by Doug Fitch
October 5th, 2001

Exhibition for the 46th anniversary of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Klinische Neurophsysiologie

I wanted to make a project that gives credence to the soul. That might sound presumptuous, but I meant it in a very simple, pedantic way. I wanted to diagram how an art object functions as an expression of the soul: to furnish proof of the existence of the soul by illustrating how it transforms emotional energy into expressions of the spirit. I wanted to do this for a variety of reasons.

I feel that our times are breeding a culture of insecurity. We are increasingly invited to live our lives vicariously through the experiences of others. The lives we think we are living are often disconnected from the lives we are actually living. It is often easier to be emotionally involved with what we think we are being than to what we actually are.

It has been said that entertainment is danger made safe. When we are entertained, we are given the feeling of having made important choices, of having done heroic deeds, of looking perfect and of having said just the right thing at the right time. But if we breathe only vicarious air, then when we re-enter our own lives, real experience can seem boring. Lack of personal experience prevents a person from deadling from inner strength. We feign the conviction lost by committing ourselves to false experience, then stumble through a morass of uncertainty, unaware of why it feels so not quite right. Moral parameters blur when we lack a clear spiritual vision to share with others and we find ourselves at the mercy of a flagging common sense of social decorum. We are too ashamed, not aware of, or not allowed to confront the real pain of our existence. This is because we give no credence to the soul.

There is no easy solution, but I intend to propose one. Redesign the human anatomy.

Doug Fitch