses through art his unique way of experiencing life. Before engaging the creative process it is helpful to understand some of the basic elements that are functioning in it: a. Inspiration and intuition - that inside us which wants to be expressed. b. Hara - the place within us that is still and grounded. This still point allows our inspiration and intuition to clarify itself and develop into creativity. Zazen cultivates exactly this. c. Chi or energy - the energy contained both in us and in the subject. Out of this connection emerges the resonance between artist and subject. Chi is the vital energy that gives life to all our creations in every sense. Chi is the communicative link between artist and subject. d. The act of expression. e. Editing (and ‘letting go’ by moving on)
+ Shinning through I, Akoli Greece, 2013
4. ‘Jeweled mirror’ (loving-sight and creative feedback): Creative feedback helps us find out the impression that our work has on the audience and evaluate the extend that it relates to our intentions. But as we have seen that there is a particular state of consciousness for seeing the subject and creating art, it is emphasized here that the same is valid for the act of perception of art. Perception coming from the still point. Look with undivided manner. Let the object become your contemplation. Concentrate your whole attention on this one act of loving-sight. Exclude all other objects from your conscious field. Do not intellectualize for a while what you see. Pour out your personality towards it. Let your soul be in your eyes. Merge with the subject in an act of true and unobstructed communion. This kind of feedback requires a deep sense of trust between the giver and the receiver. When established it acts as a doorway to insight. Anything we create in life can be a powerful teacher and a key element that enables this to happen is creative feedback. It is important to express feelings and not ideas, criticisms or opinions. But there is another important step after the feedback which again has to do with our own state of consciousness. We need to train ourselves to draw out the information the audience is giving us. Creative feedback is like a guided meditative way of experiencing art.
+ Shinning through II, Patra Greece, 2013
5. Barriers:
One crucial barrier in artistic expression is that of originality. There is difference between trying to be different and being original. The first is more goal and ego oriented and ultimately sets us apart from each other. The second is a deeper and honest commitment in discovering our inner selves and ultimately brings us closer to each other. Also the difference in this process brings the extraordinary out of the ordinary. In Zen arts and practice this is achieved by repetitive practice of simple tasks. You may be asked to photograph leaves or trees or rocks. You do that again and again many times and with this process the student develops skills, freedom and trust in themselves and without any conscious effort on their part, their own uniqueness or originality begins to appear by itself. You don’t ‘try’ to shout differently just for the sake of not being trivial. You keep on shouting until you feel your inner being has been expressed gently in this simple task. When we look at such art we immediately notice the ordinariness and the extraordinariness at the same time and this is what makes it special and unique. Another barrier can be: knowing too much / too little, our attachment to our own creations, being too affected by our teachers or the great photographers that we have studied and love. In order to work with a barrier you have to become intimate with it. But usually these barriers are our blind spots and that’s why creative feedback is valuable. Art koans are a unique way of addressing our barriers. We can actively take up our barriers as art koans.
+ Enso games, Patra Greece, 2013
6. The ‘Artless arts’ (the Zen aesthetic): Since the 60ies when Zen started to become popular in the West, art historians other commentators have given various definitions to this particular aesthetic. The basic working experience of people doing Zen is that as meditation deepens, a particular kind of energy and awareness develops which ultimately leads to the state called ‘no-mind’ or ‘pure self’ or ‘the empty witness’. The point here, as it has been stressed by many contemporary teachers, is not to remain in the ‘absolute samadhi’ state, but to practice functioning in the ‘working samadhi’. ‘No-mind’ in this case means no intent. Any activity is neither forced or strained. It happens effortlessly. That’s why it’s also called ‘the action of no-action’. This is the essence of the Taoist concept of ‘wu-wei’: a continuous stream of spontaneity that emerges from the rhythm of circumstances. In the Zen arts there is a clear sense of the presence of this quality. Thus Zen teaching and practice is expressed very directly and without excessive ornamentation. In the West this has been experimented in various art forms with minimalism. This quality of simplicity opens up a creative space that reflects the pure dynamics that exist in the relationship between form and space (in architecture, design, painting and the like), or between sound and silence (in music, chanting, mantras), or between light and darkness (in photography), or words and the meaning between them (poetry). Another characteristics of the Zen aesthetic is that of ‘no-rank’ or ordinariness which relates to the Zen concept of beauty, and that of limitlessness, without boundaries, open to countless possibilities, free. Despite the profundity, the Zen aesthetic also gives special emphasis in the role of playfulness. ‘Suchness’ or essentially being as it is, is the all inclusive reality that is manifested as a sense of presence. It’s the quality of being that is ultimately nondual. It is the isness of all things and of existence. Zen art ultimately expresses also this more intangible concept. + Off season, Selianitika Greece, 2012
+ V, Selianitika Greece, 2012
+ Presence, Varese Italy, 2009
+ Couples, Varese Italy, 2009
7. ‘Dancing brush’:
Zen calligraphy explores the polarity between disciple and freedom. Spontaneity in art expresses the artist’s direct experience of reality. Expressing things for what they are deepens the perception of the uniqueness of the subject and goes to the ‘isness’ of things.
+ Summer nights, Patra Greece, 2013
8. ‘Participatory’:
Zen art is open-ended. The ‘enso’ (characteristic Zen circle) is almost always left open. The missing piece is to be completed by the viewer. In doing so the viewer gets involved and experiences a sense of completion in the art.
+ Dead end, Drepano Greece, 2012
+ St. Nikolas, Georgioupoli Crete, 2013
9. ‘Endless spring’ (intimate words): Intimacy is not a Intimacy is the transmission of already has what brought to life.
matter that exists in the realm place where opposites merge. wisdom nothing is transmitted. the teacher has. It just needs to
+ Archetypes I, Rannoch Moor Scotland, 2014
of polarities. In the Zen The student be awakened,
10. ‘Mystery’ (expressing the inexpressible): One of the ultimate challenges of Zen art is to express the inexpressible- the mystical essence of life, the transcendental nature of reality. ‘Mystical’ in Zen is the ultimate spiritual meaning that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intellect. Yet we’re somehow aware of its presence and it has a real impact on us. One artistic way Zen choices to do this is poetry- haikus and koans. Painting and photography has used written words in combination with their medium in order to assist the audience to go deeper.
+ Archetypes II, St. Margaret lake Edinburgh, 2014
+ Fan the flame, Lake Doxa Greece, 2013
+ Glen Etive falls, Scottish Highlands, 2014
+. Inland Sea I, Qatar, 2013 + Inland Sea II, Qatar, 2013
It has been said that the essence of the photographic act is a contemplative interaction with our world. By exploring the connections of Zen and artistic photography we cultivate a deeper and more tangible understanding of this relationship.
In memoriam of John Daido Loori who passed away in 2009.
Links/references: John Daido Loori: http://www.mro.org/daido/ Zen Mountain Monastery: http://zmm.mro.org ‘The Zen of Creativity’ book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Zen-Creativity-Cultivating-Artistic/ dp/0345466330 Pygmalion Karatzas Photography: http://karatzas.wix.com/photo
Andre Peixoto Brand & Design Director AVRS, Inc. Santa Rosa, CA, USA
andrepeixoto.com
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