Jungian Art?

I’m fascinated by the recently published Red Book of CK Jung since I read this New York Times article, which is a unique, fabalistic account accompanied by drawings of Jung’s struggle with his unconsciousness. It happens to be the basis of Jungian thought, and shows Jung at his most unhinged, and perhaps transcendent. The drawing above is one that Jung did for the Red Book, which he used more as a journal, and is currently on view at the Rubin Museum of Art. The book has never been seen before. The museum describes the exhibition:

During the period in which he worked on this book Jung developed his principal theories of archetypes, collective unconscious, and the process of individuation. It is possibly the most influential unpublished work in the history of psychology. More than two-thirds of the large, red, leather-bound manuscript’s pages are filled with Jung’s brightly hued and striking graphic forms paired with his thoughts written in a beautiful, illuminated style. Jung was fascinated by the mandala—an artistic representation of the inner and outer cosmos used in Tibetan Buddhism to help practitioners reach enlightenment—and used mandala structures in a number of his own works.

A great post on Artopia runs wild with mandalas and Jung and Aboriginal art…I highly recommend you check it out. It ends by arguing that none of these are, in fact, art, but tools of spiritual devotion. This kind of argument would rule out a fair chunk of the Western canon as well. Why can’t it be art and be a spiritual tool? However, it’s hard to fault someone who has turned me on to a really exciting exhibition I could have missed–I’ll have to report back after I check it out for myself.

Contradiction in Terms: Shepard Fairey

Some thoughtful press agent forwarded me this video interview with Shepard Fairey of Obama poster fame talking about art and activism. Click here if the video doesn’t work.

How does his marketing campaign for Saks fit into this spiel?

Kudos to Mr. Fairey for his excellent graphic design. As for his activism, the less videos made, the better.

Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die

Continuing the Halloween theme, this writer’s application is evil, fun and useful all at the same time. Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die lab lets you put in the number of words you want and a time length. Then you choose between Gentle, Normal, or Kamikaze mode. Then you press go…and if you don’t start typing and keep typing the white background starts to go red and crazy consequences ensue. Negative reinforcement has never before used the Hanson Brothers MmmBop to such good effect.

And in other scariness, Halloween best in show photo! Unfortunately it was POURING and we never made it into the parade, but at least I got to see this girl with her amazing claws and head. I would also post the man wearing only a bunch of leather straps with a huge feathered headress (because it was pretty scary too!) but I’m afraid my blog would get flagged. So use your imagination.