In this project I am exploring the physical body for its psychological, emotional and symbolic impact rather than in its traditional 'naturalistic' material aspect.
Initially I divided the body into three sections:
The head, critical and distant, is the center and emblem for the catabolic forces of consciousness, the "higher senses". I usually color this section blue-violet.
The genitals I take as the opposite pole, an outward emblem of the life forces or anabolism. This is more primal than simply sexual, but connects with the erotic, the vital and the virile. Wikipedia says that in both male and female, tumescence is naturally present for 98% of REM sleep. I don't see this as specifically sexual or anything to do with urine control but evidence of the counter-forces to consciousness that heal and repair us during sleep. Where the head prefers to keep a critical distance, the life forces and "lower senses", touch, taste, smell, prefer visceral contact. I usually color this section orange, and, I'm sorry, but I'm not constraining myself to serving up my life forces "wilted"!
Between these two resides the torso, the sleeping consciousness of the great god Pan, who is Nature, or even (the consciousness cries) Satan. Rather than turning out to face the world (but in that act creating a distance), the torso inhales the outer to mingle it with the exhalations of the inner, not the harsh division of "I" from "you", but a place of mingling, monitoring, reciprocation and exchange, the consciousness of breath and blood. The torso for me is green, but if it wakes from its inward nature and becomes conscious like the head, who knows what could happen?
Where such systems break down is where they start to get interesting!
Modern culture, especially in this age of Zoom, elevates the conscious, head aspect and even imagines it can be 'freed' from its lower regions. This I consider dangerous nonsense! In this project I am endeavoring to take a more rounded point of view, giving as much space to the unconscious as the conscious, exploring the rhymes, rhythms and overlaps that bind the parts together.
