Robert L. Landry | My Deeply Human Initiative

My Deeply Human Initiative

Someone recently asked me: “From where… from what source do you find your perspective and your creative insights, your inspiration and motivations?”

“I found this to be a great line of questioning. After putting considerable thought to the matter, I responded, “I certainly cannot say that these creative insights have emerged entirely from ‘myself.’ What I know is that I put in the effort… bend the measure of time and materials, but I believe that I am merely the instrument … like a fine tuned receiver, per se. I can’t declare that I am entirely the origin, because it feels as though something universal is working through me. I simply allow myself to participate in what ever arises from our collective consciousness.”

By engaging in our intuitive process, I am responding to a much mor virtuous side of our natural ability to relate and the responses that immerge from it, those that are often shelved behind our ego driven manifestations of fear and insecurity. Such insecurities tend to emerge from our universal desire to obtain some measure of happiness, far to often resulting in our tendency to want to seize it, concoct whatever clever schemes to achieve it, and then horde it as if it were the last of the winter food storage.

Fortunately, there is an alternative approach to satisfying this desire for happiness, one that can add an additional (subtler yet deeply penetrating) layer to our human experience, one that contributes to a profoundly gratifying dimension that defines happiness as a form of nurturing fulfillment. To express this form of happiness, may I present my bas relief titled “THE COOPERATIVE PURSUIT OF ENLIGHTENMENT” also referred to as “THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS”.

People often declare that they feel powerless to effect change. It seems to me that all change begins with awareness. Therefore, if clichés such as “the pen is mightier than the sword” and “a picture speaks a thousand words” ring true, then what better way to initiate change then to openly celebrate our deeply human values visually? Corporations obviously understand this; that is why they invest so much in order to saturate every form of our available media with the propaganda that serves their corporate agenda. This leads us to the question, which corporations are serving our collective human interests and which are concerned only with the commercial values that serve their bottom line profit margin? Furthermore, because they own and control just about all of our available media, is that not significant grounds for questioning the nature of the content that flows through them? Therefore, when a fine artist effectively celebrates our collective human values (as opposed to the bottom line corporate profit margin) and we choose support their initiatives, they become a powerful and compelling grass roots voice –the kind levied on our universal behalf.

If you are interested in a way to contribute to these values via this initiative, currently, I am raising funds to build and cast a large scale version of THE COOPERATE PURSUIT OF ENLIGHTENMENT (THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS) as a 6’ x 4 ½’ bas-relief sculpture. If you wish purchase or make a contribution to this and other such efforts of mine, please contact me through this web site. Any gifts and profits obtained from the sales of this mock-up, ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE ALLOCATED TOWARDS THE CONSTRUCTION AND CASTING OF THE LARGE SCALE VERSION AND THE FURTHER EXPPLORATION OF OTHER INITIATIVES.

As a fine artist who responds to what occurs when I put one ear to the climate of my surroundings and one his heart, I openly admit that I need to rely on the support of others. On that note: I am grateful for all contributions and purchases and remain thankful for any support, even to those who take the time to send a few dollars in an envelope to P.O. … … “

Other great questions:

“How is the sculptor different from the painter in the context of emotion rather than the superficial difference in the medium?”

RL: “I cannot speak for other artists! However, I personally find sculpture to be a greater challenge. Because most sculpture is viewed in the round, it must work compositionally by offering something phenomenal from multiple vantage points as opposed to only one. Furthermore, I relate to sculptural expressions at a more interpersonal level because sculpture physically lives amongst us in the three dimensional world. Like wise, painting and other forms of two-dimensional media tend to function more as a window from which to peer into our world, which obviously allows us to step back and look at life from a more objective perspective. To that end, I feel no greater affinity for either, but I am forever equally emotionally tied to both.”

“You have mastered the demands of both representational and abstract sculpture in your career. What prompts you to create a work in one rather than the other?”

RL: “Thank you for the compliment!”

“For all I know, It maybe the result of something I ate for breakfast that morning. Actually, when I am most effective, I achieve a state of being whereby creating becomes an intuitive response to what is resonating through me. My responses are an honest reflection of that laden within my character, which is involuntarily stimulated when I truly cut lose to spontaneously follow my intuitions and create at an improvisational level. This occasionally reveals surprising and sometimes shocking revelations, but I know that I must be brave to honestly pursue what is in there. This state naturally reveals the truth of what I am made of. As for what form it will take? Whether representational or abstract, depends on what feels intuitively appropriate to what arises. I admit, that I do not control, but perhaps influence the synergy of this bandwidth for which the universal energy field speaks. However, if I did, now that, my friend would be a phenomenal story!”

“Who has influenced you the most among past Masters and Teachers?”

RL: “There are so many people from all walks of life! All those who have and continue to insightfully penetrate natures suptle depths of meaning in the effort to see it for its standards in continuity and order throughout life; people who fearlessly wrestle with its universal truths in the effort to scrutinize ones own character, conduct and place in the world. I admire those who refuse to settle for mediocrity and strive to meet their life nurturing human potential. I admire influential people that pursue art and life as a interdisciplinary practice in the effort to explore the subtleties of both nature and their own human nature by applying both the discipline and the truths that arise from such practice –as a guide for conducting their lives. In short, these people have taught me how to focus on art as a means of interdisciplinary practice, to fearlessly pursue my own personal and aesthetic evolution. Furthermore, they have inspired me to take on this arduous journey for myself. Here are just a few. Lorenzo De Medici, Michelangelo, Robert Henri, Kati Kolowitz, Jerry Mander, Erich Fromm, Kevin Bales, Joseph Campbell and the list goes on with other artists, musicians, poets, authors and patron of the arts –those that pursue life developing their potential to positively effect and inspire others.”

“You created a work to commemorate the tragedy of 9/11?”

RL: “Not exactly, what I have discovered is actually quite universal. After the 9/11 tragedy occurred I simply felt compelled to share something life nurturing, therefore I offered an incomplete sculpture titled “HOPE” for its potential to inspire others (including myself). There were those who agreed and therefore it became swept into service; 9/11 was another among a long line of great set backs for humanity. There was and remains a great loss. However, It seems to me that the greatest honor we can bestow upon those lost would be to face its root causes. Few would disagree that greed and its suppression of others are the backbone to anger and aggression and therefore result in such tragedies. So let us honor those lost by bestowing an honorable purpose to their demise by acknowledging the “silver-lining” they bring to light. Let us honor their loss by recognizing the root causes that their sacrifice has brought to the surface of our consciousness, as the backdrop or as the opposite of our equally vast nurturing potential and then strive to achieve that potential. This awareness and the practice of this awareness may very well be our better option. This sculpture (now reworked) joins among others of my work, to express this option and apply it to the reconciliation of such desperate life thwarting acts of aggression.

I find it immensely encouraging that so many have responded to the evolution of this project “JOY” THE JOY OF SELF-LESS-NESS as a source of healing. I truly would like to see it continue to serve publicly in this manner.”

THE WHITE DOVE MEMORIAL

This monument concept is dedicated tothose who perished on 9/11/2001 to honor those we lost. It is intended so that we may grace those sacrificed with the power to inspire cooperation.

In 2010, the city of Birmingham Michigan entertained the idea of commissioning a sculptural monument for a 9/11 memorial to adorn Shane Park. Someone had generously offered to donate the funds to purchase metal from the wreckage of the Twin Towers for use in its construction. Shortly thereafter, the local paper wrote about comments made regarding the controversial/morbid over-tones of this metal (I too openly supported that notion).

In an effort to be considered for this commission, I modeled the following bas-relief sculpture titled “The Cooperative Pursuit of Enlightenment” also referred to as “The Communion of Saints” in clay, Furthermore, I composed the following design that incorporated this Twin Tower metal (or possibly any other twisted metal) and a statement in preparation to address the city’s art council with a proposal. At the scheduled 3/17/2010 meeting, it was immediately announced forthright, that a piece of the Twin Tower metal would be purchased and displayed at a local firehouse with a plaque in lieu of the commission. Needless to say, I never got to present the following:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For a period of time, from out of the sympathy we felt towards all those directly effected; many of us experienced a subtle yet somewhat surreal under-current of heightened empathy towards one another. This silver lining was real, uniting each of us together under its empathetic umbrella –a powerful and significant result of sharing together in the pain and disillusionment that followed in the aftermath of 9/11/2001.

To sum up this vantage point, one need only recall this quiet but powerful underlying current so many of us felt when interacting with others in the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 tragedy. As a result of this wound, there was this air of forbearance, a deeply seated sense of interconnectedness, and a longing to reach for it. Yet at the same time, there was a need to project it on to others; and that is exactly what we did. For a time, all that divides melted away, allowing the nature of our brethren to flood over into subtle kindnesses like letting one another in and out of traffic and listening to one another with a deeper sense of empathy.

It’s not as though this is not inherent to us anyway; but, the unified loss of these people brought this undercurrent to the surface. It arose to the point where we could almost coddle it, but because we couldn’t we could only honor it by extending it on to others.

This is the manner in which these unfortunate people served us and if we so choose to honor their loss in this way… serve us still. Personally I found these feelings of empathy to be the blessing that arose from this tragedy, something that I envision as positive… as the white dove of love and peace that we can only find only through the liberation of realizing that: The delivery from the bonds of anger, hatred and its perpetual evils (retaliation) lies solely within the hearts each of us. Therefore, if we so choose to embrace this, what actually arose from this devastation becomes the opportunity to liberate ourselves from the bonds of hatred and replace them with the noble spirit of camaraderie that so powerfully moves us toward a higher calling.

Ultimately we must choose between serving the destructive forces that focus on the negativity that caused it, or reinforce initiatives that inspire us to overcome it. The question is, do we want to associate ourselves with the victim persona by demonizing others or empower ourselves through a high minded nurturing principle that casts a heroic light upon the loss of our fallen brothers and sisters? By focusing on the love between us that they have brought to our consciousness, bestows a nobly inspiring purpose to their sacrifice. From this perspective, It seems clear to me that; the way in which we choose to honor the demise of these people (either through the influential forces of love or hate) this choice will ultimately define ourselves as a society.

This monumental concept like so much of my work remains in search of funding and a public forum so that they may inspire others.

Thank you for taking an interest,

Robert L. Landry

–FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION

Corporations have supported art and artists. Corporations spend billions of dollars every year on creative and innovative advertising. These images exert a powerful influence on us levied through the use of visual language (ART). But, what kind of art?

This monetary-driven form of art (commercialism) appears through every known form of media. Some of these endless marketing campaigns seem to express and project values and notions that make us feel that we do not have enough or that we are not enough. Psychologically, this can result in a measure of competitiveness that pits everyone against everyone, in a win/lose situation, and a never-ending thirst for more.

Speaking as a passionate artist, who strives to celebrate our sacred relationship with the Earth that sustains us, and the universal bond we share with one another that can define us, what I hope you will see here in my work, is the alternative to competition. What I strive for; is to express a win-win celebration and expression of what it means to participate in the world at a deep and profoundly mature human level.

Through such works of mine, as “The Strength of Perseverance” and “Contemplation” for example, I have always attempted to penetrate and depict sensitive interpersonal human relationships; like the vulnerability we share through the emotional implications we experience as human beings, the common lineage we all share at a sentient level.

But, those of my works such as JOY – “The Joy of Self-less-ness” and the “The Cooperative Pursuit of Enlightenment” are meant to inspire the true nurturing essence of our human nature. What I wholeheartedly believe is, if we wish to live at our natural human tempo and nurture one another through deeply held human values, then, it seems to me that Art must celebrate and express these values sincerely and candidly.

I believe there should be no gimmicks, nor competition here, just an honest conviction to openly declare and share our universally nurturing human values. An initiative such as this involves the measure of what we are –not what we have. Ultimately, isn’t what we have, really, each other?

Because the annual monetary goals of corporations are not always in line with our deeply felt human values (although such nurturing expressions could improve their image) I find myself in a position where I may not be able to count on their support. Therefore, I need to rely upon the public in order to further my efforts. This means purchases and/or contributions.

If my efforts, which are expressions that point to our deep, universal, human potential, resonate with you, and you wish to support them by means of a contribution, as a testimony of your support, I am offering the following signed items in exchange for various dollar contributions. Or you or your organization can be honored on my wall of honored contributors for contributing a straightforward dollar amount.

Thank you,

Fundraiser INVENTORY LIST

SIGNED POST CARD SIGNED TRIFOLD SIGNED 8” x 10” POSTER

$5.00 or more $10.00 or more $20.00 or more

KIOH-LUNG AT REST AMONG THE FORMS OF NATURE

(Find Kioh-Lung… the third metamorphic state of the Eastern Dragon –Just before he gets his wings)

Limited edition digital print of the original graphite drawing $50.00 or more.

THE DISCIPLINE OF BALANCE

Bronze 29” x 13” x 10 1/2” potential edition of 12 (available) (signed prints of this image remain available)

By nurturing a balance between the mind, the soul, and the body, we protect the delicate balance of life. Meaning, we foster a healthy balance between our intuition and our will. While in the process, we honor the potential integrity of our very life force. Ultimately, this inter-disciplinary relationship with the Self (our true self) is our instinctive checks and balance system that naturally combats the very illusion that defines our ego.

Currently, there is one available for $25,000 or more

Bite size pieces of “The Cooperative Pursuit of Enlightenment”

“The Communion Of The Saints” (Good while supplies last)