Performance Art

The Creation of the White Eagle Mandala, during a Mandala Meditation at the White Eagle Mother Lodge, UK.

I performed to around 200 people, as they wandered the ground of the Mother Lodge of White Eagle, during an open day.  The event was busy, and the weather behaved itself.

The Mandala took me 3 hours,  I could have happily gone on for ages!  I worked on a piece of board as they are lucky enough there not to have any concrete!  The Mandala will be destroyed in keeping with the sacred destruction of Tibetan Mandalas.

I took with me a few ideas, but the design developed it's own way during the meditation.

Mandala Meditation Performance Art

I have been working with the Mandala for over 6 years.  My usual medium is pencil and paper, but for a while I have been wanting to experiment with a different kind of work.  The work I usually create is saved, scanned, backed up, my interests in Tattooing.. creating a permenant design on an impermenant surface, Mehndi, temporary designs on skin... has led me to look at creating art that only lasts as long as there is a photo of it.

I have always believed in the PROCESS of art being the most valuable aspect, and that the creation in the end is a by product of that moment in time.  The changes within that start while drawing or meditating are wholly more important than the drawing itself, yet the drawing serves as a reminder of the moment.

My chalk art is a connection between elements. It is a way of grounding, meditating and bringing focus to the mind. I remain silent when drawing to maintain concentration.

I have always found it easier to meditate with movement.  Yoga and moving meditations hold my mind and refresh my body, just sitting quietly has always been very difficult for me!  The perfect form of meditation for me is drawing or colouring, and I always find peace within creation.

The ritual of drawing a chalk mandala in a public place is very simple. I begin with the drawing of a circle, with a dot at the centre. This is the symbol of beginnings. I will focus and meditate for a few minutes before beginning to draw. The beginning and end of drawing sessions are marked with the chime of a tibetan bell. Sometimes it is necessary to stop drawing, sit back and contemplate the work. During this time, I am always available for a short chat.

But what is the point?

The point of this project is to highlight the impermenance of life. It’s fragility, it’s ability to fade away and vanish. Nothing lives for ever, everything changes. In the current climate of materialism, shopping, debt and corruption, there is not much that is sacred. My chalk drawings are a labor of love. I draw them with as much passion as I would draw on paper. Photography is a wonderful thing, and I always document my work, so nothing is completely lost. I have pictures and memories. To others it will hopefully be seen as a splash of colour in an otherwise drab grey street, and interesting performance piece, and a reminder that we really should make the most of our time here, before we are also recycled into the arms of Mother Earth.

My ‘performance’ represents a small island of calm, something for nothing, proof that peace of mind can exist up a busy shopping street, in the hubub of city life. The chalk mandala’s will fade with rain, walking over and sweeping, and eventually, they will not exist at all.

It is said by Tibetan Buddhists that a mandala consists of five "excellencies":

The teacher • The message • The audience • The site • The time

An audience or "viewer" is necessary to create a mandala. Where there is no you, there is no mandala. (from: You Are the Eyes of the World, by Longchenpa, translated by Lipman and Peterson).