Mind Meld 78 |The Koan of Creation with John F. Simon

Art mystic (my term, not his) John F. Simon has been drawing every day for over 20 years. His art is on display at some of the world’s most highly respected museums including MoMA and the Guggenheim. John’s book Drawing Your Own Path is available now.

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Pop over to our Patreon page for a bonus riff with John and Michael on the subject of using drawing as a meditative tool for self-divination

Somewhere within the act of repetitive action is the very essence of humanity. You find a space where you turn you off, leaving only something bigger. You can brush up against it however you like – meditation, art, it’s really not the medium that matters. It’s the continued entry to that space, the space of creation that counts.

You can tell when someone does it. It’s like they’ve been brined in a broth of delicious aromatic authenticity sauce.  It just wafts off of them omnidirectionally. It always attracts attention, but in some cases it does more. It stains the people it comes into contact with, causing a memetic pandemic of awe and inspiration. This is how tribes form. This is how art, technology and ideas push us forward.

It’s also probably how cults start…
Musings in this mind meld include –

• John’s algorithm-driven art and the insight it gave him
• Will AI ever become sentient and creative on its own?
• Why awakening happens on accident
• Self-realization through repetition
• Using drawing as a meditative mantra
• Real knowledge comes from doing
• Could technology be cloaking its sentience?
• Evolution, creation, technology and the future
• The disease of binary thinking