Video. HD 11′ 50″. 2011
Colurolias is a sequence of seven videos in which I explore seven states of awareness from the excitement of the physical, concrete and personal, to the trance of the spiritual, abstract and collective. Each video pulsates at a rhythm determined by the duration of the video (101 seconds) divided by the golden ratio (1.6181) successively.
The resulting rhythm for each colour coincides with the number of cycles per second in the brain during different phases of excitement. The images are a mix of symbols, archetypes, stereotypes, chakras, sacred geometry and colour therapy.
Red
Concepts: belonging, procreation, survival, logic, sight.
Form: square
Pulsations: 101
State: Excitement
Orange
Concepts: joy, delight, movement, magnetic
Form: rhomb
Pulsations: 62
State: Excitement
Yellow
Concepts: power, purity, hearing, tonic.
Form: triangle
Pulsations: 38
State: anxiety (fast beta)
Green
Concepts: balance, harmony with nature, smell
Form: circle
Pulsations: 22
State: normal (beta)
Blue
Concepts: truth, being oneself, taste
Form: open chalice
Pulsations: 14
State: calm (alpha, normal state in animals)
Violet
Concepts: wisdom, discernment, touch
Form: pentagon pointing down
Pulsations: 9
State: meditation (seta, objects start to seem transparent)
Magenta
Concepts: freedom
Form: pentagon, symbol of perfection in sacred geometry
Pulsations: 6
State: trance (delta, there is no difference between what is heard, what is seen and what is felt, time and space become interchangeable)
Looking for alternatives
In 2011, the effects of the economic crisis were still deeply felt. There were talks about a civilization in decline, of the transfer of power from the West to the East. A need to change was felt.
I reflected a lot about the relationship between art and activism and about the relationship between content and form.
Observing feminist art I realised that it often uses a visual language that is formally sexist. This contradicts the feminist content of the work, which weakens it. For example, if the objectification of women is denounced by using the image of a woman’s body as an object, the brain is going to register the image of a woman as an object. This image then gets added in the brain to all the other similar images that are seen in the mass media.
The form determines the message that the work ends up transmitting. Therefore, even if the intention is to denounce, the work ends up having the effect of promoting what it is trying to denounce, thus adding to the problem instead of solving it.
In part because of this and also being tired of protesting, I felt the need to concentrate on possible alternatives. My idea was to explore a visual language that could be used to express the new ideas that were emerging in a society in transition. I was interested in the play between the alternative and the official.
I studied Eastern philosophy more deeply. The I Ching, the Tao Te Ching and Sun Tzu’s Art of war. I also explored the practical application of Eastern philosophies in Traditional Chinese Medicine, face reading and Feng Shui. From the Indian culture I explored the Ayurvedic tradition, the chakras and the aura. I also incorporated the use of colour in colour therapy in my work.
From that mix a sort of feminist manifesto based on the vibration of each colour emerged:
- Enjoy food and sex. Don’t repress your instincts.
In Red I use kitchen ingredients to create a sexually reminiscent image. This society obsessed by sex and food is in reality sexually repressed and eats badly. - A new society doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Learn while you dance, step by step, with joy.
Orange promotes the idea of movement, joy and dance. In a non-feminist society one has to learn to be a feminist. With historical examples but no guide, sometimes alone. Celebrating the achievements of all the women whose effort makes us freer. - Don’t be fooled by outdated dogma. Keep your mind clean and trust your power.
Yellow is about stereotypes and values. The yellow chakra is the chakra of power. The washing machine is a metaphor for the domestic scope associated with women. The triangular door, a symbol of the divine. - Search for inner harmony and live in tune with your surroundings.
Green represents the traditional feminine relationship of balance with nature. In the video I make a cream with natural ingredients instead of buying one with ingredients that are by-products of petroleum and other toxic ingredients. - Be yourself and express it.
Blue contains a sentence from the I Ching that I randomly chose and that happens to have 101 characters. It says: “What you recognise to be inferior you must immediately leave behind. Lingering with negativity invites a disaster now”. Leave the misogynistic society behind, staying in it invites disaster. The blue chakra symbolizes communication, knowledge, truth, relaxation and openness. A square open like a chalice. - Defend your dignity and distinguish the important from the superfluous.
Violet is wisdom, inspiration, mystery, dignity, discernment and guide. The pentagon pointing down that protects the flower that is still not open but struggles to fulfil itself. - Be free, let go, aspire to fullness.
Magenta promotes freedom.
Colurolias was made for Project 101 video works in New York.
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