Monday, May 27, 2013

Void and Matter have to be in Balance

Giuliana Salmaso co-founded1+1=1 in 2002 with Claudio Silvestrin
Bombarded by loud images, we want to refocus and bring back
the attention to the human being with the purpose of awakening a dormant sensibility.


At urban and architectural scale, we propose eco-sceneries with calm an rarefied atmosphere.

Claudio Silvestrin is Swiss born architect in San Francisco, USA.
He is considered one the contemporary masters of minimalism.

In this video, he says, "if you enter in a space like this with a busy mind, all of a sudden, the busyness slowly goes"


I say the same thing about why I stitch. It is to calm my mind. 




In Residence: Claudio Silvestrin on Nowness.com




"Calm spaces gives you this feeling of lightness and therefore you don't have the pressure of time. You don't look your watch. You feel like you're on a bubble."



My thoughts are this:

How is it that a completely minimal space such as the physical structures Claudio and Guiliana create and a heavily-stitched piece (as in my work)  evoke the same calming effect for me?

What calms your mind?
How do you balance yourself?
Making bread
Stitching
Walking
Eating 
Running
Sleeping
Daydreaming
Reading
Staring out a window
Meditation
Yoga
Nothing


I wonder what you think about how you calm yourself.

Feel free to share with me. 

C



10 comments:

  1. Balance takes many forms from foraging for land treasures to use to dye cloth to the very simple act of getting up each day and greeting it by chanting a daily blessing for the earth. Newly moved to New Mexico, I begin the day, actually much like I did when I lived in Tennessee with a walk outside, cup of tea or coffee in hand, to breathe in deeply and offer thanks for this day. Here especially in New Mexico, my thanks are huge for the sky and the incredible light that this land gives...try to end the day in the same way so that whatever has caused a tilt in the day, I close the circle of the day with the same ending as the beginning of the day. I guess that is my balance ritual. Never thought about it much except to say that once my children were raised, and we retired, I have had the time to honor the days of my life in this way so now it is an instinctive part of my life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your practice is admirable. Thank you for sharing.

      Delete
  2. I feel calm and at peace
    walking on the beach
    searching for sea glass, driftwood and other beach finds
    stitching
    gardening and wandering around the garden
    being silently alone
    getting totally in to a book takes me another zone

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, I like searching for glass at the beach too. It is calming. Thank you for sharing Debbie.

      Delete
  3. It calms my mind

    * to just stop doing what I do
    * Inhale ~ Exhale
    * Bathing my hands in warm water
    * Looking at the river floating by
    * Qi gong
    * Talking to my ancestors
    * Eating pastries :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hmm, warm water for hands, nice. I suppose this happens after you eat the pastries? :). Thank you for sharing.

      Delete
  4. the physical act of getting a dream out of my head and making it real... into something I can hold in my hand as an offering & honouring

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a good thing. I have visualizations coupled with intuition and dreams. It is very gratifying to get them to be real.

      Delete
  5. Things that calm me:
    Prayer
    Lying on the ground and looking at the sky
    Rain on the roof while lying in bed
    The beach
    Being warm
    Good relationships

    But truthfully, my mind isn't very still. Its active all the time. Its why I make things and surround myself with people I love. It makes me happy but not necessarily the most calm person to be around. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. hi christine.

    i stitch (create anything) to express myself, release emotions, but inadvertently, i discovered it's calming and centering power.

    ReplyDelete

I always enjoy reading comments!