Amsterdam, July 2013

 

 Hi Lukas, 

 

I 

It is a philosophy that is not very well known, perhaps already an old-fashioned idea. I do not know if the world already has forgotten it, but thirty years ago the scientist Rupert Sheldrake introduced his own branch of science, that he called “A New Science of Life”. Only last week I discovered his publication, and then, a day later or so, you asked me to write a few words on your work. What a coincidence! I am really fascinated. By your work, and by Sheldrake’s ideas about how certain visual patterns in our body not only preserve our own memories, but also hold a memory of earlier generations. He calls this perfect memory the “morphic resonance”, and he tells us they can show us the unseen patterns of life that influence our body and soul. This is a great idea. I have always believed that patterns of vibrations structure our world, but I always thought these were my private, crazy ideas. I even wrote an essay, about our future life, in which the “Gestalt” of the new Galaxy S IV mobilephone played a key role in harmonizing the real world vibrations with our own corporal and imaginative waves. [A little bit like what you can read in Virginia Woolf ’s novel ‘The Waves”, an amazing artistic experiment. These are of course Brainwaves!] I used the Galaxy mobile as a metaphor for our future life, in which all kinds of radiation patterns can regulate our lives, our bodies, and more importantly, our memories. I really think that if we study these vibration patterns, if we can read them and re-imagine them in our mind, we can communicate with our past, and even the past of our ancestors. Yes, especially our past. If our body and mind still possess all our experiences and actions, then we can again experience our past life. And more, in opening these data-bases of our life, we can even rearrange our past. Thus, we can make different choices and rearrange our lives in a different direction. 

 

II 

Last week, my mind was full of exercises in rearranging different patterns so that-perhaps, one day, I could focus on the patterns of my past. When I told my friends about it, they looked at me, and said: “Have you become crazy?” “No. I have only read Sheldrake’s interesting ideas of how he thinks the “morphic resonance” influences our body!”, I answered them. It feels like I am home again. I do not know how obsolete his ideas are; I only read some early critical reviews. The strongest rejection came from a scientist who said that our body is not influenced by quantum mechanics. He rejected Sheldrake’s ideas because of his presumption that a quantum phenomenon could be found in the human body and in the brains. But for me, Sheldrake’s ideas give my own fantasy a great boost. Imagine that you have these “morphic resonances”, these vibrating patterns that also have a memory of their own, as our daily companions. I was always interested in the art of memory, how people imagined themselves as if walking in Memory Places, to exercise their memory. But these places are training fields for an external, an outward mechanical world. Here, with these “morphic resonances” surrounding us everywhere, we can make contact between the different patterns and the right vibes inside our body and mind, and so open the “doors of perception” to us. 

 

III 

And then, last week you sent me these reproductions of your work. At seeing these strong, nearly mechanical faces, I first felt uncomfortable. Did I really remember you as I see these faces, open and transparent like in a medical experiment? But then, while I, every day, try to imagine all kinds of vibes to discover my inner “morphic resonances”, to discover the patterns of my brainwaves, to see these morphogenetic fields, I suddenly realized how you made contact with me! And, immediately, the connection between you and me was repaired! We do not know each other so well. Six, seven years ago we met in Düsseldorf, where we had a short conversation in a museum. And when we met and talked, we were looking more or less at works of other artists at the wall and in the rooms. But at the same time my body and soul and brains must have built up an image of you, an unconscious image. And now, after all these years, here, your work is the memory of an unrealized insight. My question: these faces here, are these faces examples of the “morphic resonances” of your life? Only asking this question makes it clear that Sheldrake’s ideas still have a great power and a revealing energy. It feels like I can suddenly understand what Martin Heidegger in his work as the “Unverborgene” (the un-hidden) describes. Here, it is your hidden self that you show us. And of course, Heidegger knew that when this “Unverborgene” is shown, it is like an explosive energy. [And my God, did you ever read Heidegger? If not, you better never do it!] 

 

IV

Do I understand Sheldrake well, do I understand Heidegger well, and do I understand you well? In your work the method of Heidegger can be used to explore your own personal inner life. In bringing the “Unverborgene” to the light, these paintings are so intriguing, because you have the courage to bring your inner brains, that can only survive in being hidden, to an enduring visual level. And in the method of Sheldrake, this self portrait is not only your face anymore, it is also the face of a man of a century ago, and a face of a man in the next centuries! Here the “morphic resonances” are vibrating all over your face, full of energy. And on my personal level, I am sure, I have known your face, but later I forgot what you looked like. On a conscious level, I cannot remember you anymore, but on this artistic level, now I am sure I recognize you as the person I have spoken with. A great miracle! Good Vibrations!

I hope to see you soon in real life again. 

 

Paul Groot