Ceramics

A Resonance Project

Concresence: Interpretations of Ceramics, Cymatics, Crop Circles and Computers

By Jason TakahashiIntermediate CeramicsSkidmore College 2008

aresonanceproject.wordpress.com

Mama Matrix Mysterious

”There is a spirit that pervades everything, that is capable of powerful song and radiant movement, and that moves in and out of the mind. The colors of this spirit are multitunduous, a glowing, pulsing rainbow...This spirit, this power of intelligence, has many names and many emblems. She appears on the plains, in the forests, in the great canyons, on the mesas, beneath the seas...Her variety and multiplicity testify to her complexity: she is the true creatrix for she is thought itself, from which all else is born. She is the necessary precondition for material creation, and she, like all of her creation, is fundementally female – potential and primary. She is also the spirit that informs right balance, right harmony, and these in turn order all relationships in conformity with her law...”

Image by Hanif Shoaei - Iran - Summer 2008

The Living Sphere

”The concept of power among tribal people is related to their understanding of the relationships that occur between the human and nonhuman worlds. They believe that all are linked within one vast, living sphere, that the linkage is not material, but spiritual, and that its essence is the power that enables magical things to happen.”

-The Sacred Hoop – Paula Gunn Allen (1986)

Map of the Milky Way Galaxy (University of Arizona)

Material Harmony

“Western ideas of mastery over materials do not apply,” Susan Peterson, author of The Living Tradition of Maria Martinez notes. “The pueblo potter has a true understanding, a harmony with his materials. Europe may have had this once, but no longer does. The Indian people are still making pottery in their own way - their intuition for their materials is still alive.” - The Living Tradition of Maria Martinez, Susan Peterson

Burnished piece by Maria Martinez c. 1930

Mata Ortiz – Chihuaha, Mexico

Mata Ortiz is an artisan community in Chihuaha, Mexico founded by Juan Quezada.

The contemporary artists who reside at Mata Ortiz have issued in a revival of ancient Mesoamerican and North American pottery techniques.

They have become world reknowned for their expert craftsmenship and relentless pursuit of vision in their work.

The flow of ideas at Mata Ortiz is not restricted by tradition or gender roles.

All pots are handbuilt without the wheel. Shaping, polishing, and painting are done by hand with materials that are readily available locally.

Mata Ortiz – Chihuhua, Mexico

Roberto Banuelos

Mata Ortiz – Chihuahua, Mexico

Humberto Ponce

Mata Ortiz – Chihuaha, Mexico

Cesar Dominguez


Carlos Loya


Jesus Oliva Quintanas


Noe Quezada

Hypothesis

It is highly possible that geometric renderings found on Indigenous pottery of North and South America are potentially subconscious, yet highly-advanced illustrations of physics or other advanced understandings of the workings of physical reality currently invisible to the Western scientific eye, and that such manifestations are entirely possible due to an unprecedented, symbiotic and spiritual kinship with the earth - our local celestial body.

Hypothesis Continued

These artists are not mathematicians nor advanced graphic designers, and in fact their work has the ability to eclipse those disciplines when viewed under a certain light. What is happening here, I feel, is something along the lines of physical proof of an umbilicus to what we could call the 'Gaian mind' of the planet – a direct connection into the manifold of creation as we know it - which for most Westerners of the past few millenia has been cut.

Image: olla by Lydia Quezada, Mata Ortiz (student of Maria Martinez)

Shipibo – Iquitos, Peru

It is common (and still so today) for various indigenous tribes to craft, brew, and ceremoniously drink a hallucinogenic tea known as ayahuasca. Ayahuasca, first discovered by Westerners in the late 19th century, continues to puzzle and excite many modern thinkers in fields of anthropology, biology, ethnobotany, neuroscience, and more because hidden in the allegedly magical drink is a chemical which traditional scientific inquiry cannot get a firm grasp of.

The chemically complex fusion between two species of rain forest plant life can, upon ingestion, amplify the loosely termed “transcendent” effects of a naturally occurring hormone in the human brain.


When the Shipibo are asked how they learned to mix the double-helix like vine with the common leaves which contain high traces of DMT, they respond: the plants told us to.

“Without such a visionary relationship to the psychedelic exophereomones that regulate our symbiotic relationship with the plant kingdom, we stand outside of an understanding of planetary purpose. And understanding a planetary purpose may be the major contribution that we can make to the evolutionary process. Returning to the balance of the planetary partnership style means trading the point of view of the egoistic dominator for the intuitional, feeling-toned understanding of the maternal matrix.” - Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods (1996)


Underlying the intricate geometric patterns of great complexity displayed in the art of the Shipibo people is a concept of an all pervading magical reality which can challenge the Western linguistic heritage and rational mind.

The Shipibo believe that our state of health, both physical and psychological, is dependent on the union between mind, spirit, and body.

In a deep ayahuasca trance, the ayahuasca reveals to the shaman the luminous geometric patterns of energy.

Image: Shipibo Textile Design


These filaments drift towards the mouth of the shaman where they metamorphose into a chant or icaro.

The icaro is a conduit for the patterns of Creation, which then permeate the body of the shaman's patient, bringing hamony in the form of the geometric patterns which re-balance the patient's body.

The intricate designs have their origin in the non-manifest and ineffable world within the spirit of the Rainforest and all who live there.

They are a multi-sensorial, vibrational fusion of form, light and sound.

Cymatics

Modern science shows that geometric rhythms lie at the centre of atomic structures.

A simple experiment demonstrating the visualisation of cymatics can be done by sprinkling sand on a metal plate and vibrating the plate, for example by drawing a violin bow along the edge, the sand will then form itself into standing wave patterns such as simple concentric circles.

The higher the frequency, the more complex the shapes produced, with certain shapes having similarities to traditional mandala designs.

Cymatics and Crop Circles

”The 'Circlemakers' are transmitting gemoetric codes that inspire us to open our consciousness...The geometry of the mass is determined by frequency ranges, and the design of the circle reflects the spherical geometry of the frequency ranges. The crop circles show creation in action.” - Barbara Hand Clow, Alchemy of the Nine Dimensions

Crop Circles

Wiltshire, UK 2008.08.08 Wiltshire, UK 2008.07.22

Crop Circles and Ceramics

Reynaldo Quezeda, Mata Ortiz

Crop Circles and Ceramics

Hilario Quezada – Mata Ortiz

Concrescence

Similarly to the Shipibo, who say the plants taught them their tradition, CEO and founder of Apple Computers, Steve Jobs, says experiencing the hallucinogenic LSD-25 when he was young was one of the most important experiences of his life.

As the decoration of an indigenous pot can represent the values and spiritual beliefs of a people, the digital and dynamic decoration of the Apple iPhone can connect wirelessly to what is ever-evolving as the ”global mind” of the planet, a representation, if we wish, of all humanity and its history.

Computers

On two different video projectors, I can simultaneously view three-dimensional renderings of light synchronized to beautifully intricate music, as well as navigating and traversing a perpetually changing atmosphere, gathering, questioning, and keeping track of information in a world made out of light.

In the world of Web 2.0, on my del.icio.us account I can find other “spirits” who have access to other libraries of information I find myself interested in. They can show me in a multitude of mediums what it is I would like to know without us ever meeting face to face.

Crystals

Until today, I was not fully satisfied with this project because I felt I did not draw strong enough evidence to conclude a symbiotic between the Mata Ortiz potters and earth.

While my honest hope was to find traces of evidence pointing towards hallucinogenic plant usage, all I was able to find an interview with potter Eli Navarrete. "Advancing,” Eli says, “but always without exterior influence or materials. Other regions have their designs and materials, but we have our own...So this is a representation of the Paquime, including the sand, the clay, the paint...So its a flower cut from here.”

Shortly after I was reminded of caves full of crystal in Mexico, and surely these caves rest under the deserts of Chihuahua.

Crystal Caves – Chihuahua, Mexico

“Massive beams of selenite dwarf human explorers in Mexico's Cave of Crystals, deep below the Chihuahuan Desert. Formed over millennia, these crystals are among the largest yet discovered on Earth.” - National Geographic


Headed nearly a thousand feet underground, researchers descend by truck through a serpentine mine shaft.


“With temperatures in the Cave of Crystals spiking above 110°F, a researcher rappels down into it wearing an ice-cooled suit. Cavers first don a vest containing ice packs, then an insulated jacket to slow melting. Finally, they pull on a full jumpsuit. Breathing packs worn like backpacks pump ice-cooled air to a respirator mask, allowing the wearer to be cooled from within.”

Conclusion

From these observations, I cannot tell if my hypothesis is “correct”, but I certainly feel confident that it is in the right track. Selenite, metaphysically helps with humans alignment, clarity of mind, and opening of the third eye. It is the only crystal I have ever owned, I have owned lots of it in my life.

The heat that exists in the caves is indicative of unique energy in this spot. The observation by Eli Navarrete that these pots are ”flowers cut” from a highly rich landscape, richer than perhaps the Mata Ortiz are aware of.

If these crystal caves are not conducive to their ceramic tradition, which has been praised for relentless vision and innovation, my hypothesis is lost. So it is up to everyone to draw their own conclusions.

Image: Alice in Wonderland

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