Abstract

From the heart is a studio art project--and a text. The two parts of this thesis radically relate in a postmodern linear/non-linear format that offers varied points of entry and a multiplex of reading possibilities, including the notion that the previous statement may be unreadable. Alternatively, the two parts illustrate each other with a minimum of fuss. From the heart is a folk tale and occasional dirty joke. It is an urban/rural legend about a life being lived (my own) and a life that was lost (my brother's). It tells a very specific story about the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, and it affirms the role of love as a powerful, healing force in the world. From the heart speaks with seven voices, who describe processes of loving, seeing, learning, analyzing, deconstructing, reconstructing and loving once more, each from their various points of view. From the heart documents a personal/political struggle of becoming oneself and learning how to support the struggles of others. Fundamentally, from the heart challenges western/mainstream assumptions about "the way it is." However, evolution has a tendency to occur, and from the heart is not excepted. Many questions could be asked but there are no definitive answers offered, other than as polemic and opinion--and so, reader dear, you must make up your own mind. Many possible choices/directions lie before me. I, the author of my own story, stand at the crossroads, love-struck and lugging a big backpack. How will I decide which way to go?