Calligraphy and SHI is like the wake of a boat and the outboard engine that cut it into existence. Jullien states that the SHI of calligraphy is like the internal skeleton of the calligraphic ideogram, which provides structural consistency. It is the potential. It is hard to believe how great calligraphy can be until you acquire the tools to begin manifesting SHI through its mark-making. I will help make this as easy as possible.. read page 79 on conceptual art and calligraphy and intent.One very important thing to remember is that:
"It must be assessed with SHI in mind if it is to be successful."
If SHI is a vital force of energy, like a powerful rush of water flowing down a mountain, imaging the brush's Sumi ink tip and its first encounter with the painting surface. The ink's sole purpose is to create a mark, a stain on the surface.
Watch this:
~rim~
Think of a desire, and find the space between desire and the object of attraction. This is the journey, the drive's course. Make the brush tip your power, and now go on the journey. Remember:
When SHI comes, don't stop it. When it departs, do not hinder it.
This quote will now be forever linked to the brushtip, brush, hand, arm, body, self.
"To let oneself be visible gives others a hold over one and puts them in control; the true manipulator becomes one with his position and vanishes from view."-Jullien
The best way to remain in power is to stay out of sight and avoid conflict. It seems that the eyes have a great ability to measure and equalize (envidia). Take for instance the story that artist Kim Abeles told me recently on her latest public art commision dealing with civil rights leader Martin Luther King. She was commissioned to create a work of art to be used as a permanent sculpture in Los Angeles, based on Martin Luther King. When one thinks of this great man, what is pictured is the story, the imagery on television, the camera positions mostly pointing up, giving him a larger than human presence.
Artist Kim Abeles found out through a random blog post that there is a woman holding a great collection of shoes and memorabilia of different figures of that movement. It is amazing to think that someone could be holding onto such a great collection of objects.. Imagine, a collection of shoes that were worn by people in the midst of marches, confrontation and struggle for the well-being of all people.
She was able to travel to meet the woman and her collection. Through the dig, she encountered among many objects of great importance, the pair of shoes that she may have been looking for all along: Martin Luther King's shoes.
Her public art piece would be that of a bronze cast of these shoes. When submitting the proposal, the people insisted that they wanted big shoes, larger than life shoes, the shoes that would fit on the feet of a huge statue of Dr. King. She insisted, her reasoning being that besides his great achievements and ability to empower others, he was also just a man, just like you and I. The notion of being equal to a person of King's status can initially reduce the potency of Dr. King's image, but upon more introspection, the power that is taken away from this illusion is given to the people as ability. This ability is the to be just as a great leader, speaker, animator. The ability is the SHI.
From Jullien's research on the prince, I have received instruction on how to use it to my advantage, how to detect the prince, and utilize his propensity to assist my own ventures.
*the
dragon’s silhouette can be seen from a distance, behind 100 clouds and black bars.*
I have always wanted to be the best version of myself
possible. At an early age, I began exploring ways to expand my mind in order to
develop a Shi that stemmed from new experiences,
reflection and self exploration.
“The Cuban Prince” my sisters used to call me,
because I was my parent’s last child and only son, the youngest of 4. Not
having to worry about much, I was left to research and explore under the
condition that I stay within the confines of the house and yard. I had Chinese shoes
and would climb up the avocado tree in order to simultaneously hide from my
parents and conduct surveillance. Unlike the Panopticon, I could not see
everyone and also appear to be present when I was not, but it freed me to oscillate, to witness the flux of the dragon, of a Shi that was functioning at home.
.
I agree with Jullien that the best representation of Shi is the dragon. It is honored because it can never be taken
alive, says Jullien of the ancient's belief towards the dragon. It is in a constant state of motion, oscillating, uninterruptible
at its optimal strength and efficacy. It is in constant search for the most
fluid path, or it creates its own path which is fluid. It’s kind of like the
act of skateboarding, or kind of NOT like the act of skateboarding.
The skateboard, in being activated, becomes a faux surfboard and the urban
topography becomes a faux ocean, complete with a navigable rigid set of ever-flowing waves. It requires
developing an optimal use of topography.
What I found even more
fantastic and interesting was the concept of the two spiraling dragons. They
work together rather than clash in fierce battle (something that my Western
mind automates to). "The theme of two dragons intertwined, shown head to
tail is common in ancient Chinese iconography and here, as Jeane-Pierre Dieny
points out 'collaboration,' not 'conflict,' is most important in the symbolic
relationship."
While I was investigating the dragon in Jullien’s
writing, I began to remember an idol that I had in the 80’s: Steve Caballero. I
had his “Bonite” skateboard. It had a large multicolored screen print of a
Chinese dragon on it (the dragon was his “logo”). I used that skateboard to
navigate all over Hialeah. With the help of the Metrorail, I was able to
traverse most of Miami. The Metrorail, turning and twisting like a snake in the
clouds is very dragon-like as well. It is the second dragon in the spiral, the
one that shares Shi. This period of
time in my youth was one of great exploration, and these two dragons
(skateboard and rail) functioned in harmony to position me in an optimal state
of efficacy; that of the prince who has become invisible (the avocado tree hideout attempts) Jullien states “To let
oneself be visible gives others a hold over one and puts them in control”. I was finally in control.
Of course these dragons contrast the ones described by
Jullien as having no fixed form and never materializing into permanent,
definitive shapes. The skateboard is a cumbersome bi-lateral tool and the
Metrorail was slow, smelly and not automated, not on a permanent loop. Perhaps the layering of these
contrasts is revealing something “in between” as was pointed out in another
email.
Did marketing developers, designers, engineers, Steve Caballero, etc utilize
the efficacy of the dragon to instill Shi
as fabricated multi-layered mechanisms of transport? Transport = physical, psychical,
political, commercial.
I believe so. Just like the plate
illustrations of “efficacious dispositions” (shi) of a hand on the strings of a lute, the skateboard came with a
subscription to a trick magazine with photo-tutorials, and the Metrorail lets
you know when and where it is going to move to, and how (on rails).
Also, is the Metrorail a
metaphor for Chinese logic? ie: "In contrast to Western logic which is
panoramic, Chinese logic is like a journey in stages that are linked together,
unfolding, becoming more fertile along the way" "Chinese reasoning
seems to weave along horizontally, from one stage to the next, via bridges and
bifurcations, each case eventually leading to the next and merging into
it."
Almost got the Objet a, but instead just tricks the Other
The dragon is seen here in oscillation. I see the flow of the dragon, of SHI, and then I also see these instances of RUT, where the puppeteers lose their traction, when one is seen in the shadows. It's very hard to get out of a rut once you are in one. It is as if the injury has marked you. The difference with this dragon is that he uses Aloe, and gets back on track. We need to use Aloe too, to slip out of the RUT.
I stare at this image when I wish to remind myself of the Dragon, Efficacious Propensity, Libido, Lamella. I also combine it with this on a good set of headphones:
