108 Kōans

Author

Derek Wesley Smith, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

5-1-2013

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Mass Communication and Media Arts

First Advisor

Spahr, Robert

Abstract

The capacity for creative thought is of utmost importance for the survival and furtherance of humanity. Luckily, creative thought is the most essential aspect of humanity; it is what defines us. Unfortunately, we have created a society that tries to make us forget that. I am building a body of work that encourages mindfulness and heightens awareness. Awareness of self and mindfulness in everyday activities are prerequisites to social and spiritual evolution. I want nothing less than to expand human consciousness. 108 Kōans occurred over a period of time that I devoted to maintaining a "beginner's mind." During that time, 108 evidences of this practice were produced. These are my kōans. They are events, observations, sounds, interventions, texts, images, scripts, objects, rearrangements, etc.--experiments in recontextualization that attempt to remind people of the ability they have to recontextualize their everyday. If we can become aware of our everyday habits and assumptions and experiences--the mundane thoughts and actions that make up the bulk of who we are--then we will realize that there are other ways of being that are available to us. This awareness will then extend to examinations of cultural, social, and institutional habits. People cannot imagine another way of existence for society until they can imagine another way of being themselves. We must become literate in the language of creativity. We must celebrate our self as one with the Universe and realize that the nature of the Universe is change.