Thoughts Beyond the Mind


	Art
		*Thoughts Beyond the Mind* Prince George

by Mike Nash Almost two years ago I attended a presentation by recently arrived international artist Jean-Jacques Giguère, who has developed a body of work that explores color harmony, not only in art but also in the environment, living spaces, sports, and, lately, in interactive media. The event, hosted by the College of New Caledonia Arts Division and Faculty Association, left me wanting to see this man’s work in a gallery, and also to see its potential reflected in architecture and the everyday things around us. Now, two years later, Prince George is presenting that opportunity. Titled Thoughts Beyond the Mind, an exhibit of Giguère’s work opens on the second and third floors of the UNBC library in Prince George campus on Sept. 6 and runs until Oct. 20. There are lectures scheduled from Oct. 17 to 19. Back in 2000, a week after his first presentation, I met Jean-Jacques for a three-hour hike through the woods around Prince George. It was a chance to hear Giguère, who has Masters’ degrees in both Arts and Fine Arts, explain the influence of the natural landscape through which we were walking on his work and ideas. He talked about the harmony of the spiritual being that we come into the world with, and the stresses that result from disharmony with our man-made world. He talked a lot about color. How the simple choice of color on either a canvas or a structure can invite us into the piece - in a way that reduces the stress of everyday living - and at the same time stimulate creativity. In a Quebec hospital, for example, he designed a sculpture to ‘invite’ people as they approached the building, and the theme was subtly picked up on the inside. Most of the world's art centres are in large cities where people become lost in straight lines, angles, walls and competing colors that drain rather than supplement our energy. Prince George and other northwest towns are, by contrast, close to a vast natural landscape. Instead of copying what’s current in New York or other Meccas of art, we have an opportunity here to do something different. As Jean-Jacques explained it to me, that opportunity is to bring the sense of harmony that we experience in the outdoors into our art and everyday living. That does not mean just painting landscapes. Much of Jean-Jacques’ work is surreal; it contains subtle features intended to bring out that balance and harmony. It means conveying color balance, depth and a sense of transparency into our human surrounds. "Look at the edge of that forest," Jean-Jacques said as we walked across the frozen surface of Reflection Lake. "It has a depth and color that make it soft and inviting." During our long walk, he gave voice to a number of aspects of our environs that I instinctively knew but hadn’t necessarily given expression to. We moved from place to place, passing through scenes of more and then less light, according to the type of forest cover we were in, and from there into open spaces, all the time considering the effect of these experiences on the mind. Jean-Jacques likened this to moving into a room, and from there envisaging a universe of possibilities opening beyond that. Judging his list of accomplishments and exhibits, Jean-Jacques Giguère has paid his dues in the art world. His résumé includes a Master of Arts degree in painting from California State University and a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from Universidad de las Americas in Mexico. Between 1972 and 1996 he held 21 major solo exhibits in Canada, the US and Mexico, plus he entered 12 major group exhibits. Since the early 90's he has been researching two-dimensional and three-dimensional images and models in architecture, design, and 3-D animation, aimed at producing film, video and interactive media. He has gone beyond 'just art' in order to extend his work into the realm of science, the fields of psychology and sociology. Working with psychologists in Washington State, he has developed images, tested on hundreds of subjects, that determine the effects of shape, and what he calls parallel versus non-parallel color on the human mind. The goal: he is passionate about making a troubled world a better place live in. This Prince George exhibit is Giguère’s first major exhibit in six years, and his first since moving to north central BC. It will be a combination of his earlier and his current work. I met up again recently with Jean-Jacques to discuss the upcoming exhibit and to explore his philosophy and ideas. First, he spoke about our 20th century, how increasingly we have become surrounded by form, color, and constant movement that compete with each other. The result is what he calls ‘mind activation,’ and all of it conspires to take energy from us. Picasso’s genius and destiny, he said, was to take us on the path of chaos — we have first to see the chaos in order to find a way out of it. Jean-Jaques talked about the marriage between science and art. Each human being, he said, has a creative centre, which is sometimes right and sometimes not. Scientist seek answers that harmonize the extremes of this creative centre. Their role is to look at facts and to have doubts — to figure out artists and be their conscience. Jean-Jaques is intrigued by the idea of extending his work into the psychology of color, form, and movement using modern diagnostic tools such as MRI. He has discovered through his research that the human mind only realizes its origins when it "participates towards expansion." "The human mind in order to be positive and to experience this inner-mind expansion has to participate," he said. He has observed that the more we are surrounded with human constructs such as the present art movement, the mind cannot be part of it. "This," he said, "is why most art galleries are empty!" Giguère wants people to know that there is a choice, and he hopes to show this in his exhibit this fall. He will employ an interactive component as a way to gain attention. "Virtual is so important these days, many prefer it. The virtual world has motion, and we can’t talk to the new generation unless it moves." The display will accentuate the importance of movement both in still and virtual images. Jean-Jacques emphasized that people should see the virtual presentation on the second floor of the library building in order to understand the whole exhibit and to be able to tie it together. Lectures scheduled in October will mainly be question and visual-answer sessions. New ideas that push the limits can sometimes by their nature feel uncomfortable. In northwest BC we can embrace some of this discomfort in communities that are surrounded by nearly limitless outdoor environments, where artists can draw inspiration. Thoughts Beyond the Mind incorporates sculpture, models, and a series of paintings including a large canvass titled ‘Earth Floating to Sanctuary.’ As well, the virtual exhibit will contain both interactive and static elements. After previous exhibits in Quebec, elsewhere in BC, Mexico, and many parts of the US, including New York and Seattle, this is Giguère’s first display in the city that he has lately chosen to call home. It will bring into focus the way we live and the changes that are inevitable if we are to be more at peace with our environment. (Mike Nash is a writer whose ‘Outdoors’ column has appeared in Prince George This Week for seven years. He regularly contributes to Rockies Magazine and the BC Naturalist as well as other magazines and newsletters. In the early 90's, Mike chaired the City of Prince George Nechako & Fraser River Valleys Committee and helped to develop a 10-year strategic plan for riverside parks and trails in Prince George. He has undertaken and written about many backpacking trips in northern British Columbia.) Athabasca Glacier -- JJG adds that the idea is to see his image momentarily, and then be drawn to the glacier, that is to say to the space beyond. "The human mind needs to breathe," he says, "and space is the key."
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