Experiments in sonic realisations.
In the crucible of the 1990s, within the vibrant heart of Brisbane, I, Mr. Italozazen, embarked upon a quest not merely of artistic creation but of profound existential inquiry. The decade unfurled as a canvas, upon which the narrative of my life as a seeker of truth was etched through the medium of sonic performances, a journey that would lead me from the silent depths of light meditation to the resonant realms of harmonics.
The mouth harp, in the hands of a seeker, became more than an instrument; it was a vehicle for traversing the metaphysical divide between soul and body, a dualism I had pondered with the rigor of a philosopher and the introspection of a yogi. My residence in Amsterdam was not just a geographical relocation but a metaphysical migration towards a deeper understanding of art as a practice rooted in the ontology of sound and silence.
By 1995, the flute’s voice became my medium, its melodies a conduit for experiments in sonic realizations. This was a period where the world music phase was not just an aesthetic choice but a philosophical stance, aspiring to focus the mind not on a point of light but on eternal sound vibrations. These vibrations, I found, led to higher positive valence states of consciousness, a transformation from visual to sonic meditation, seeking rarefied states of being.
The sound of hollow wood, explored through festivals, bush music events, and intimate gatherings, became a theory and practice unto itself. It was a symphony of the natural and the spiritual, an exploration of how the material of earth could resonate with the immaterial of the soul.
As I turned to the poetics of expressionism, my art became a performance of artistic spiritualism. This was not a mere shift in medium but a philosophical evolution from the yogic discipline to a poetics of freedom, mirroring the post-Cold War world’s newfound cultural liberties. The conch shell, in my hands, was not simply an instrument but a horn calling out to the divine, each note a beckoning of the spirit, each performance a meditation on the harmonics of existence.
This era was a testament to the spirit of inquiry that defined my existence. Each performance, each note played, was a step on the path of discovery, a path that led me through the rich tapestry of sociology, religion, and the philosophy of mind and science, reflecting my academic pursuits and my soul’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge. It was a decade that set the stage for a lifelong odyssey through art, philosophy, and the pursuit of the syncretic truth that would come to define the essence of Italozazen.
READ MORE: Part four
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