Since first learning to harness language human beings have struggled with an internal schism caused by streams of words forming purposefully yet abstractly during the act of thinking. Words flow in and out of our minds. Indeed, there exist obsessive types among us who carry notebooks or mini-recorders everywhere, frenziedly trying to immortalize their precious thoughts. Artistically I am far more interested in creating snapshots of the verbal process layered atop thinking than in rendering my fleeting thoughts. For until we gain superior knowledge regarding the way language has defined us both internally and externally, our thoughts and emotions remain just that: fleeting. Bringing this into artistic relief via web animation demands a stark approach, composing recursive visually billowing word-thoughts, gratingly reiterating the process involved.
Are other artists interested in such terrain? I figured the best way to find out was by doing a google. I found but a single slim parallel on Carmen Casey's website. The initial page I came upon with the painting, Fleeting Thoughts, had nothing to do with the animation for which these words serve as intro; yet I discovered an affinity for Carmen Casey's paintings, specifically relative to the animated texts comprising my two grandest projects, B-Movie Diva and Courtney Love: Paean to a Lady Monster - projects stemming from my fascination with medieval sensibility. Carmen Casey seems influenced by a similar sensibility.
Recursive Meditation, the animation running on this page, requires a high-speed Internet connection to be properly viewed.
© 2005 Peter Schmideg