The last three of weeks in beautiful Koh Phangan, Thailand have been quite different from the voyage so far. I have been experiencing art as ‘creator’ here in addition to observer. In my last post I shared my plan to spend some time at the Agama Yoga Center here. While the school’s methods are not for me, I met some really excellent people- students, ex-students, teachers, and affiliates, as well as plugging into a great community on Koh Phangan.
Two events of the past three weeks are worth mentioning around the project. One was the synchronistic way I met Tamara Bondi, a German spiritual artist whose work is probably the most intentional I have seen among the non-psychedelic movement in trying to capture the multiple realities of objects. Our meeting was synchronistic because we exchanged names only on the first day I arrived to the school. Over a week later, I saw her walking and offered her a moped ride up the road to one of the school’s studios. There was barely enough time to recognize each other in this meeting, but one series of Tamara’s work depicts the ways that people instantly scan each others’ energies and how interactions effect the human energy field change with interactions. This was how we met…
In her own words, Tamara paints (depicts) invisible entities using invisible media… More specifically, she focuses on the multiple realities of particular objects by depicting them on transparent media using multiple layers to capture the light and energy that are not visible in static, single-layer depictions. Regarding another series of her work, she observes that in contrast to the stability of past eras, in the present day, objects almost have to be moving to be perceived. Our conversation was one of the most in-depth interviews I have done so far, and evidenced Tamara’s depth of contemplation of the spiritual in art at deeply personal, experiential and at an intellectual levels. In the video which will be uploaded soon (click to begin a 112 MB Download- it will take a while, but is worth it!) hosted on the Spiros Project website, she explains her work in some depth, but admitted some hesitancy in confronting the German “Art World” with a full and complete description of the spiritual context and content of her work, and she expressed enthusiasm about joining a more deliberate effort to unite contemporary spiritual artists into a more coherent “force.” I look forward to her participation with great enthusiasm.
The picture of Tamara here leads nicely into the next report. Why, might you ask, is she shown in mirrors? And what is that thing? An effort to depict my own primary intention around personal growth came out in Koh Phangan in the form of a Mandala… Tamara’s work focuses on very refined methods of depicting light and energy to reflect the depth of human spiritual and energetic experience. My means are admittedly much cruder (I don’t really claim to be an artist and am not trained). Nonetheless, the idea of the spiritual aspect of the individual resolving its relationship with the immediacy of his or her experience—their Gestalt, in short—really came to the front of my mind while testing out the Agama School, which approaches spiritual and personal development from a much different—I would even say contradictory—perspective. So out popped the Mandala of Koh Now (the Island of Now).
Previously, I had found a great energy place in Koh Phangan- a coffeeshop called Blue Top that offered wireless internet and just had a great vibe. The day before the Mandala came to me, I suggested to the owner, Carlo, that he install some kind of Talisman or Mandala in the space to help hold the energy in. The next day I returned with a full design of the mandala and offered to build and install it in the space at the cost of materials. He agreed, and we were off. While the island placed some limitations on materials, it was eventually possible to build it pretty much as it was designed. We held a small ‘opening’ on April 9 (Sunday), and photographed it extensively. By way of futher explanation, here is my artist’s statement.
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The Mandala of Koh Now
In Vajrayana Buddhism (the Diamond Path), “the mandala is usually a symbolic representation which depicts the qualities of the enlightened mind in harmonious relationship with one another. A mandala may also be used to represent the path of spiritual development [or serve as a] symbolic representation of the universe, in which a mandala representing the universe is offered to the Buddha.”
Great teachers from the present and the past, including Eckhard Tolle, J. Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi, and Dzogchen master Dudjom Rimpoche, have pointed to the immediacy of our experience- the Now- as the instantly accessible portal to the eternal, formless realm of space and light. We can access our Higher Selves and the self-liberation of Enlightenment…
Not later.
Not tomorrow.
Not by an act of Parliament.
Not after arduous preliminaries, whereupon we are judged to be ready.
Not as a reward for following the rules, or for being “good.”
Only NOW.
The Mandala of Ko Now, built for the space it occupies, is offered to residents of and visitors to the enchanted island of Ko Phangan in the hope that they may reflect with awareness on the present moment- the viewer in the immediacy of his or her experience.
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Above is a picture of Carlo with his lovely wife Nit observing their immediacy in the Mandala.
Today I returned to Chiang Mai to wrap up my time in Thailand. I already miss Koh Phangan- such a great place- and hope to be back there soon. I will report on new adventures and plans soon, as the near future appears to hold a lot of time sitting at this computer putting together a draft of the book structure and filling in the Thailand contents I’ve collected so far.
Great news from Chiang Mai. Yesterday visited Tawatchai Somkong, artist and publisher of Thai Fine Art Magazine, which published my piece on Ernst Fuchs' Bangkok visit in the April issue. The article can be viewed here. It is a 5.5 MB download, so for those with slow connections be warned! In any case, the article looks great and has led to an offer from Tawatchai to write FOUR more articles for the magazine, which will summarize what I've found in Thailand and be published in four sequential issues. I'm very very excited about this development, since it means that the basic 'structure' of the book (as I see it now) will be out there for comment and discussion sooner rather than later, and, of course, it is good incentive to get the writing done as well. Also, a productive conversation with Michael Ernst Messner, son of Ernst Fuchs, whose efforts to build a large-scale cultural attraction in Bangkok are described in the linked article has me planning to stay a bit longer in Thailand for work and learning. Michael is, in his own right, a respected arts entrepreneur specializing in visionary and fantastic art, and the possiblity to learn from him for the month of June is very exciting. 
