from the head or the heart?

yesterday, i braved the heat and went rambling around in pondicherry...not really in search of kolams but seeking inspiration in some form to get me through this blockage in the studio work. i visited the ashram and felt the sweet pull of the samadhi. i wandered through the sounds, textures, and flavors of the market. i ate a dosai (small one) and found a new favorite juice stall.

all creative work, on some level, is born in the heart. but kolams are based on math and counting and all of this left-brain activity that feels very mental. so...where do kolams come from? the head or the heart? here are some pictures of kolams from pondy:

homebase

since the studio work is not flowing...i have been investigating my surroundings in search of inspiration. here are a few shots of where i am living, the u.s. pavilion in auroville.



rain harvest roof captures water for reuse in showers, irrigation, etc. solar panels also mounted above.


outdoor kitchen with dynamized water dispenser.




pond of recirculated storm water with lilies, frogs and "ant moat" to deter insects. potential site for future artwork on the concrete wall.



water tower which is not to be climbed, but does afford miraculous sunsets!


the entry gate i designed during my last stay in auroville (2007).

on location

kolams, it turns out, are rarely made outside of tamil nadu. i have not seen a one since madurai. the last week has been all about moving between places. these two small pieces explore the coexistence of motion and stillness. sound can only record motion. photographs create stillness, but video holds that unique basis for comparison.

underpinnings

images from the tip of india posted here.

i write from beautiful kovalam. we had our doshas read by an ayurvedic doctor who sentenced jim to prison food and punishment while perri's prescription was something like divine debauchery. perhaps we should get a second opinion. the holistic analysis did get me thinking about the underpinnings of life in south india. the food...so delicious and wild but based on a tried and true system of ancient medicine to balance the spicy and sour, sweet and salty. it has me thinking about monsoon (wherever it is...) as the structure within the storm's expression...and kolams as being less about the serpentine lines of the gesture and more about the dot structure...the constellation that the contour steers by. 3-5-7-5-3 or 2-4-2. without the clarity of math, there would be no lines to the labyrinth. from here, that idea feels like it could make a good painting. but only after my daily dose of bacon.