Imaging The Void: Making The invisible Visible

Abstract

This research examines the question, how does presence function in performative photography and drawing? Performative artists, who shift perceptions of self, time and space by focusing inwardly, explore the internal depths of mind and are seen to be - ‘imaging the void’ thereby they transform invisible internal states of mind into the production of presence.

The invisible phenomenon of presence is examined via the artistic practices of the case study artists. The research focuses on Marina Abramović and timelessness, Yves Klein and the void, Joseph Beuys and dynamic creativity, and James Lee Byars and immanence, in order todevelop a framework of presence. Identifying and articulating attributes of presence within these artists’ practice is through theseminal textby Longchenpa,‘You Are the Eyes of the World’, an early 14th century Tibetan Dzogchen Buddhist text on presence.

The origins of practice, in the case study artists and my own, will be made via the use of a framework of presence comprised of five attributes: luminosity, timelessness, the void,dynamic creativity and immanence. It is proposed that opening up to these states of mind is how these artists work with presence. Presence is the sense of being present, here and now; it is also the experience of the self, mediating internal and external environments. The conscious experience of presence is a state of presence-awareness.Presence is the felt sense of being in the world and is understood here through contemporary presence theory and a framework of presence.

From formless, to a sense of presence,is the dynamic creative process highlighted by the case study artists. By going beyond the directions of popular culture that define the prevailing art world, these artists bring to our attention invisible dimensions of lifeand nature that can challenge assumptions of practice and process. They have become discordant beacons in a contemporary art context. The philosophy and artistic practice of presence is an area that I contend deserves in-depth focus, and this research adds its contribution.