olly simpson

ANCESTORS: A RENEWABLE SOURCE OF ENERGY!

Many people feel that there is something missing from their lives. Consumerism and fetishisms can only provided limited satisfaction and do not truly enrich our experience of the world. Our souls only shrink as we get older, consumed by our fear of death; This is one commodity we cannot buy. Many cultures (outside the perimeter of global homogenization - set by western standards) are still very much in touch with their ancestors, and for different reasons - something i must research.

'Urban dwellers, return to your roots and reconnect with your ancestral heritage;
the spirits of bygone times are a benevolent source of wisdom and healing'.

>Wanting to avoid the pitfalls of New Age hippie banter, i want to offer possibilities for harnessing the positive enrgies of ancestors and other spirits, but without all the extra bagage of (what may be considered) wierd spritual trollop.
im not exactly sure what my product will be or what exactly it is supposed to acheive, although i am attracted to the idea of using a medium (as in a medium between the physical and metaphysical worlds) which could be a person or an object - which of course will also act as the medium i use to present my work. i want it to be clean, delicate and explicit (as in you dont have to close your eyes and belive). Perhaps a sort of modern alter which people can relate to, but which offers deeper cultural significance than other artefacts (such as vynil figures).

This is also about identity and the importance of locality, i.e. retaining localized cultures in a global context.

Any suggestions? Has this theme got mileage or did it miss the target completely? What do YOU think?