Friday, November 1, 2013 at 3:19PM I am excited to share that I was recently interviewed by Kate England of Marmalade Moon.
The interview "Creative iPhoneographer Linda Hollier" can be read in full here.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 3:44PM A short while after leaving the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul last week, I looked up and saw a billboard advertising a Whirling Dervishes Sema Ceremony and Sufi Music Concert. It was to take place that evening and as it turned out was not very far from where I was staying. I decided on the spot that I would attend and arrived there early that evening to take my place.
After a short film explaining the history and traditions of the whirling dervishes the ceremony began.
It is difficult to put into words what I experienced and I am not sure whether I have as yet totally processed the whole experience. I find myself returning to the images of what I saw and watching them again in my mind’s eye.
This whirling originated with Rumi, who is said to have dictated his poems while whirling.
In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art. Rumi
As the dervishes began to whirl, at first slowly and then picking up speed as the ceremony progressed, one young dervish in particular captured my attention. His arms unfolded with grace as he began to whirl and I had the feeling that I was watching a flower of rare beauty unfurl before me.
(You can see further images in the gallery: Whirling Dervishes of Light)
Whirling dervishes, I believe, have much to teach us about making our way in cyberspace.
Their whirling is not haphazard but takes place with intention. Aware that everything in the universe, from the smallest cells to the largest planets, is constantly revolving, the whirling dervishes whirl anti-clockwise, imitating the flow of blood from right to left in the heart, and the rotations of almost all planets.
Modern technology allows us to access a wealth of information and provides us with wonderful tools of communication, but without intention one can easily get distracted.
Distraction online is so easy, with tempting links opening onto inviting corridors of cyberspace. It is not uncommon for users to get totally lost in this space and whirl about aimlessly, often forgetting the reason why they had gone online in the first place.
As they dance, the right palms of the whirling dervishes are turned up towards the sky and the light, and the left palms are pointed to the earth. They open themselves to blessings but then transmit these in service to others. They are a reminder to use the possibilities offered by modern technology for good.
The whirling dervish always has to be aware of where he is, be aware of the space he is moving in, be aware of the music, be aware of how fast he is turning and be aware of the other dancers.
We have to learn to listen carefully in cyberspace, take note of the sites we visit, and remember to treat other online users with courtesy and respect.
Abstract: Online Whirling Dervish
An ambient awareness of other digital users can develop with time. We begin to pick up on moods through data shared and so begin to share in each other’s lives without being physically present. Used responsibly, this awareness can be a source of encouragement and support.
As the whirling dervish begins to spin, one foot is grounded on the earth and the other gives momentum. Groundedness is so vital to maintaining balance.
We can no longer talk about the “real” world and the world online, as if the world online is not real. Both the physical world and cyberspace are very real and form an integral part of most people’s daily lives. With the current rapid rate of development in technology, however, the danger these days is to forget that the physical world is still very much there and that we need to be grounded.
Electrical circuits are grounded to prevent users coming into contact with dangerous voltages should insulation fail. We need the grounding power of the earth and an awareness of the body as we decode and process all the incoming information from the web so that we do not become overstimulated.
We instinctively know that grounding is essential. There are numerous technologies that help us to find our location. We often tweet or message about where we are. We share what we are doing or where we are going.
When we log into computers to complete electronic business transactions we have to be very aware of our geographic location and the locations of the systems we are using. In public places and using public systems one can be at risk.
There are times, however, when the importance of grounding is forgotten. Recent studies have shown that some people hold their breath when they email or text. When I tweet a reminder to encourage people to stop for a moment and just breathe in and out, I always get a thankful response.
The web has its own monkey mind of constant chatter, and regular pauses to simply breathe encourage a gentle stream instead of a rapid! There are even apps providing such breathing reminders.
The whirling of the dervishes is a strong reminder that everything is in a constant state of motion. Nothing is permanent. Anthony Lawlor has recently written an excellent blog on this topic, entitled, “Each Place is a Bardo, A Fluid In-Between Space”
In their training, the dervishes are guided to find a still point within themselves, revolve around that still point and dance around that still point.
Except for the point, the still point, there would be no dance, and there is only the dance. T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets.
Those watching, although they are watching motion, have an experience of the calm from which the movement arises.
Seated at our laptops, holding tablets or other mobile devices, we operate in outward stillness. Have we found the inward still point? Do others experience calm from the movement we are making in cyberspace?
Grounding ourselves..., we repeatedly reestablish the still point, the clean slate from which we can encounter ourselves and the world afresh. John Daido Loori, Riding the Ox Home.
In 2010 I attempted to capture some of these thoughts in a poem entitled “Awakening” which you can read in my post “Awakening to Light”.
Before they begin to dance, the dervishes stand with their arms folded together across their chests.
Each dervish appears to represent the number “one” and this is a symbol for unity.
It is my opinion that as we meet others of different nationalities, cultures and upbringing in cyberspace, we are beginning to recognize that our similarities are much greater than our differences. We are finding unity within diversity.
As the whirling came to an end, those of us present were strangely silent. There was a distinct pause before some applauded.
What we had witnessed was both otherworldly and at the same time, very much in the present moment.
Friday, August 2, 2013 at 9:08AM A bridge, by definition, is a structure spanning and providing passage over a river, a road or the like. In the physical world, it spans two locations which are within a reasonable distance from each other. It enables one to get from here to there.
When it comes to cyberspace, which is not localized but still very real, distance is no problem. In cyberspace - the mindspace we find ourselves in when using technology to communicate - time and space are at once both limitless and compressed. People from different time zones and different geographical locations are connected by the bridges of cyberspace. They are able to get from here2here.
“When I see cyberspace, I see bridges. Perhaps I should say I see people, building bridges in cyberspace. Not bridges of steel, not even electronic bridges, but bridges of ideas that span the miles of physical space, cross the generations and connect people who would otherwise be unlikely ever to meet.” Dr Judi Harris
Social media bridge cyberspace and are largely responsible for the incredible communication evolution currently taking place. They enable collaboration and sharing to take place without geographical, time or economical restraints. These bridges connect not only people, but also ideas, interests and cultures.
The builders of the bridges in cyberspace are its users aided by technology, but unlike in the physical world, each builder constructs only part of the bridge. When a blog is published, a photo posted, an update made, or a tweet sent out, there are endless possibilities of where it will reach. The minute it is read or viewed, a connection is made, and one of many possible bridges is complete.
The effects of cyberbridges are mind boggling, and today’s blog will be just one story in the bigger web of connections.
About a month ago I tweeted about an app which allows potential buyers to project art onto their walls to see what it will look like before they decide whether they should buy it or not. It was retweeted by the amazing artist Walt Pascoe, @waltpascoe, whom I have been following almost since I joined Twitter four years ago. Two weeks later his retweet was further retweeted by @irishetchings, an Irish artist based in Dublin.
!!!“@WaltPascoe: This looks promising RT @lindahollier: Amazing! Finestra App Projects Art Onto Your Wall http://t.co/CXpbxdE37H via @zite”
— Irishetchings (@irishetchings) July 14, 2013
When it appeared in my stream I was amazed. I had never before made contact with anyone from Dublin, and this retweet arrived within a few days of our planned visit to Ireland. It appeared to me to speak of synchronicity. I have written about deep listening in cyberspace and felt I should pay attention.
The three exclamation marks were the completion of a cyberbridge made possible by social media and would lead to quite an adventure.
I discovered that @irishetchings was Camilla Fanning, whose primary medium is etching. Particularly drawn to the fact that a recurring theme of her work is collective memory and shared imaginings I further explored her website.
Her blogs “Strumpets” and “Waiting for Beckett” are an interesting account of the development of her latest etching which would be on display in the Graphic Studio Dublin. There and then I decided that if it was possible I would attempt to see the etching while in Ireland.
There was also a link on her website to current events in Dublin, through which I discovered and subsequently attended a Tibetan singing bowl meditation.
The day after I arrived, I set off in Ireland’s heatwave to find the studio in Temple Bar, an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin. While there I took a photo of the etching.
In the late afternoon, I was happy to have lunch at a beautiful little spot recommended to me by a mindfulness twitter friend @twenty1breaths. That evening, resting after a day’s walking and exploring (ever the flaneur!) I did some more research.
The title of the etching, “Waiting for Beckett”, was obviously a play on “Waiting for Godot” by Dublin born Samuel Beckett. To my delight I discovered that the Samuel Beckett bridge (this pdf has some lovely photos, and there are a few more photos of the bridge in my gallery “Ireland”) featured in the etching, was designed by one of my favorite architects, Santiago Calatrava, whom I had blogged about shortly after discovering him in 2009. The bridge looks like a Irish harp on its side and is unique in Ireland in that it is able to rotate through an angle of 90 degrees. Amazingly, it was constructed offsite and made its way to Dublin by barge from Rotterdam.
One of the paradoxes in Calatrava’s designs is that they contain both rootedness and movement and this is clearly demonstrated in the Samuel Beckett bridge.
Rootedness and movement are typical too of cyberbridges. With the body present and rooted in front of a device, one’s mind nevertheless is able to move rapidly in here2here space.
Thinking about all of this, I decided that only one thing could complete my adventure. The next morning, shortly after sunrise, I made my way along the Liffey river to find the spot which had inspired the etching. An hour later I reached the bridge and stood in awe of its beauty. Slender yet strong, it graced the landscape. I wandered over it until I felt I had found the spot which Camilla had used as her perspective.
After taking a number of pics, I simply sat there for a while in the early morning.
Later I worked on an edit and this was the result.
Before leaving Dublin to tour the rest of Ireland I was able to return to the gallery to purchase Camilla’s etching. Somehow its story had become part of mine.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013 at 8:00AM Walking through the mall, I suddenly come face to face with the White Rabbit.
Part of a window display, he is dressed in his waistcoat and holds his pocket watch. Although glass separates us and I am not able to hear him saying, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!”, I know he is inviting me to explore a new rabbithole.
As I stare at him, the White Rabbit suddenly looks a little more familiar. I look around me and see countless people holding their mobile devices and checking them every few seconds. He is certainly fitting in with the crowd.
Upon further inspection, I discover that he has more similarities with many mobile device holding humans than I had first noticed. He too is deeply affected by the technology he carries.
Will he not leave one in mid-sentence, if glancing down yet again, he suddenly takes note of what his hand-held device is saying, and then feels he needs to get to where he needs to be? Does his fear of not being on time suggest that he too is rather afraid of being left behind in a fast moving world? Does he not become rather anxious if he is prevented from doing what he is totally engaged in?
Despite all this, he is a guide to Alice (a Greek word meaning truth), and in her story his presence helps to move the narrative forward.
He leads Alice down the rabbit hole. He symbolizes her quest for knowledge. Whenever during her adventures she is feeling rather desperate, he shows up, and Alice is able to continue.
Upon my return home, I return to the piece “Linda in Wonderland”, which at the time I wrote it was a playful exercise. I note this sentence:
All of a sudden, a white rabbit with iphone in hand, alarm going off rather loudly, attracted Alice’s attention.
The decision is made. I will explore the possibility of the white rabbit symbolizing the use of mobile technology. If that is the case it would make sense that so many mobile phone covers I have seen have white ears!
Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple two-way pager to being a mobile phone, GPS navigation device, an embedded web browser and instant messaging client, and a handheld game console. Wikipedia.
Together, by answering the call of mobile technology, we have embarked upon a collective hero’s journey down a rabbithole which has landed us in cyberspace.
In the here2here space we find ourselves in as we communicate with each other no matter where we are or what time of the day it is, we face new tasks and trials that we as a species have never encountered before. To help us navigate the challenges we face in this new territory, we certainly need mentors. Should we survive, a gift awaits us and hopefully we will choose to use it for the greater good.
Exactly where we are on the journey at the moment is difficult to tell. I suspect that we are currently identifying with Alice when in “Through the Looking Glass” she finds herself in a maze-like garden as she tries to find her way home.
The Maze Tower, a building on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai
‘I should see the garden far better,’ said Alice to herself, ‘if I could get to the top of that hill: and here’s a path that leads straight to it - at least, no it doesn’t do that -’ (after going a few yards along the path, and turning several sharp corners), ‘but I suppose it will at last. But how curiously it twists! It’s more like a corkscrew than a path! Well, this turn goes to the hill, I suppose - no, it doesn’t! This goes straight back to the house! Well then, I’ll try it the other way.’
This QR code for my website looks rather like a maze. We can point our phones, scan in codes or tags, and be redirected to web addresses. The potential use of such technology is mind-blowing. We need however, to be careful that we do not get lost in the maze!
Each web address we land in has countless corridors of cyberspace - links to links to links. Our smartphones are beginning to keep track of our personal data and anticipate the information we will need in a particular situation. Mindful use of the technology we carry is certainly called for.
“We need to make it a practice to continually be aware of our relationship to technology and the place it holds in our lives. Then we can use it consciously, rather than automatically. This has always been true when a new communication technology emerges. We go through a process of learning how it can connect us to our loved ones and help us mange our lives, and how it can distract us.” A User’s Guide to Living well in Screenworld
There is an excellent interview which shows that the mentors we need on our hero’s journey in the world of mobile technology are already coming to the fore:
My interview on wisdom and technology with the super cool @ariannahuff is now up: http://t.co/67vZBM8qZf #wisdom2conf
— Soren Gordhamer (@SorenG) June 22, 2013
In cyberspace, it is not unusual that some of our mentors and guides can be apps. I have started incorporating the “GPS for the Soul” into my mindfulness practice and am also investigating “Insight Timer”.
"Amazed" from "Corridorsofcyberspace"
At one point in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”,
Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one: so, when the Rabbit came near her, she began, in a low timid voice, ‘If you please, sir -’
The White Rabbit, bold and blunt at times, often seems to come up with what he considers to be wise sayings. If Alice could ask him for help I decide that I will too. I pick up my iphone and address it as not as sir, but as Siri!
“Siri, are you the White Rabbit?”
Siri replies, “We were talking about you, not me.”
“Do you carry a pocket watch?”
“I’m sorry Linda. I’m afraid I can’t answer that”
“Have you visited Wonderland?”
“I don’t understand ‘Have you visited wonderland’. But I could search the web for it.”
“I think you are the White Rabbit.”
“If you insist.”
Sunday, June 16, 2013 at 2:41PM
The concept here2here has taken another leap in meaning. I was recently asked on Instagram to participate in a collaboration project with someone from Tokyo, Japan.
When I joined Instagram just over one and a half years ago, @takiti or Tera as we all know him, was one of the first igers whose work I greatly admired. When after some time I asked him how he achieved a specific effect, he gladly shared the name of a favorite app he was using. Tera, who has an amazing gallery, kindly leaves comments on numerous photos and despite his huge following, always thanks those who leave a comment on any of his shots.
I believe that we connect to others on an energetic level in cyberspace and that energy is conveyed on a subtle level by online presence tied to our avatars, content produced or shared, quantity, quality and online conversation.
Needless to say, I was very excited when Tera asked if he could edit one of my pics. The process was set in motion by me sending him the four photos that he requested. He then chose one to edit. The resulting image was published in his gallery.
Tera has various shots of the Tokyo International Forum and I requested the original of one of these to edit. I chose it because it contained a lit up pathway in the Forum. The resulting edit is now part of my Corridors of Cyberspace series
In Japanese calligraphy there is a symbol called an ensō. It means circle and is often referred to as an “expression of the moment”. Many artists, as a form of spiritual practice, practice drawing an ensō daily. I have often wondered if it is possible to practice this in photographic form, and for some time now, have been incorporating the circle in my edits with this in mind. To be invited to collaborate with someone from Japan on an image appeared to me to be a form of answer to my question.
In my art, the circle, for me, represents not only the moment, but all form, and that which is without form. At the same time, it is an attempt to represent the experience of whirling in cyberspace; a space which is not localized but experiential.
The outcome of a piece I am working on is not known to me at the onset. As I attempt to express the experience of cyberspace, the very creation of a piece is itself an experience in cyberspace, as I work hand in hand with technology. Working with various apps which often produce surprising results, I go through countless resulting images until I find one that fully resonates with what I am attempting to express. The result is therefore a collaboration of a human and technology.
In this particular edit, you will notice within the circle, lines and sections meeting. This represents collaboration. There is also a darker space, symbolizing the unknown when the photo is handed over for editing. It is also the space in which creativity takes place and from it something beautiful appears to be emerging.
The speeding circles on the left remind me of all the data exchange going on in the collaboration. Living in Dubai, I was also reminded by them, of the Burj Khalifa standing proud and tall. Japan is one of the first countries daily to see the rising sun and this is depicted by the small moving circle on the right of the image. The shades of grey suggest timelessness in their neutrality.
It is my wish to exhibit the corridors of cyberspace series, perhaps at first in frames on paper, but ideally on special screens which allow the light to shine through them electronically from behind.
This month Emirates Airlines launched daily direct flights between Dubai and Tokyo. Both the UAE and Japan are considered to be global hubs of development and growth. It is my wish that the two have also been brought closer to each other on a more personal level in this photographic act of here2here online collaboration.
The image had one further message for me. As I contemplated it, I suddenly started recalling the music for “The Windmills of Your Mind”. As the circular melody went round and round in my head, I thought how appropriate it was for someone who attempts to practice watching her mind with all its thoughts. Often there are so many different thoughts going round and round like a windmill and it is only by becoming mindful and observing them that we are gradually able to loosen our attachment to them.
When I researched the song I discovered that it was the song which won the Oscar in 1969 for Best Song from a Film (in this case, the original Thomas Crown Affair). Dusty Springfield also recorded a version of the song in 1969.
Amidst its lyrics were these words which I immediately linked to my edit :
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!
It was as I read this, that my photographic ensō became the expressed moment!
Thank you Tera-san for the invite and the collaboration.
