Grief, Spirals & Magical Thinking
Research process, studio snippets and worldly wonderings from Max Dovey in Spring 2024
Hello š¤
I hope your doing well and have had an enjoyable Easter š£You are receiving this quarterly occasional newsletter because I probably stole your email address at some point and am quite fond of you and wanted to stay in touch. If for whatever reason you donāt wish to receive these bespoke human mutterings than feel free to un-scrub yourself by clicking here or by scrolling down to the footer at the bottom. If however you are partial to these bespoke human mutterings than these please do pass on to others or hit reply or just press the icon of a love heart as all positive affirmations are kindly received š„° ok ready? lets beginā¦
Grief, Spirals and Stones
The past few months Iāve been struck by a great sadness from a sudden loss. While processing this I found myself repeatedly describing my feelings as being in a āgrief whirlpoolā. Spiral shapes and concentric circles started to resonate with me in a different way. So i thought I would take some timeĀ to reflect and write on this for this spring post, with some usual exhibition and podcast recommendations at the bottom š.
In the weeks that followed the loss I felt very detached from the usual creative energy that motivates me and in the studio I found myself doodling and repeatedly making spiral forms. The repeated process of turning round and round was mediative and calming. You can keep turning and stay at the same spot, spinning round with each rotation, asking the same questions or going over and over the same thoughts till the shape grows and grows into a hypnotic symbol.Ā
I started seeing and staring at spirals more intently and wondered if this was an example of magical thinking, or pareidolia (the practice of seeing faces or patterns).If this phenomenon is a āside affectā after processing a sudden shock, can art, creativity and literature productively channel this obsessive thinking to help move through psychological shock events?
The little I know of āmagical thinkingā (or superstitious thinking) is the ability to interpret previously unrelated events or signs as having some significance or meaning. Apparently this āheightened awarenessā can be quite common after a shock or traumatic event as the mind makes attempt to rationalise and process trauma.1
After taking part in a session with the brilliant London Drawing Group (there online classes are great!) where the instructor, Louisa-Maria, introduced short drawing exercises of āblindā drawingĀ bronze age and neolithic stone carvings. Within these stone carvings you can find LOTS of concentric circles and spiral patterns. I have been enjoying the tactile approach of trying to draw these markings from memory using āblind drawing' methods, where you limit looking at what your hand is drawing and follow instinctive physical reactions towards the subject.Ā
I started to consider my obsession with the spiral as a movement, an energy or a force rotating outwards. This aligns with metrology - whirlpools, hurricanes and tornados contain spiral forces and also the colloquial term of āspirallingā andĀ āspinning outā used to describe mental state of cognitive dissonance or a loss of rationale or control of a situation.
In literature the spiralās shape takes force in its ability to create disorder it its expanse and drag individuals to its unknown centre. A Maelstrom (from Dutch maalen āgrind, whirlā + stroom āstreamā) is both a āa powerful whirlpool in the sea or a riverā and also a āsituation or state of confused movement or violent turmoilā.
In the short story āA Descent into the Maelstrƶmā by Edgar Allan Poe the Maelstrom is a giant whirlpool that aggressively pulls ships and seamen into its void in the centre.Ā In the graphic novel series āUzumakiā by Junji Ito the spiral is a supernatural force that terrorises a village through shapeshifting into various forms and turning individuals into spiral obsessed victims. One spiral leads to another and after discovering there was a copy of Uzumaki in my local library I raced down on my bike just as the library opened to seize the spiral sci-fi horror in my hands.Ā
After finishing vol 1 yesterday, I feel my spiral obsession start to settle as I can see how my mind has been trying to latch onto this shape to carry significance and meaning to process an event that doesn't make any sense.
During this period of personal grief the spiral shape has pulled me into its hypnotic mesmerizing void. I think the starting point can be read as the shock event and the rest of the spiral reflects attempts to make sense of what has happened. Going over an event is necessary as the mind looks for meaning and understanding of something that has happened outside of linear temporal āorderā or totally out of the blue.Ā
I wonder if this is common and others have experienced this phenomenon ? If anyone is aware of terminology (scientific or otherwise) that describes this phenomenon or has interesting research on magical thinking I would be interested to learn more. But also, if you have found a shape, idea or form particularly significant when going through a hard time I hope it helped guide you out of an emotional maelstrom.
What Iāve been listening toĀ
When not following spirals I have found these interestingā¦š¤
!Mediengruppe Bitnik together with Askioma curated a program called āUnreal data real affectsā and the talks are online - really enjoyed Marta Pareinoās talk titled - Gaslighting A.I that stirred up lots of provocations for instigating further disruptions in our ongoing, strained and very troubled (on and off) relationship with A.I.Ā
Anna Kornbluh, "Immediacy: Or, The Style of Too Late Capitalism" (Verso, 2024) in this podcast Anna Kornbluh talks about an aesthetic cultural condition of immediacy that has populated through on-demand services and platform capitalism. This urgency to be temporally ānowā, be relevant and have things immediately has become a dominant priority for consumers and also for culture and knowledge production in late stage capitalism.Ā
The amazing Control Shift have a brand new website and with it have produced lots of new content to launch it - including 4 brand new podcasts ranging featuring inspiring artists: Dasha Ilina, Joseph Wilk, Joana Chicau, MELT, Max Dovey and Harriet Horobin-Worley.
Exhibitions worth seeingĀ
Membranes open till 7th AprilĀ 2024
50 Celebration Avenue, Stratford E20 1DB
EXHIBITION OPEN: 1st March ā 7 April 2024, Tuesday ā Sunday, 12 ā 6pm
I really loved this show - curated by Dr. Jennifer Crouch it brings together different approaches to bodies, science, data and matter all in poetic entangled forms. I spent a long time looking at the weaving work that Jennifer has done as part of her research into MRI scans and how data produces images of bodies. There have also been a load of hands on workshops but ends soon so do visit if you can!
We are warriors - open till 2 June 2024
WE ARE WARRIORS is a sound and light installation in the incredible surroundings of Bristolās Redcliffe Caves, a human-made network of caverns and catacombs that run underneath the city. Acting like a beacon calling people in, We Are Warriors contains thousands of tiny flickering lights and the voices of 130 women and girls from Bristol aged 8-80.
Upcoming
I am working on preparing for some upcoming workshops in May for secondary school students that will be hosted at Goldsmiths CCA and programmed by Linked Spheres. More info on that to come.
I am also excited about a forthcoming artist publication that i am working on with Liesje van den Berk, combining our research to produce a lo-fi alchemy cookbook for discovering the myths and magical properties of minerals found in smartphones. I look forward to sharing some previews in the next newsletter.
Take care of yourself and each other.
Mx
Footnotes / references
In āThe year of Magical Thinkingā by Joan Didion the author recounts family tragedy and how superstitious beliefs and magical thinking riddled her conscience as she mourned the loss of her partners death.Ā