stephen prina

(2004) “Exquisite Corpse: The Complete Paintings of Manet

208 of 556, Partie de Croquet (The Croquet Game), 1873″

(click for a closer look)

“My intention is not the meaning of the work. The work only has meaning when it enters the social sphere and meets its audience. That’s where meaning is produced, not in the studio.”   –Stephen Prina

 “…I asked myself the basic question: what is Stephen Prina’s work about? A possible answer presented itself: perhaps it’s about the ramifications and infinite variations possible when contemporary art is not only about something else but also tantalizingly about ‘about-ness’ itself.” –Dominic Eichler

The artist Stephen Prina was profiled in the May 2009 issue of Frieze (by Dominic Eichler).  This profile brought to mind (& also mentions) Prina’s project: Exquisite Corpse: The Complete Paintings of Manet (1988-  ).  This is an ongoing series that Prina started in 1988 & apparently has been growing ever since.  The general idea for the project is that Prina will recreate each of the 556 Édouard Manet paintings, as recorded by a (now obsolete) 1960’s catalogue raisonné.  Prina does not recreate the works as a direct copy; rather he uses only the actual size & title of the original Manet.  Each work in the series is a diptych.  One ½ of the diptych contains a “legend” of the whole of Manet’s output, represented by thumbnail outlines of each painting (with a number?).  This is a monochrome (ivory colored) lithograph printed on white paper (in a black frame, under glass).  The “legend” is coupled with Prina’s re-painting.  Prina’s re-paintings are painted using an ivory colored ink wash on white paper (black frame, under glass), with no visual reference to the original (the size & title are the only similarity).  And so the project continues till Prina paints the 556^th Manet.   

I might not be alone when I dare to call this “difficult art.”  I have been guilty of wanting to be spoon-fed artwork before.  “What does it mean? What’s the point?” The viewer pleads with the artwork to reveal its secrets on the spot.  One might believe that this a kind of “stubbornness” on behalf of the art/ist, or that it may be elitist or perhaps intentional.  The viewer then possibly turns away, remarking that s/he is “just not getting it.”  Of course this might be perceived as a flaw in the artwork: difficult artwork = bad artwork.  It should go without saying that this incurious approach is slightly unfair, but we do want to be drawn-in enough to be curious in the 1^st place.  It is worth asking: how many other fields of expertise do we walk in on & want to have an understanding of it immediately?  Do we need have to have an understanding of the inner workings of the artwork before we can appreciate it? No, we don’t have to.  However our engagement does have to start on the personal level of liking it enough to begin with.  We can simply walk away.  Nobody is forcing us to engage the artwork.  But, when & if we are seduced enough to start asking questions of the art, what does it reveal?  Here is where we want to question it to have a better appreciation. My curiosity with this project of Prina’s starts with the very notion of difficulty, itself.  I like the work because it does present a challenge to understand & to dig deeper than the surface.  Basically, I’m drawn-in because it is difficult to apprehend, that it is enigmatic, that it refers to another artist (art about art) &c. 

What is revealed when we look closer at Prina’s series?  Stephen Prina is sometimes classified as a conceptualist & he doesn’t shy away from the title either, referring to himself as an “impure-conceptualist.”  It’s not completely clear why he uses the term impure.  My guess is that the “pure” conceptualists were more language based & his work doesn’t involve itself with language as much.  We also know that Prina studied under Michael Asher whose conceptual projects had a lot to do with art as an “institutional critique,” for example when Asher famously emptied a gallery to expose its inner workings &c.  Okay, so once we start looking under the surface, we start to recognize the halcyon days of conceptual art.  With conceptual art the idea was vital, in fact it often took precedence over the visual.  Remember that conceptual art was born in the radical 60’s & 70’s.  This was not your easy-to-digest-on-a-Sunday-afternoon art world anymore.  Don’t forget minimalism (post & otherwise).  With minimalism everything was distilled to its essence, the art object itself was threatening to disappear.  Yes it was a severe & austere time.  Think severe & austere while looking at Prina’s diptychs & you’ll start to feel like you are “getting it.”   Out of the 70’s & into the 80’s came several offshoots & commingling of conceptualism & minimalism.  One trend was appropriation & another (among many) was institutional critique (or a conceptual critique) as art.  Appropriation art questioned authorship, originality & the artist as the sine qua non of originality.  Remember Sherrie Levine’s reworking of Walker Evans or Richard Prince’s Marlboro man/cowboys?   Prina seems to be playing with appropriation too.  For Prina, Manet’s total body of work is the muse & model. The institutional critique had Michael Asher as a forefather, but it also had the great Marcel Broodthaers & Hans Haacke as (just a few) leaders (& precursors) of the “style.”  Oddly (or conveniently) enough Hans Haake has used Manet too, but with a different & slightly more radical stance compared to Prina.  After Haake, we have artists like Louise Lawler, Allen McCollum & maybe Susan Hiller.  These lists are by no means exhaustive, but should represent some of the artists I feel are linked to Prina’s Exquisite Corpse project.  Louise Lawler is a very good example here.  Her photographic work has as its main focus: other’s artwork.  She is known for photographing art in storage, art in a collector’s home, or art as it is displayed.  So here we have a similarity to Prina.  Both artists using a collection &/or archive as the focus.  And the two artists have their unique ways of focusing on the archive.  In Prina’s series the Manet archive is the sole subject of inquiry & it is part of its aesthetic.  However much Prina has not copied Manet’s visual artistry, the visual memory (of Manet) is still somehow present, resonant & palpable.  Another artist I’ll compare to Prina is Susan Hiller.  Her works have dealt with the cultural artifact, archiving the unexpected, finding nuance in the archive &c.  The complete paintings of Manet can certainly be said to be cultural artifacts.  The artifacts are than revisited each time Prina “repaints” one.  Allan McCollum is also another good comparison because of his Surrogate series.  McCollum’s Surrogates certainly look a bit like Prina’s Exquisite Corpse.  Both are a series, both are (somewhat) monochrome & both apart from their formal distinctions appear to be questioning what an art work is.  Is an artwork multiple things at once?  Does an artwork have to be a purely visual experience?  Or can is be something else, a system, an artifact, an archive, a concept, another artwork altogether & so-on? 

Remember too, that the tradition of an Exquisite Corpse is to create a part of the whole, without knowing what the whole will be, until it’s done.  By titling the series Exquisite Corpse, Prina may be suggesting that his project is a kind of exquisite corpse game, with him & Manet as the sole contributors, complicated by time & history.  Prina’s Exquisite Corpse certainly is a game, but not with the typical rules & not with a predictable outcome.  Exquisite Corpse may also refer to Manet’s work more literally.  Manet’s body of work is now an “exquisite corpse” to be reexamined, re-tooled, and re-purposed for a 20-21^st century audience, after Manet & after Modernism.    

Stephen Prina was in the 2008 Whitney Biennial & his bio starts with this:  “With canny clairvoyance, Stephen Prina makes art based on a self-conscious relationship to the past, present, and future. Using a variety of media, his work addresses the afterlife of artworks in art’s distribution channels: its institutions, its market, and its historiography. These shifting sites of art’s post-studio reception—frequently beyond the discharge of artists’ intentions—take center stage in Prina’s production.”  After reading this, I realized that it summed-up everything I wanted to conclude with, only better. 

In short the next time you are in a museum, gallery or just in front of some “difficult” art, ask yourself: does this art evoke curiosity?  Do I really want to know more about this?  Should I just walk away?      

 

–Aurelio Madrid

qualis artifex pereo

What an artist dies with me? --Nero's last words

“Qualis artifex pereo” the Roman emperor Nero’s famous last words.  The English translation of this quote I’m comfortable with is: What an artist dies with me (?).  When I looked up each word on an online Latin to English dictionary, I drew up a translation that roughly is: qualis (what kind of an), artifex (artist), pereo (perishes, passes away). What kind of an artist perishes?  I’ve found many other ways this statement is translated.  What a great artist the world loses with my death.  What an artist the world loses with me, or as what kind of artist do I perish.  I have not seen any of these with a question-mark.  I suppose this might be due to the fact that such punctuation wasn’t around (in ancient Rome) &/or most people/scholars don’t regard this statement as a question.

I personally like to think of Nero’s last words as a question, a question asked after his death.  All sum: what kind of artist was Nero?  Well, he seems to have been a poet, actor, singer & charioteer.  We also have the well known image in our mind of him “fiddling” (playing the lyre) & singing the “Capture of Troy” on the rooftop of the palace gazing down on the great fire of Rome. Was this a result of his artistry?  Was this the 1^st performance art—on a grand scale?  Who knows?  This scene, however true, IS how the artist/emperor will be remembered (whether its veracity is debated).  Other unsavory images of the artist/emperor come to mind, the matricide of the crafty Agrippina, the persecution & mistreatment of the Christians, & other questionable behaviors.  Again I’ll ask: what kind of artist died when Nero committed suicide?  I’ll say not a very good one.  I don’t really even see him as an artist (usually), rather, I see him as the worst of Roman imperial decadence.  His creativity & supposed talent were somewhat overshadowed & obliterated by his monstrous character.  Who knows, perhaps he was a great singer, actor & artist—I’ll never really know. 

“I believe that the artist doesn’t know what he does. I attach even more importance to the spectator than to the artist.”  This quote of Marcel Duchamp’s seems relevant here, because it points to one important factor; how you will be remembered is not entirely in your grasp—even if you ruled the Roman empire.  This question (What an artist dies with me?) becomes a question an artist (or anyone) can ask at the moment of death, but the truth of it will be how one is remembered is simply out of our reach.  How will I be remembered?  How will history judge me?  As Duchamp seems to be saying, the artist doesn’t understand completely the effect s/he will have on an audience.  The audience more or less completes the artwork, the missing variable (for a particular artwork, or the body of an artist’s work) is that it can only be finished with the viewer, and this variable is out of the artist’s control.  I’m trying to reposition the question (What an artist dies with me?) to something more universal & general.  How will anybody’s work be regarded when they are dead?  Whose work gets forgotten, who will be remembered?  Whose work will be overshadowed by their life’s (mis)deeds, their mistakes?  How is someone remembered & for what reasons?  A mediocre artist can be remembered & a great artist can also be forgotten.  Who can say—either way, why or why not?     

Yes, Nero’s last words initially sound selfish & arrogant, but I believe that once the statement is deflated of its ego, there is a strange truth that is revealed.  The truth is, how one is remembered is not (completely) under our own control.  I am not claiming this as new idea, rather a little something to think about when regarding our own lives, the lives of others & even the life of Nero.

 –Aurelio Madrid

madame marcotte

...a ghostly twin, waiting.

(click on image for a closer look)

(after) Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 1780 – 1867

Marcotte Madame de Sainte-Marie 1826,  H. : 0.93 m. , L. : 0.74 m.

 “The frail Madame Marcotte (1803 – 1862), wife of an official of the Treasury, has been painted in her richest finery. Her brother Charles Marcotte was a friend of Ingres. The artist drew a score of portraits of members of this family.” –The Louvre

 Cited above is all the info found (on the Louvre’s database)  for the painting of Madame Marcotte by Ingres.  Her name is hyperlinked to an image of the actual painting with a frame.  I was searching around my digital pictures today & was reminded of her again. I drew this in ’07.  When I finished, I think I showed everyone I knew, I was so proud of her.  Nowadays she sits on our piano in a plastic sleeve–waiting. 

Years ago I saw a reproduction of her in a book on The Louvre.  I fell in love right away.  The master’s treatment of the brown satin, her hair & that gorgeous face had me at first glance.  This is not a well known painting of his.  More famous paintings of Ingres are of Napoleon, or of his Turkish women in the bath &c.  That she isn’t too popular, made me love her more.

I’m sure I wanted to draw this as an homage & to have a good challenge.  Could I actually create a drawing that would come even close to the painted Madame Marcotte?  Several things had to be just-right.  The face, the fabric, the jewelry—all of it.  One doesn’t just come to Ingres & expect his secrets to be revealed at once.  I had to conjure this out very slowly & very carefully.  Each touch of the pencil had to be carefully thought out.  It’s a way of seeing, isolating each fragment—it’s all subtlety.  I had to love her.  I was enslaved.

While I worked on this I also tried to read up on Ingres.  One issue that is always talked about is his distortions.  This can be seen in his handling of the skin & hands (maybe her face too).  Her hands seem to be too perfect, without knuckles & perhaps a little too white.  Another distortion may be her lovely eyes, they look to be too big.  All this considered, I’d say the distortions add to her beauty, her unusual look, her seductive charm.  I have seen paintings of his where the distortions are a distraction.  The C. d’ Haussonville portrait at The Frick Collection is a good example.  Look at her right arm (closely) it’s growing out of her side!  Don’t get me wrong, Ingres was the one of the finest painters in history, but like anyone (including me), he had his moments.

My Madame Marcotte seems to suffer as a lonely twin.  She is a mere ghost, a replica.  As I’ve said before, the drawing is a like a clone.  As a clone she is not perfect, exact or the same as her sister hanging in the Louvre.  My little drawing remains in a kind of stasis, not yet seen, not yet recognized.  She floats, waiting for me (someone) to give her the attention she deserves, little does she know, I can’t give her everything.  I only have two eyes…

 Aurelio Madrid

maze de boer

6′ 54″ (2003) video by Maze de Boer

“Four men and a game.
The grammaphone is playing.
The wine is poured.
The game starts.
Where does it end?
Do the men have control over the game?”

What do we have here?  Four men playing a game, the record-player is stuck on the start of the album, before the music.  No words are spoken & the tension is high.  I can’t make sense of the title (6′ 54″= six feet & fifty-four inches) & I can’t identify the game, maybe only they know the rules for the glossy black blocks.  A child’s game with adult rules?  The sand-timer is used twice, once to time a minute & the other to keep the sand from timing.  We see one of the men get up & stare-out, sweating, worried.   Do they even know each other?  What man’s fate is in question?  What is in question?  At once a shadow covers the already dim light from outside.  A cause for panic?  The closing shot zooms in on a small window in one of the blocks & one man firmly covers it with another block.  Then we speculate that they are in a larger game of chance.  The music starts.  Is it all one beyond  control, beyond their grasp…?

Aurelio  

tim lowly

...in this painting of Tim's, he is holding the paper kite as his daughter Temma lays on the grass.

...my portrait/drawing of Tim

 (click on pics for a closer look)

…found Tim Lowly online & asked if he’d be interested in doing an e-mail interview.  With some luck he agreed.  He is an incredible talent.  He’s an artist’s artist! He’s also a professor, gallery director, & artist-in-residence at North Park University in Chicago. He is also a musician, singer, songwriter & photographer! In addition to all this, he is a father, husband & obviously a great friend to many!

  Aurelio: Thank you again for volunteering to answer a few questions. I initially want to know if you have any more to add to my bio on you?

Tim: That’s enough for now.

 A: What do you teach, studio art, art history…?

T: I’m fortunate to teach advanced painting and drawing.  Additionally I co-teach senior seminar for art majors.  Next year I will – for the first time – be teaching a Renaissance art history class.  I don’t approach teaching very academically so I am a bit apprehensive about this class.

 A: I’ll bet you’re the kind of professor (indeed, a kind professor) that befriends students, long after you’ve been with them for a semester. I noticed that some of your photos look to be of former students. These also leads me ask about all the people in your artwork, most of them appear to be friends and family—including an emphasis on your daughter Temma. Is this right, are most friends & family?

T: Primarily I work with people I know.  Painting outside of relationship kind of floats away for me.  While I don’t consider the work I do to be conventional portraiture I do hope for something of a “rootedness” in the reality of an actual persons life and – to some extent – appearance.

 A:  I may not be looking close enough but, do you ever work with models?

T:  I will occasionally do a drawing from a model; usually in the context of teaching life drawing.  You can find a few of these kinds of drawings on my Flickr stream.  There is a kind of freedom in this kind of work that I enjoy, but I don’t think it is really my strength as an artist.

 A: I read somewhere that you (& your family) have an intense relationship with your daughter Temma. When I look at the artwork & photos you’ve done with her as the model, I am struck by how closely you have observed her, thought of her, & considered her. One set of drawings (Day to Day) features her lying down on a small couch with just some minor movements for each drawing (each day). Another painting titled “Temma on Earth” has her lying on the ground, it’s mostly gray & is featured on the cover of the recent Anathallo CD Canopy Glow. This image is one of the many, many intense & introspective ways you’ve presented her. I get the sense that you strive to depict the inner world of the mind (her mind/your mind) objectively, not unlike the Symbolists (?). Can you tell me more about the relationship with your daughter & how you depict her? Is this related to the way you depict other people?

T: I’m not a very objective person or artist: my work with Temma reflects fairly subjectively on a long companionship with a person who in many respects remains a mystery to me.  I’m not really attempting to depict the inner world of her mind, because I suspect I have only a scant understanding of what that world is.

The Day to Day series is perhaps a good place to start talking about how I work with Temma (and by “with” I mean to imply a kind of collaboration although that is a difficult thing to quantify in relation to someone with whom one has very limited potential communication-wise).   For me this series is essentially a kind of testament to the on-going, daily, existential nature of presence, relationship and care.   That said, the number of drawings – seven – possibly suggests further readings or elaborations.  One might think of an allusion to the creation narrative and make a metaphorical reading related to the nature of normal human development: reading this series as being about a kind of developmental stasis (specifically or more broadly).  Or one could think of this as a kind of ironic twist on Pop serial imagery (like the work of Warhol): here the subtle changes, in work that initially appears repetitive, suggesting a kind of re-humanization.  I’m sure there are other ways of reading this work, but I mention these in suggesting my interest in generating a multivalent work.

My hope is to root work in the specific with a focus that is fundamentally marked by openness to the subject.    While I certainly do my share of imposing “meaning” I am most happy when my work plays a catalytic rather than pedantic role.

 Incidentally, Fred Camper’s article for the Chicago Reader is a rather in-depth look at our life with Temma, if that interests you…

  A: Thanks for the Camper-link, I felt I understood you (your family & your faith) more after reading the article. As I imagined, your relationship with Temma is profound & that is conveyed with your artwork—I know now, that it’s deliberate & multivalent. That you present her, in so many perspectives, causes a sense of caring & revaluation. Your struggle has not been in vain.

  A: I was also surprised by the interesting background story behind your & Sherrie’s name change. I read a magazine Art World & in the (Gareth Harris) interviews, the 1st question usually has to do with, what does your name mean (?)–or something like that. I have an interest with names too & I wanted to ask you about Lowly.  My question was answered. Basically your name is a (loose) conflation of Grubbs & Rubingh (earthworms + peasant = Lowly, connected to the virtue of humility). I think this is great, what a beautiful concept, how creative!

 T: Thanks.  In light of this I’m sure it is not surprising that over time I’ve come to find that the work I am most drawn to (like that of Antonio Lopéz Garcia) has a fundamental humility about it.   Something extraordinary happens when an artist is good enough to get out of the way.

A: …yes I’ve heard of him & love his art too.  I’ve never been to (my namesake) Madrid, but whenever I think of the city–I have one of Garcia’s paintings in mind.   

 A: I also liked what you said bout Van Eyck & Van der Weyden, that their art was “…a worthy labor, as opposed to the view of the artist as refined genius. Van Eyck’s motto was ‘As best I can’ [als ick can] and I saw that same kind of work ethic in his art that I observed in my father.” The sociologist Richard Sennett has written a book “The Crafstman,” based on the notion that within the craftsman “…the basic human impulse to do a job well for its own sake,” is elaborated & looked at from the angle that craftsmen haven’t disappeared, but have just been redefined & reexamined (by Sennett). I’d like to read his book soon, I relate to this notion that when making things, one shouldn’t overlook: simply doing a good job. I need to find out more. When I was young I didn’t understand this. I had some weird illusion that all these fine paintings & sculptures (in art museums), were not that difficult to make. It’s only when I begin to make an art object (in reality), that I saw just how tough it is to produce a decent “product.” I always cringe when I hear people say of art “…my six-year-old can do that!” I think to myself: can the child, not only produce the work of art (say a large scale painting) but also get it in a museum/gallery, have the hard-won notoriety &c. It is tough work making art & that is something to be respected, especially by the artist/maker.

 T: One of my “hats” at North Park University is “artist-in-residence” and on occasion, when I have been working on larger scale work (which won’t fit in my small studio on campus), I will work in the school gallery during the summer when there are no exhibitions.  This is a very publicly exposed location and I like the way it allows for the “non-artist” to observe (and converse about) the way a painting develops.  My hope is to de-mystify the practice and help dispel those ideas that a work of art somehow magically comes in to being when the artist is inspired.

Lest it sound like I am some sort of diligent worker I should hasten to say that I am actually rather lazy.  Every time I should be starting a painting I look for anything else that I can do.  And when I am working on large work I struggle to step into the daunting task at hand.  And every time I look at an especially arduous painting that I did in the past I wonder if I will ever be able to put that much into a painting again.  And every time I paint I feel like I’m starting all over again.  Actually the latter is probably more reflective of my philosophy of art making than an indication of laziness.

 A: Speaking of making artwork, the article mentions that you make/use a kind of tempera with gesso. I’d be interested in knowing a little more about this process. I have always wanted to use tempera, but have been intimidated by the egg-recipe & I never figured-out how to use it out of a tube. I know tempera allows for sharp details & that’s very appealing for my taste. What’s your process?

 T: I last worked with tempera around 1999.  Between 1986 and 1999 I painted primarily with egg/oil emulsion tempera.  Initially when I started working with tempera I used the classic egg tempera where the binder is simply egg yolk.  After a while I wanted to find something that would yield a harder paint surface and which would varnish more uniformly.  The emulsion I developed was based on research of different formulas and included stand oil and varnish with egg yolk.  I really loved (and still love) the luminosity of tempera and it’s marriage of the linear and the painterly.  As a very systematic technique it forced me to slow down and work more intentionally and contemplatively.  I also learned about the unique characteristics of various pigments.  Perhaps some day I will work with tempera again, but since 1999 I have worked with matte acrylic.  This came out of the fact that I had been doing an under-painting for my tempera paintings with black and white gesso.  Ultimately I realized I really liked the dry, fresco like quality of the surface.  So I switched to matte acrylic.  This also allowed me to more confidently resume some early practices of abrading the paint surface as I develop a painting, something that I would be much more hesitant to do with tempera.

  A: I’d like to wrap-up the interview by asking about your thoughts on your online presence. You have your website, flickr, myspace &c. do you have anything to say about the effort of getting your art to more people online? I have just started a more active self-promotion campaign by sending out packets to local galleries, by extension, I’ve tried to have more work available online, for people to see, in hope that this will help get my work to more people, faster. What I want to know from you is: do you think that the internet has enhanced your practice or just made for lots of extra hours, uploading files & general maintenance? I’ve tried to have a sense of gratitude about the internet, which is a tool to help me, that it’s also a great storage device, & that I run into lots of fun people who are willing to talk (or write, as you have here).

 T: The development of the internet and digital reproduction of art have completely reshaped possibilities for artists.   Certainly nothing replaces seeing an original painting or experiencing an actual exhibition.  Certainly I have spent a ridiculous amount of time making my website, links section, flickr, myspace; time that might have been better used making art.   That said, the interactive possibilities have been extraordinary.  While there is a vast, even overwhelming sea of art and artists on-line there is a very real democratization of access to art through the internet.   I especially love the possibilities of international networking that the internet affords.  Of course it has its problems, but perhaps there will be an increasing re-enchantment of experiencing actual works of art after they have been initially known only via the web.

 A: You’ve been very kind to grant me this interview, along with all the extra time writing & thinking about it. Perhaps we’ll meet in person someday & talk some more about art & life…many thanks.

T:  Well, I am honored that you took the time to contact me and for such an engaging interview.

vanitas (with gumballs)

(click on image for a closer look)

This drawing is based on a vanitas theme, intended to emphasize the transience of life.  It is a somber message, so I chose a little frivolity, by adding the gumballs.  Each item was selected for its color and symbolic value.   My light pencil-work is also meant to be uplifting and ethereal.  A carefully staged photograph of mine was the starting point.  I followed the photo closely, but tried to move away from a strict photographic look.  The drawing is a reminder that life is fleeting, but that it should be enjoyed in detail, at every moment.

Aurelio Madrid

fundamental darkness

the three obstacles and four devils, with fundamental darkness

(click on diagram for a closer look)

Fundamental Darkness

 “…also, fundamental ignorance or primal ignorance. The most deeply rooted illusion inherent in life, said to give rise to all other illusions. Darkness in this sense means inability to see or recognize the truth, particularly, the true nature of one’s life.  The term fundamental darkness is contrasted with the fundamental nature of enlightenment, which is the Buddha nature inherent in life. According to the Shrimala Sutra, fundamental darkness is the most difficult illusion to surmount and can be eradicated only by the wisdom of the Buddha. T’ien-t’ai (538-597) interprets darkness as illusion that prevents one from realizing the truth of the Middle Way, and divides such illusion into forty-two types, the last of which is fundamental darkness. This illusion is only extirpated when one attains the stage of perfect enlightenment, the last of the fifty-two stages of bodhisattva practice.  Nichiren (1222-1282) interprets fundamental darkness as ignorance of the ultimate Law, or ignorance of the fact that one’s life is essentially a manifestation of that Law, which he identifies as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In The Treatment of Illness, Nichiren states: “The heart of the Lotus school is the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, which reveals that both good and evil are inherent even in those at the highest stage of perfect enlightenment.  The fundamental nature of enlightenment manifests itself as Brahma and Shakra, whereas the fundamental darkness manifests itself as the devil king of the sixth heaven“. Nichiren thus regards fundamental darkness as latent even in the enlightened life of the Buddha, and the devil king of the sixth heaven as a manifestation or personification of life’s fundamental darkness. The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings reads, ‘Belief is a sharp sword that cuts off fundamental darkness or ignorance.’” –The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism

What is Fundamental Darkness?  Fundamental Darkness is ignorance sometimes called primal ignorance & it is within us all.  It is a persistent & deceptive illusion.  It is at times hard to ignore & it is also difficult to indentify.  Nichiren Daishonin writes that: “Fundamental Darkness manifests itself as the Devil of the Sixth Heaven.”  The Devil of the Sixth Heaven is also related to the metaphor of The Three Obstacles & Four Devils.  Nichiren warns that when one is practicing the correct teaching of Buddhism, obstacles (& hindrances) will inevitably appear, to deter our path to enlightenment.  One of these devils, the Devil of the Sixth Heaven is said to be the most powerful.  He is the manifestation of Fundamental Darkness & he is the last devil defeated, he will fight to the bitter end to keep you from enlightenment.  It might be helpful to bear in mind that nowadays we do not see this as an actual demon or devil (with wings, horns & claws) but simply as a metaphor for a concept that is essentially the antithesis to our enlightenment.  Nichiren writes that since the devil (of the sixth…) is there (in your life working on deterring you on your path to enlightenment) the devil might be saying this to himself: “This is most vexing. If I allow this person to remain in my domain, he will not only free himself from the sufferings of birth and death, but [he will also] lead others to enlightenment as well…” 

 Fundamental Darkness is many things, including not recognizing our own Buddha nature & not recognizing the Buddha nature in others.  A key difference from a traditional/western notion of evil, is that we Buddhists acknowledge that fundamental darkness is latent in all of life (including our own), rather than occurring only in specific individuals/groups exclusively.  The theory is that we can use it as a motivation, a catalyst to improve, & as an impetus to strive for enlightenment.  “Earthly desires are enlightenment.” Once we can identify when, where & how fundamental darkness invades our daily lives (by chanting Nam-myho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon) then we can strive to pursue our own Buddha-nature with greater force & conviction, since we have taken the vow to improve by practicing Nichiren’s Buddhism.  As I’ve repeated, Fundamental Darkness lies (dormant or active) within ourselves, just as our own enlightenment does, this realization can help to better understand others, since they too are going through their own great struggles with the Devil of the Sixth Heaven.  Fundamental Darkness is the ignorance to the truth of one’s life, and ignorance to the Mystic Law, indeed ignorance (not to be mistaken for innocence) of the law of Nam-myho-renge-kyo.  The recognition that Fundamental Darkness is a fact of life might be a tool that helps us see our similarities, rather than our differences.  You fight Fundamental Darkness & so do I.  When we see that each person contains (more-or-less) the best & the worst of our own-selves (in a variety of degrees exaggerated, enhanced, suppressed, repressed, unseen, magnified &c.), then we can stop seeing others as “the other,” & simply more like ourselves.  Saying: “she is like me,” is more difficult than, “she is bad, or she is evil.”  “All men are created equal,” includes women, minorities, the oppressed, the poor, the voiceless, your enemy, & yourself.  This is the wisdom of y/our enlightenment.   

There is no doubt that the influence of Fundamental Darkness is insidious & multifaceted.  We can all recognize it in our own lives, in our own hearts—we know what it is (usually without question). We know its circumstances.  We know its guises.  We know its deception.  We know its persistence well.  It’s so familiar, that it’s probably why we turned to the Nichiren’s practice for help.  Perhaps our lives had been overwhelmed by Fundamental Darkness.  We needed a way to confront, question & we needed a way to challenge this difficult “friend.”  There lies part of the secret to understanding how we overcome its devilish influence.  Chant with faith that we will have the wisdom to defeat our own demons, faith that we will have the wisdom to understand (& to know) our own Devil of the sixth heaven. Be reassured that you have the strength.  Have faith that the darkness that might pervade your life now can be illuminated, enlightened & confronted with practice & study.  On Fundamental Darkness President Ikeda writes:

 “…for all its negative & destructive influence [it is] at essence nothing but ignorance.  Therefore it can be vanquished by wisdom.  A person who brings forth this kind of wisdom is a Buddha.  The supreme wisdom for achieving this goal is found in the correct teaching of Buddhism, which is none other than the Lotus Sutra of Shakyamuni & the teaching of Nam-myho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws expounded by Nichiren Daishonin.” –Living Buddhism May/June 2009

 Aurelio Madrid

on coin-collecting

2005 Netherlands 10 Euro Beatrix ...just one of Tiffany's many fine coins

(This interview was e-mailed in March with Tiffany Follett.  I found her on flickr & was entranced by her coin collection.  I had to find-out more & here’s the result)

 Aurelio: …just looked at your coin collection on flickr again (out of 7 or 8 times & counting), before I writing back to you & noticed some more coins I hadn’t looked at before.  Wow, this collection must be something to see in person, but the flickr way is great too, and perhaps not as much work to sort through manually.

 Your collection is very impressive & also the archiving of the coins is not to be overlooked, as I said before, great work!  How did you get involved with numismatics?  Are there certain coins that started your fascination?–or was it something else that got you going?

 I am also trying to see a theme to your collection, geographical, historical, aesthetic &c., but I cannot detect one, other than that you seriously love coins.  Is there a theme?  What drives you to accumulate these treasures?  How do you buy them? eBay & other on-line auctions?  Have you heard of V-Coins? (…the other night I couldn’t pull myself away from looking at all the nice coins available from the different sellers)

 I had been scanning my little collection, rather than photographing them.  It seems the detail is softer when the coins are photographed.  Do you have a special set-up for the coins?  Or do you just point-n-shoot?

Tiffany: My involvement started when I was a kid.  My father loved coins and gave me my own penny folder for a collection.  He didn’t have any vast great collection, but he liked to collect unusual circulating change.  I have sort of gone in cycles of collecting for 15 years.  I’m only marginally active at this time only getting my yearly US coinage. I do not have any theme whatsoever.  I collect coins that I just basically like the design of mostly, but that’s not always the case.  I do have to say that my favorite area of collecting is commemoratives.

 I have many different sources for purchasing, eBay is one of them, but I am a member of the coinpeople forum and purchased vast amounts from its members, also certain websites such as chervonets.com.  I had not heard of  V-coins before, but as I said I am not in an extremely active cycle right now.

 Scanning is good, it’s hard to get the coloring right, such is the case with photographing as well.  I have yet to find the perfect setup to capture the coins perfectly, but it gives me something to strive for.  I never had a real setup per se, but I had a book and a gooseneck lamp with a compact fluorescent bulb I use as well as a macro lens.  I just recently purchased a light box but have yet to set it up and try it out.  That’s my next stage. 

 Where are you from?  Tell me about your collection.

 Aurelio: …so your dad started you off with your 1^st penny folder [these folders are used to organize & categorize coins, usually within a period of time &/or theme].  I wonder if you still have those pennies, or any part of your dad’s collection.  It sounds like you have been involved with numismatics for sometime & your theme for collecting coins is basically numismatics itself, you just love coins, you love collecting & that’s great.  I have not yet looked at your commemoratives yet.  I’ll have to do that soon.

 I think my 1^st fascination with coins started when was a kid too.  It has become more pronounced now that the internet makes it so easy to buy them (sometimes).  My grand-parents had a small general store in Southern Colorado & I’d have to help count change, from time to time.  Grandma would have these little brown bags packed with change (along with a coffee can or two…don’t ask me why she kept change in paper bags) & I would sort it count it out & put the coins into their rollers.  Then we could go to the bank to make a deposit or whatever.  Once she pulled out a few bags that apparently had been in a storeroom for sometime & while sorting through it I found a couple of Indian head pennies, a buffalo nickel & a mercury dime.  I was so intrigued by these little finds.  I’d stare at them for hours, imagining the stories they could tell.  I wish I still had those coins, they probably wouldn’t be worth much, but their personal value would be huge.  Now that I think about it, the sense of intrigue has not diminished.  I still stare at coins a lot, whether they are mine, yours, or someone else’s.

Unlike you, I have not archived my whole collection & if I did it still wouldn’t match the size & depth of yours.  The bulk of it consists of circulating world coins, from all corners of the world, a lot of notgeld from Germany & Austria (some of these notes can be really fun to look at) & growing collection of European coins from the 16, 17 & 18^th centuries.  I love handling these old coins.  I know this might be a no-no for the purist, but I can’t resist touching them & imagining the hands that have touched them.  I will sometimes carry the coin in my pocket for a day, just to get to “know” the coin better.  Of course it should go without saying that the nicer the coin, the less it’s been handled, therefore most of the good-looking coins haven’t been handled too much & probably have spent most of their “lives” in drawers, boxes, &c.  Do you handle your coins; touch them to feel the texture & that sort of thing?  Do you have any coins that you linger over?

Another of the aspect of the coins I love is that they are miniature artworks.  With the bas-relief format it is amazing how much can be depicted, kings, queens, presidents, animals, monuments, buildings, battles, births, &c., &c. 

I live in Denver what about you?  I have the Denver Mint here that I have not been to for a long time I need to go soon.   

 Tiffany: I do still have that penny folder.  A few years ago my mother took me to her safety deposit box and gave me my father’s collection.  That was actually what got me started collecting foreign coinage.  He had coins from all over the place and I was captivated by the designs.  This is why I like commemoratives so much because of the different designs.

 I don’t handle my coins extensively I generally only handle by edges only.  I too, though, like to imagine who’s hands the coins have passed through, especially ones that date back to the earlier centuries.

 Aurelio:  I’ve realized that it’ll be fun to list my top 11 picks from your collection & hyperlink ‘em too.  (If you have any thing to say about these feel free).

 1848 German States Rostock 1 Pfennig Obv

1706 German States Padderborn 6 Pfennig Obv

1749 German States Bremen 1 Groten Rev

1712 Sachsen Gotha Altenburg Heller Obv

1504 Hungary Sil Denars Rev

1892 Spain 50 Cents Obv

1555 Lithuania Obv

1623 Poland Quarter Thaler Obv

2005 Netherlands 10 Euro Beatrix Obv

1583 Poland 3 Groschen Obv NGC

1990J Germany 10 Marks Teutonic Order Proof Rev

 I wish we had time to touch on all your other passions, but if someone reading this wants to check-out your beautiful photos & tons other fine stuff, they can find you at: Tiffibunny’s photostream.  I guess your from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area, I asked & it should’ve been clear once I took a tour through your other pics (yes, I was only looking at the coins, before).  Thank you for the help & we’ll talk again…

 Tiffany: You picked some of my favorites.  German States are probably my favorite, probably because I’m from a mostly German heritage.  And yes I am in St. Paul.  Sorry, I thought I mentioned that before….

thoughts on karma, cause & effect

mutual possesion of the ten worlds

the nine consciousnesses

(click on diagrams for a better view)

 Thoughts on Karma, Cause & Effect

Within Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism

 Although David Hume said that causation is the “cement of the universe,” I couldn’t use any of what he said on causality for this discussion (other than this little quote).  I also couldn’t talk about Aristotle’s views on causation, his four causes &c., although he did say that “all causes are beginnings…” (Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book V, Part 1). Both thinkers are not silent on the subject, & I am not suggesting that what they had to say on causality is valueless, but I did have to put them aside, since their brilliant theories (on causation) are ancillary to this month’s gosho: “Lessening One’s Karmic Retribution.” The Buddhist philosophers Daisaku Ikeda & Nichiren Daishonin are of complete relevance here & it is their thoughts I will focus on.

The word Renge in Nam Myoho Renge Kyo means lotus flower (in Sanskrit), it also signifies the concept of the simultaneity of cause & effect.  Simultaneity here suggests that by chanting Nam Myho Renge Kyo one can (with faith) access/cause one’s Buddha nature to be effected immediately.  We believe that we all contain (and can access) our own individual Buddha nature (enlightenment) & that by chanting Nam Myho Renge Kyo we will manifest it in our lives immediately.  The lotus seeds & blooms simultaneously, which is why it’s used as a metaphor for this concept.  The form of causality that is simultaneous is as I just described & it is also related to the concept of the 10 worlds, since (the theory is that) we inhabit all the 10 worlds at once (& we have mutual possession of the ten worlds) & are able to use the nine worlds to propel us to the tenth world of Buddhahood &/or enlightenment (by chanting Nam Myho Renge Kyo).  Non-simultaneous causality is also important here, because all the past actions we’ve taken (in life), (good or bad), are also inevitably contained & manifested in our present lives (karma) & on into our future lives.  The nine consciousnesses concept describes the Alaya (8^th) consciousness as the karmic store-house: where all our past actions, thoughts, words (&c.) are stored as latent potential.  Karma might also be seen as an intermediary between cause & effect (in non-simultaneous cause & effect). Karma is where all our latent causes are waiting to be “effected” by some external stimuli in one’s life.  When we look into (note that it is said that karma is unconscious, but let’s say that we can look into) this store-house & rummage through our past causes, we are able to understand our present lives better, we are on the road to enlightenment, & we are enlightening our own lives, by doing so. 

Nichiren Daishonin quotes from The Contemplation on the Mind-Ground Sutra,” that states:

“If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present.  And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present” (WND-1, 279).  

So, what does it mean to “lessen one’s karmic retribution?” Daisaku Ikeda writes:

“Present effects are due to karmic causes from the past. However, future effects arise from the causes we make in the present. It is always the present that counts. It is what we do in the present moment that decides our future; our past causes do not govern our future as well. Nichiren Buddhism emphasizes that no matter what kind of karmic causes we have made in the past,[it is] through the causes we make in the present we can achieve a brilliant future.”

To face the problems of life with courage & faith is the goal of Buddhist practice, along with doing (& helping) others to do the same (in their lives).  We must see that as Nichiren says: “difficulties will arise, & these are to be looked at as ‘peaceful’ practices” (Nichiren Daishonin, The Record of Orally Transmitted Teachings p. 115).  When one decides to practice Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, one essentially commits to transforming one’s life, instead of accepting our “destiny,” then we can transform our karma with the Buddhahood that resides within us all.  Ikeda goes on to point out that this act of lessening one’s karmic retribution is at the heart of our practice. 

I also found this interesting distinction on cause & effect (in Living Buddhism March-April, 09, page 77):

“Nichiren refers to two kinds of Buddhist teachings, those that view things from the standpoint of ‘cause to effect’ & those that approach things from ‘effect to cause’” 

This idea/teaching suggests that instead of approaching the practice from a cause to effect position, as Shakyamuni taught to cause the effect of Buddhism; one should effect a cause of Buddhism (as encouraged by Nichiren).  This idea might be related to the (complicated) concept of True Cause & True Effect (two of the Three Mystic Principles, the third is True land):

“In one sense, how we approach life and our Buddhist practice depends on whether we have a perspective of ‘true effect’ or ‘true cause.’ A perspective of ‘true effect,’ only sees enlightenment, or happiness, a result of past causes. From the perspective of ‘true cause,’ enlightenment, or happiness, is an ever-present potential; the cause for bringing it forth can only be made right now, in the present moment. The moment we make the ‘true cause,’ enlightenment reveals itself.” (Jeff Kriger, SGI-USA Study Department vice Leader)

Let us effect the cause of Buddhism in our daily lives as imperfect as we are, as we suffer through our hardships, as we rise to challenge our past mistakes, as we join together to celebrate our victories & as we chant Nam Myho Renge Kyo.

 Aurelio Madrid

April 2009

aleppo, syria

(click to see at flickr)

…found the photo for this drawing in the March ‘09 issue of Monocle. Roderick Aichinger is the photographer. I wrote to Monocle (Rose Percy: photo-editor) & Roderick asking to use the photo for a drawing, both gave me their blessing & here’s the result.

…& my last e-mail from Roderick reads:

“Hi Aurelio,

This was the very first building that attracted my attention while driving into town from the airport at 4am in the morning.
I didn’t shoot it until the very last day. I had a hard time finding the building and basically reconstructed the route from the airport to the hotel with my guide.
Aleppo is mainly known for its Citadel and old town, but features amazing modernist architecture from the 1930s up to the 50s. – as an untouched ensemble!
Unfortunately the qualities are hidden under a layer of dust and dirt; concealed by numerous AC-units and satellite antennas.
This building is from this era.

Check out the new issue – I went pirate hunting for monocle!
All the very best from Hamburg,

Roderick”

Thank you Rose Percy & Roderick Aichinger!
Aurelio