Video: Live automatic writing projections by Farhad with Redxdown (1/2)
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Live automatic writing projections by ADT (Farhad Nargol-O'Neill), with music by Redxdown (Donaill Ward McCairtheagh) and video/projection guru Saorse Lobb. July 22, 2011. Arts & Letters Club of Toronto.
Video: Live automatic writing projections by Farhad with Redxdown (2/2)
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Live automatic writing projections by ADT (Farhad Nargol-O'Neill), with music by Redxdown (Donaill Ward McCairtheagh) and video/projection guru Saorse Lobb. July 22, 2011. Arts & Letters Club of Toronto.
Article: MMM Fest at Harbourfront Centre
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Nice article in MyBindi about my work and past and the MMM Fest this weekend at the Harbourfront Centre where I'll be showing my work in the Marilyn Brewer Gallery.
Performance: At the Arts & Letters Club, Toronto
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Playing with the Canadian Electronic Ensemble! Scroll down the page to play the tracks!
Video: Automatic Painting
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Live automatic writing art performance with Redxdown and fellow artists Cheddie Sookrah and Tina Newlove. Inspired by Darcy event at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto last fall.
R.A.V.E. Awards
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Lenten Reflections - Plugintochris.ca
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Lenten Reflections by Fr. Santo Arrigo (Redemptorist) based upon my Stations of the Cross sculptures in the `Plus into Christ`website. There will be one reflection per day of course and you can hit the same link on subsequent days leading up to Easter to see them.
Radio Interview: CBC Radio
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CBC Radio Interview with Andy Barry on the Metro Morning show a few years ago talking about Art and Artists and the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto. My thanks to Andy and Ann MacKeigan - Jason Osler and everyone on Elm Street.
Radio Interview: Tunis International Radio
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Radio interview with Tunis International Radio in August 2005. My thanks to Peter and Imed and Ines - Thameur and Rim - Abir and Ali and Sofienne and all the people in Tunis who were involved in the mural project there!
Interview: Devoted to Art (Mybindi.com)
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TV Interview: Impressions of a City
The video was coverage by CNN World Report for an exhibition called: "Opposites Attract" - which was a joint exhibition with English artist Jane Walker supported by the British Council (Cyprus) and the British High Commission (Cyprus). The exhibition took place at the Eaved House Art Space, Nicosia, Cyprus, in May of 2005. My body or work, called "Impressions of a City", was created in Toronto in 2003-2004 and then went to Belfast, Ireland, to the SPACE Gallery in the Conway Mill in 2004 for exposition, before being taken by the sponsors and brought to Cyprus.
Interview: Thatchannel.com
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The interview lasts about 15 minutes, some works of mine are shown and I speak about them. The interviewer is my fellow sculptor, JMAC, whom I know from the Sculptors Society of Canada.
Interview: Refiner's Fires
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Aired on the Catholic Focus program on Salt and Light TV. The interviewer was Michele Nuzzo.
Farhad Nargol-O'Neill
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
A professional artist, musician/performer, curator, manager, and producer - who has excellent management and organizational skills and experience on a national and international level.
Experience and Skills
Fine Art
20 years as a successful full-time working artist. Extensive experience working on community based art projects on an international level, with youth at risk, in countries at war, with the top up and coming artists in that country and with students, in deprived communities, with designers and architects and city planners, on church commissions and diplomatic commissions, with school boards and for municipalities, by Royal commission, and by private commission. Focus on results from the successful conceptualization of a project through to final installation and public affairs sign off. I have never had an agent and have always project managed my important solo and group/community projects alongside strong teams.
Strong ability to advise on the advisability and placement of a project, and on all aspects of consideration and with regards to the successful integration of a concept into the community sector vis a vis timing, merging with other cultural festivals, events.
Specialist in sculpture and painting and drawing (including projection work), with several notable commissions, awards and exhibitions around the world. Remains active to this day with significant works in public and private collections - and a roster of high profile exhibitions and lectures on a provincial and international level into 2013.
Specific skills in the plastic (material) arts: stick welding, plasma cutting, carving in plaster and wax, alternative sculpting techniques, forge and forge welding, cutting and bending, basic fabrication, some stone carving, working in wax/plaster/polystyrene for casting, sand casting and lost wax casting. Excellent tool skills. Very good knowledge of health and safety practices. Plasma cutting. 3-D printing and scanning.
Painting and drawing: collage, mixed media, automatic writing and projection art.
***
Curating, Management, and Restoration
Skilled project manager, with experience managing public and private commissions, installations, exhibitions, taking into account the concerns and interests of a wide variety of stakeholders.
Experience with stage work from high school (St. Robert Catholic High in Thornhill) to Sears Drama Festival. Dramatic and stage societies in Belfast and was even a house pianist for the Aisling Ghear Irish Language Theatre Company. Set design. Working with actors and designers, directors and stage managers. Experience working with musicians and composers. I have been an event manager (member) for years at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto running many events which span the visual arts, poetry and spoken word, music of a wide variety, theatrical productions, and performance art – all with talent representing the top level of Canadian talent.
Curator of group art exhibitions by living Ontario artists at independent galleries and through the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.
Co-founder of Gallery U111 on Bathurst Street, Toronto.
Founder of the SPACE Gallery. Conway Mill. Belfast. Ireland.
Experience with care and management of art collections for the Conway Mill Art Collections (Belfast) and the permanent collection at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.
Hands on experience in the care and restoration of historical works.
Very good knowledge of both Ontario and the historical art tradition of Upper Canada, Rupertsland to the west (historical) and this province. Good hands on knowledge of Tamil sacred architecture and with the sacred architecture of Islam. Excellent European and Christian art history.
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Teaching
Real time on the job instruction of apprentices on public commissions in Canada, Ireland, Cyprus, and Tunisia. Critique - conceptual and technical. Excellent at supporting and encouraging artists.
Occasional lecturer at Ryerson University and at the University of Toronto.
Music teaching. 1986-1994. Piano and composition taught both privately and at the Motts Music and Carlaw School of music in Markham, Ontario.
Youth skills. Worked one and off for 15 summers at Columbus Boys Camp in Orillia. Excellent skills in terms of managing the integration of youth into cultural projects and programs. Also had years of similar experience working with youth and many sectors of the community in Belfast, Ireland, during The Troubles (1993-2004). This included running of a seasonal public radio station Radio Failte (Triple FM), being a live dj, running dramatic theatrical productions, creating stage sets, handling all PR for a massive variety of projects, visual art exhibitions, creating a yearly exhibition to reward the best up and coming visual artists. All of this was in the advisory or teaching sector and apart from my own practice – although the two would merge at different points.
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Media
Excellent media skills. Much experience working with the printed and electronic press, radio, and TV in various countries. I have an extensive record of my radio/TV/digital press interviews. Please go to my FB page (Farhad Nargol-O’Neill and “add me on”) to view them. Some of these interviews can also be viewed on the homepage of my website: www.farhadsculpture.com I am very comfortable working with the press. I give good interview.
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Interpersonal
I am of half Irish - half Parsee (Indian Zoroastrian) heritage. A proud Canadian and Irish citizen, Catholic, and having grown up in Unionville, I have traveled extensively for two decades in furtherance of my visual art career. I have lived and worked in many countries and am familiar with many different cultures. My multi-cultural heritage and ability to empathize and communicate with so many cultures has always been a great bonus with regards to my career and ability to work and relate with the widest range of people.
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Education
Foundry proficiency courses at Millfield Technical College. Belfast
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music), York University, Toronto, 1991
Grade 8, Royal Conservatory of Music
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Memberships
Past member of the Sculptor Society of Canada
Member of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
Alumni Fellow of Winters College, York University
Founder of the SPACE Gallery, Belfast
Co-Founder of Gallery U111, Toronto
Other Experience
Piano Instruction
1987 - 1994 Private practice: Piano and theory teacher
1987 - 1991 Carlaw Music: Piano and theory teacher
1987 - 1993 Motts Music: Piano and theory teacher
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Professional Entertainment
Weddings, bar mitzvahs, parties.
House pianist, Aisling Ghear Theatre Company (Irish language). Belfast.
(Occasional) house pianist, Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
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Community Development/Arts
1995-1998: Volunteer arts worker for the Roden St. Community Development Group, Belfast. . Work includes Painting, Mural Art, Banner Painting, Drama and Set Design. Belfast, Ireland.
1996-1997: Paid arts worker for the Frank Gillan Youth Centre. Belfast, Ireland.
2000: Arts worker for the Roden Street Drama Club in the creation and production of the play “Learning from our Past “. Performed at the Linenhall Library. Belfast, Ireland.
2000-2001: Sculpture tutor for the New Belfast Community Arts Initiative.
2001: Sculpture tutor for the Springhill Youth Development Project.
2001: Sculptor for the Community Arts Forum Public Art Project. Belfast, Ireland.
2001-2003: Community Artist for the Upper Springfield Development Trust. Belfast.
2003: Community Artist for the Turf Lodge and Ait Na Mona Residents Association.
2002-2003: Pianist for the Aisling Ghear Drama Company. Belfast. This Irish Language drama company runs about four original productions per year, as well as much drama work for youth.
2004: Community Artist in the Upper Springfield Community in West Belfast. Two public sculptures resulted in working with local residents this year.
2004: Community Artist for the Environmental Sculpture Project, run by the Varley Gallery as part of their Summer Art Scheme.
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Youth Work
1982 – 2009 Columbus Boys Camp. Camp Counselor and Senior Staff
1998 - Frank Gillen Community Centre. West Belfast, Ireland
1995 – 2003 Grosvenor Road Community Centre. West Belfast, Ireland
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Radio
1995 – 2002 Triple FM Radio Station. West Belfast Community Festival.
Disc jockey. Community radio station. West Belfast, Ireland
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Press
Andersontown News, Shankhill People, Irish News, Belfast Telegraph, The Newsletter, La, Irish Times, Irish Independent, North Belfast News, Laganside News, ART.IE (2002), Circa (2001), BBC Radio Ulster, UTV, BBC Northern Ireland TV, IDFX, FX International, Select Interiors, Northern Ireland Homes and Interiors, Greek and Turkish Cypriot Radio, TV, and Printed Press, Numerous T.V. Radio, and printed press in Cyprus, Numerous T.V., Radio, and printed press in Tunisia. Toronto Star, Markham Economist and Sun, CNN Cyprus, CNN World. LAMPSletter (Arts & Letters Club of Toronto), Shoppinghour, ThatChannel.com, MyBindi.com, YouTube, Salt & Light Television, PlugintoChrist.com, Tunis International Radio, CBC (Toronto – Andy)
Visual Arts Curriculum Vitae - Abridged
Commissions (Abridged)
2007-2011. Many private sculpture and drawing commissions in and around the Toronto area.
2007 “Corpus et Spiritus”. Catholic Education Centre. Patron: Metrus Inc. Aurora, Ontario. Canada.
2007 “Life of St. Elizabeth”. St. Elizabeth Academy for the Arts. Vaughan, Ontario. Canada.
2007 “Life of St. Elizabeth”. St. Elizabeth Academy for the Arts. Vaughan, Ontario. Canada.
2006 “Stations of the Cross (Divine Love). Holy Cross Catholic Academy. Woodbridge, Ontario. Canada.
2006 “Expulsion from the Garden”. Commissioned by the Township of Markham, Ontario. Canada.
2005 “Biographical Construction”. Commissioned by the Township of Markham, Ontario. Canada.
2005 “Balancing on Three Points”. Mural commission: British Council, BG Tunisia. British Council Office, Tunisia.
2005 “Ode to Aphrodite and Hala Sultan”. Mural commission: British Council (Cyprus), the BHC (Cyprus). Cyprus.
2004 “Constructing the Past”. Mural commission: British Council (Belfast and Cyprus), and ETEK. Nicosia, Cyprus.
2003 “Carriage Failte”. Commission: Groundwork N.I., Turf Lodge Residents Association, and the USDT.
2003 “Carriage Maireaghd”. Sculpture commission: Groundwork N.I., Ait na Mona Residents Association. Ireland.
2002 “Freedom Restrained”. Commissioned for the Falls Women’s Centre. West Belfast, Ireland.
2002 “The Birth of Kells”. Public sculpture. An Culturlann Irish Language Cultural Centre. Belfast, Ireland.
2001 “Herald of Jericho”. Public sculpture commission: Upper Springfield Development Trust. USDT building. Ireland.
2000 “Bedu Bride I, II, Flying Carpet”. Sculptures commission: Government of Jordan, EXPO 2000. Hanover, Germany
2000 “Basian Garden”. Private commission. Stately residence. Collaboration with designer Bruce Munro. Barbados.
2000 “Basian Sky Garden”. Stately residence. Collaboration with designer Bruce Munro. Barbados.
1999 “Standing Guard”. Sculpture commission: Groundwork N.I. for Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena, Ireland.
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Exhibitions (Abridged)
2011 Group exhibitions at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto.
2011 Performance of automatic writing projections with Redxdown. Arts & Letters Club.
2011. Performance with the Canadian Electronic Ensemble. Arts and Letters Club.
2010 Group exhibition "Fully Present" at Gallery U111
2010 Solo exhibition "Animas Res - Soul Objects" at Gallery U111, Toronto
2010 Solo exhibition "Animas Res - Soul Objects" at the Eleanor Winters Art Gallery, York University
2010 Solo exhibition "Devotio Moderna" at Regis College, U of T
2009 Solo exhibition at the Newman Centre, U of T.
2008 Solo exhibition at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
2005-2007 Numerous group exhibitions at the Canadian Sculpture Centre (SSC), and the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. Canada.
2005 Solo exhibition. “Memory-Impressions of a City”. Sponsored by the British Council (Cyprus), and the BHC (Cyprus).
2004 Solo exhibition: “Memory-Impressions of a City”. Space Gallery, West Belfast, Ireland.
2004 Solo exhibition. “Ogham-Variations on a Theme”. Gerard Dillon Gallery, An Culturlann, West Belfast, Ireland.
2004 Book Launch. “Inferno”. Launch of an illustrated version of the Inferno (Dante Alighieri). Linenhall Library, Belfast, Ireland.
2000 Solo exhibition. “Impressions of the Inferno”. Gerard Dillon Gallery, An Culturlann,West Belfast, Ireland.
2002 Solo exhibition. “Construction/Deconstruction of Religious Imagery in Kerala and Tamil Nadu”. Gerard Dillon Gallery, Belfast.
2002 Solo exhibition. “A Tale of Three Houses”. Painting and drawing exhibition. Belfast Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Ireland.
2001 Solo exhibition. “Art on the Scrap heap”. Space Gallery, West Belfast, Ireland.
2001 Group exhibition. Conway Artists Collective. Space Gallery, Belfast. Ireland.
1995 – 2001 Numerous small group and solo exhibitions in the Space Gallery and other galleries in Ireland.
1994 Solo exhibition. Sculpture. McKay House Gallery, Main Street Unionville. Canada.
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Awards and Grants
2011. R.A.V.E. award for public art from the City of Vaughan.
2007 Awarded major sculpture commission to create the “Corpus et Spiritus” sculpture for the Catholic Education Centre. Aurora, Ontario.
2005 Awarded full sponsorship by the British Council (Tunisia) and British Gas (Tunisia) to complete a mural. Commissioned by British Council, British High Commission, Municipality of Nicosia, and Turkcell.
2005-2006 Appointed Community Artist, representing Markham Communities in Bloom Festival. Markham, Canada.
2005 Awarded full sponsorship by the British Council and the British High Commission (Cyprus) to exhibit with English artist Jane Walker. Cyprus.
2005 Awarded full sponsorship by the British Council and British High Commission (Cyprus) for a mural commission in Turkish occupied quarter of Nicosia. Cyprus.
2003 Winner of the 2003 British Council (Belfast) Mural Competition to create a public mural in 2004. Nicosia, Cyprus.
2003 Winner of the Individual Arts Award from the Arts Council of N. Ireland, for a solo exhibition in Belfast in 2004. Belfast, Ireland.
2002 Winner of the “New Works” award funding from the Arts Council of the Northern Ireland for sculpture entitled “Freedom Restrained?” for the Falls Women’s Centre. West Belfast, Ireland.
2001 Awarded travel grant from the British Council for sculpture residency at the Chitraniketan Art Residency. Kovolam, Kerala, India.
2001 Awarded travel grant from the Arts Council of the North of Ireland for sculpture residency at the Chitraniketan Art Residency. Kovolam, Kerala, India.
2000 Awarded personal commendation for sculpture work by HRH Queen Rania al Abdullah, Royal Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for sculptures created for the EXPO 2000 Jordan Pavilion. Hanover, Germany.
2011. Original carving of Corpus et Spiritus taken by the York Catholic Board of Education under its director Susan LaRosa.
2011. Six works of bas-relief from the Memory Palace Series taken by Regis College at the University of Toronto for inclusion in three of their undergraduate course. My work is now being taught at the undergraduate level at a major Canadian University.
2011. Station of the Cross purchased by St. Patrick’s Church. McCaul Street. Toronto for their left transept altar.
2001 “Griannan of Aileach”. Sculpture on loan to Derry City Council. Millennium Forum, Derry City, Ireland.
1999 “Cuchuallain and the Morrigan”. Sculpture. Conway Mill Permanent Collection. Belfast, Ireland.
1998 “Red Hugh and the Fianna”. Sculpture. UTV (Ulster Television) Permanent Collection.
1997 “The Meeting of Red Hugh and Zarathustra”. Sculpture. Hastings Group Collection. Europa Hotel. Belfast, Ireland.
Biographical Notes
"I received my greatest schooling during my upbringing at home, where music, the visual arts, science, history, politics, language, and a love of learning were ever present. Early influences included classical Irish illumination and calligraphy, cultural and religious symbols and iconography, dance, and musical, religious, and architectural structures. Five years of excellent art history education at the secondary level complimented this early education.
My university studies focused primarily on music - graduating with a BA (Ordinary) in Fine Arts (Music). My training in sculpture consisted of some studio courses, and a basic knowledge of the workings of the tools and machines in the sculpture studio. The rest was left to me – working with found objects for the most part, and being exposed to art and the critical thinking that was then (and still is) in fashion in many fine arts colleges.
Life after graduation saw extensive travel - visiting all the major European galleries and being singularly impressed by the work of Rodin, Bourdelle, Claudel, the modernist artists, and the freedoms they gained. Teaching the piano and selling my work gave me the means by which I could set up a sculptural practice. In 1995 I moved to Ireland and my first studio was opened in that autumn in Belfast, Ireland. Since that time, I have survived as a working artist, solely dependant upon my art.
During my ten years in Ireland, I exhibited widely, had works purchased for public/private collections, and received commissions for public murals and sculptures in many countries. I survived as an artist and co-founded the SPACE gallery in Belfast during a rough but wonderful and historic period. I traveled to Europe, India, Arabia, and Africa – working on public commissions or attending art residencies. I was commended by the Queen of Jordan for my sculptures. I published my own illustrated Inferno (Dante), and I was the house blues pianist for an Irish language theatre company on the Falls Road.
In 2004 saw a return to Canada, where I resumed my artistic practice. I continue to exhibit and work on commissioned pieces both here and abroad”.
I am a past member of the Sculptors Society of Ireland and the Sculptors Society of Canada and am a current member of most club in Toronto devoted to all the Arts.
The time period between 2004 and the present has seen exhibitions and commissions in Canada, Ireland, Cyprus, Tunisia. 2012 will see major solo and group exhibitions in Toronto and Rome.
"Artist and the Soul. Animae Res – Soul Objects"
A work of art is an object, within which someone has transferred part of their soul. The creation of such an object is made possible by the practice of the art itself. This art is personal to every artist, and is indescribable in words – for who could describe revelation any more than bring back a moment in time? A degenerate example of the art would be the alchemist’s quest for transmutation. However, it is a truer thing to say that this art – hardly disassociated from what was once described as a magical craft, is akin in both process and result to transubstantiation. This is to say that the pure and true essence of what one thing is – in this case the soul of the artist – itself invisible and abstract, perceived in the artists own person or by its reflection in an outside source, has been housed in and is the same as a corporeal, created work of art. If we are unaware of this, or if aware would not describe this art in these terms – it is irrelevant. During the creation of such a precious thing, all questions are answered, the impossible is made possible, and paradox rationalized. It is more than the creation of illusion, the circle has been squared, and “a” has not been made to look similar to “b”, “a” is “b. What I describe is unlike that process which has resulted in much that is in fashion in the art world today, whereby something beautiful is dissected to determine its secrets, referenced poorly, then re-presented as something less - a nihilistic, deconstructed thing, and far too clever by half. The practitioner of this art seeks to create truly, and perceives the true nature of a work of art, a soul object, as having a clear reflection and existence in not one, but multiple realms; the physical realm being a corporal thing, the metaphysical realm being a platonic expression of perfection, the divine realm being the repository of the soul – itself a fragment of the Primal Source, and in the realm of memory – subject to time, degradation and changing sensibilities yes, but now having a life, like it’s creator, not bound by its physical existence.
Our senses, conscious or not, perceive the soulful in art, even if the waking mind does not; when faith has become a matter of belief and human experience is divorced from relationships and the natural world. What the clouded, deluded, or academic mind cannot perceive is exactly that place the artist inhabits during the very act of creation – submerged in the art but taking the deepest breaths. To the viewer I say that a conscious awareness of this art is of no importance. Have we not all, at time, looked upon the artistic representation of a northern landscape, a lone tree, an iceberg, a pure abstraction, a still-life, and felt we looked upon something quite different, or felt drawn into a realm such as that which is opened to us by the highest poetry, or felt the sure presence of something alive staring us right in the face? The art/object has become an icon, and like to an icon there exists a depth immeasurable beneath the flat surface. Conversely, have we ever witnessed an artist destroy the work of their own hands and heart and felt disturbed or even violated? This is because a true work of art of this kind is the result of a positive act of creation, and its destruction, irrespective of motive, is a violent act, and a violation against Nature.
All of this points, amongst other things, to the union within ever human being of body and spirit, and the subsequent reflection of that same union within works of created art. The artist, by nature and choice, by a willingness to be subject to discipline, to pay the price demanded by the art in order to become the medium through which such creation takes place, offers the world a looking glass with which to see…..everything. Artists and their art, by their effort and by their existence show that life exists and is possible.
I assert these things to be true - for so many of us learned after countless trials, wherein observation and reflection have been tempered and then freed by discipline, solidified by devotion and inspired by the valor of so many in daily life, and by life.
Farhad Nargol-O'Neill
St. Patrick Street
Toronto
August
2010
"On Memory"
Recently I woke up musing upon "memory" - its nature, qualities and scope, both realized and undiscovered (and who could discover all of something not corporeal and therefore subject to our senses?). My current understanding of memory - that Greatest of Houses wherein lies the treasure trove of all thoughts and goodness - leads me to think that sense impressions - primarily the sense of sight - provide us with the greatest number of images we keep in our minds to remind us of things and ideas. And then while we sleep our mind conjures up and plays with these images - providing us with our dreams and nightmares and phantasms. We sometimes remember so little of this exercise of the mind upon waking and are left with bits of images - themselves turned through the "washing machine" of our sleeping mind - originally gained from sense impressions of things corporeal in the waking world! Truly amazing the complexity and integrity and circumpherence of our mental faculties! I believe, truly, that the brain - exercising its own judgement with our memories and the images we carry to our sleep - represents a scene much like the lioness lying down with the lamb, or the sea caressing the nine/tenths of that very iceberg which we do not see with our eyes. Sleep is the caring parent that smooths our thoughts and prepares us for that time when we must all Wake.
So much to consider, in both our waking and sleep, this thing called Memory. Can anyone tell an entire story from a single line? I suppose perhaps, that God, Nature, and Art work in their own ways to help us regulate our lives and thoughts and dreams, even in our sleep. No wonder, I think, that memory and dreams, that is the Grand Narrative that holds all together and unites us with the natural world in a way our actions do not- comes to us very often - out of the massive tapestry, as a single thread..........
Farhad Nargol-O'Neill
Toronto, Canada,
2009 and 2010.
