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The Wandering Mind

Loose strings of creative thought? The mind’s journey in time, space and knowledge.

The mind is always engaged. The mind wanders. The mind is invited to score the sky as we look out the window and goes on marvellous journeys as we catch butterflies.

Blue Wanderings
Blue Wanderings
Blue Wanderings 2
Blue Wanderings 2
Morning Wanderings
Morning Wanderings
Conversing Minds
Conversing Minds
Conversing Minds 2
Conversing Minds 2
Sunset Wanderings
Sunset Wanderings

“Through mind-wandering, we invent tell stories, expand our mental horizons. Mind-wandering underwrites creativity.” (Corballis, M. 2015)

What does the brain do when the mind wanders? Does it wonder? Does it create visions? Does it tie loose ends and open new possibilities? Is it at its most creative?

This short essay wants to investigate the journey the mind takes when being itself, following a natural path and drifting towards currents of thoughts that lead beyond the moment.

“All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” (Tolkien JRR, 1954)

Mind wandering may thread loose strings of creative thought to unsolved problems and unanswered questions. The past, present and the future work along each other creating infinite possibilities and maybe the mind in these moments is at rest, dynamic rest.

Some suggest meditation as a way to settle the mind and find peace at last. But maybe the mind is happiest and fulfilled when travelling in time and space, it is the individual who judges the calm or the storm. The mind is itself. Should it be tamed or listened to?

 

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Brain Trees

The Brain Trees represent the beauty, complexity and activity of the creative mind. They are a metaphor of growth through the unfurling of nature’s evolution of the brain and it’s manifestations.

The keys words : beauty, connectivity, speed, cognition, journey, border crossings, creativity, collective unconscious, intelligence, colour and form.
The materials were  collected from my bin room at work where waste becomes abundance and ends become new beginnings. Left overs can ignite imagination. Boxes, strips of paper, packaging material and tomato tins found new life and expression.
One of the goals in this work is to accomplish artwork made out of simple materials thus the use of a stapler rather than rivets and other “cheap” equipment.

Creativity is elegant without having to be expensive. It’s all about the idea and the ideation.
The Brain Trees want to celebrate all the different thinkers whatever the reasons for their ability to think differently. They are the creative survivors  of our standardized society. Their energy, inspiration and resilience are prize worthy.
The trees are the size of a year 1 child approximately and the heads are one approximately the size of a child the other of an adult.

These quotes are at the heart of the artworks; Creativity concerns what we do with our ability (Perkins,1981). This world is but a canvas to our imagination ( Henry David Thoreau,1849)

via Brain Trees