Shaneen Johnson

ACM: Guggenheim Museum Paper: Hilda af Klint

Spirit, body, soul. I have always believed in these three in one, which is based in my belief of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  These beliefs did not begin, ironically, in a church. They began with vivid dreams, visions and things my grandmother would call, "talks with God." Afraid and confused, these occurrences would leave me wondering if I had been asleep or awake, if they were warnings, prophecies or if I just ate too much before I went to bed.

My fear turned to curiosity and I dove into spirituality, absorbing everything from my local five dollar boardwalk psychics to hundred dollar books. It lead me to burning candles to bended knees, from saences to pews and from calling on dead ancestors to calling on Jesus.  I joined cults, then turned atheist, only to become a church member. As my journey for truth continues, my search for purpose within this life is still in need of deep answers.

My need for understanding went from deep to drowning, unsure of the answers I had found. Sometimes my answers confirmed my personal theories and other times, confused me even more.  The closer I came to enlightenment, I seemed to have have more questions than answers. Even still, I feel like a child, trying to understand the physics of scientific hypotheses and theories of a galaxy that existed way before I did.  My only hope is to find the truth, however horrendous and however glorious.

My trip to the Guggenheim to visit Hilma af Klints works intrigued my desire for a deeper revelation of spiritualism.  It also sparked an interest to explore such things and the possibility to adding these experiences into my own works of art.  Complex in its simplicity, I stared at her work in need of understanding and yet, not needing clarification at all. Somehow, understanding was not a main necessity at the moment of observation but rather, to gather an appreciation.  Each piece held a sense of symmetry and balance, while remaining beautiful and eloquent. Each demanded attention and praise all its own. Within the colors, shapes and size, each canvas told a story. Although I am not sure my interpretation is correct, my perception of it did not hinder my curiosity to explore.

Klints work also made me feel the relevance of good versus evil in the sense of a spiritual karma beyond the realm of our humanistic reality.  While reading National Geographics, “Life probably exists beyond Earth. So how do we find it?”, there was a sentence that got me thinking about this other realm; “There are more planets than there are stars, and at least a quarter are Earth-size planets in their star’s so-called habitable zone, where conditions are neither too hot nor too cold for life. With a minimum of 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, that means there are at least 25 billion places where life could conceivably take hold in our galaxy alone—and our galaxy is one among trillions.”

One among trillions? If our planet is one among trillions and there has not yet been any confirmed life forms beyond our own, what if we are the only ones out here? In this vast world of galaxies and supernovas, what if we are searching in vain? My own experiences combined with artist like Klint,  remind me that we are not alone, but maybe we are looking with the wrong eyes. Maybe the telescope will not contain the answer. Maybe this realm cannot be entered with physical eyes but with spiritual ones. Maybe...