Joseph is a creator on many levels. We met nearly 10 years ago, and over this time I have been lucky enough to witness the scope with which his art and life continually evolve. He has a perspective that is both expansive and universally inclusive; I am often left in awe of the ways that is expressed.
Through creation, he challenges the habits of the mind and participates in life in a way that moves beyond the constructs of socially imposed limitations. He is a multi-dimensional visionary that I humbly and gratefully adore.
Describe the relationships between art, science and spirit.
Ingenuity feeds self-discovery through imagination and creativity. Science is not antithetical to spirit or art. Science, like art and religion, are structures for exploring and expanding upon our own awareness – catalyzing progress and realization.
What role does time play in creation?
“Time is not as a rule a line, although it can become one.” This quote by French philosopher Michel Serres shows how time can become slippery. In the 21st century the ability to fabricate time allows the fourth dimension to become a platform for creative expression. How does the construction of time effect creativity? One example of the ability to engage with and communicate through time is the making of a film or movie. Films allow us to experience the fabrication of time within our own time. This doubling effect allows ability to provide an embodied experience in three dimensions.
Learning vs. unlearning. Which one, when and why?
I think these happen simultaneously and consistently for all of us. We accumulate experience and knowledge, learning techniques and histories along the way. Judgement and rejection provide the chance to experience injustices and misrepresentations. At this stage we all have choices to make and questions to ask ourselves; is this a choice to benefit and enable ego? What responsibility do I have to society now that I too see this particular injustice?
What does normal mean?
Normal is a relative definition and fetish. Normal means many things to many people dependent upon servitude and prophesied role, control and how we prioritize censorship to match the qualifying traits of normalcy.
How important/unimportant is ritual?
To define an action or event as ritual is to anthropologically place cultural specificity onto that action or event from the outside. Most events that full under the linguistic term ritual are based on the greater rites of passage we experience as human beings – birth, death, marriage, war, or God. A more open definition of ritual could be a structural event concerned with the ability to communicate presence of awareness and consciousness. Using this more open definition I believe that ritual is absolutely crucial and dependent upon one’s own journey through self-realization.
In what ways does context influence art? In what ways does context influence life?
“Environment is stronger than will” is one statement by Paramahansa Yogananda that comes to mind for me when thinking about context. Stillness, whether found within the mind, soul, body or environment, gives the will an ability to overcome its surroundings. In a space of spiritual white noise and stressful real-world experiences the environment can make it difficult to even maintain the depth of awareness achieved in the present moment but through strengthening your relationship to environment, we gain the ability to address and manifest our own contexts, steadily co-creating the reality we desire as the division between context and will begin to fuse.
To catch a bite of Joseph’s work, listen below and then visit his website to find out where you might experience it live in its totality.