SAISEI 再生 (Rebirth)

THE VISION:
My name is Kalina Danailova. Working as an artist, I found this "job" to fit my personal needs in search of "freedom", thanks to its unlimited character in a specific field. But I realised that, to achieve this freedom, it wasn’t sufficient to study art, but to comprehend the nature of things.
During my study I clearly noticed instead, the interdependence and impermanence of every single form of life and it is there that I felt free at last. Any phenomenon we observe is in a continuous development, change, thanks to the lack of permanence, or to the so-called “vacuum or emptiness" that enables this development. These processes of continuous change of the phenomena are related to the conditions in which they are found to develop. An absolute integrity in the universal order.
Art for me is a way of understanding life, ourselves, and the temporary nature of everything with the interdependence of the universal order, which we are part of. The comprehending or conceiving seen as the opposite mental process of understanding in order to learn through our sensitivity, while understanding refers to and relies on the logic and so to the outside, the conceiving from the Latin - cum capere, that “to take fully, take in”, refers to the inner world through the process of comprehension - cum-prehendo “to grasp” replaced by psychology with the term empathy from the greek - empatéia, where en-," inside ", and pathos - “sensation” - “an inside sensation”. And consequently it "becomes" what you feel, what you do.
So: I take → I accept → I feel → I become.
This concerns both the artist that becomes the work itself during its creation, and the observer who transform in an artist when related to the work of art, and art becomes a mirror of his soul. Thus developing an inner sensitivity.
Instrumentality: Provocations of any character - visual, palpable, auditory or olfactory, intended to penetrate our senses and so, our conception of the world. (The art of the last century showed us, that may touch the senses even with the lack of direct provocation, which is still perceived as a sense of emptiness - visual, auditory, olfactory, etc. That does nothing but confirm the senses rule.) There is more room for theories, decoding or intellectual processes. Which in any case have always accompanied and supported the arts by making them a support. But in still the mind is empty and expresses itself, manifesting freedom through the mediator and the medium (as a medium), overcoming all logic conviction, control, voluntary idea of ​​incorporating within the work. I speak of these acts that occur through the creation process and have no conscious character. Acts that are observed during all human and universal activities, but art with its “useless" form, shows admitting and considering as well, their existence. Processes that can be understood as the pure “case."
My entire artistic research is based on this “case”. On that thing immeasurable, divine, subconscious, evidence in the presence of faith and love for the pure nature of things, of the mind, of the perception. This refers both to the process of creation, is the observation. Kurt Schwitters said: "The artist's spit is art." But the idea is not the "thing" itself, is the "how" the artist sees - feels things, thanks to his love and faith in nature, always empty of meaning. At this point any phenomena emptied of its "meaning" automatically becomes art.


THE STORY:
It all started with a wonderful trip to Japan. I went around the streets with a small notebook in my pocket in order to take notes and to gather images from all that was surrounding me. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of a place that has always attracted me. "Coincidentally" I ended up in a mountain, where lyes the largest Buddhist cemetery in the world. I had no place to sleep and when it got dark and I was hosted by the monks of one of the 1100 monasteries in this mountain. I had no suspicion on their existence before arriving. Enchanted by the exotic charm and the peaceful atmosphere a thought came on me: If one day I die, here is the place where I want this to happen. I felt aligned, at peace with myself and with the world.
I had just lost my mother. I was going through a dark period. After returning to Italy, the image of the monastery, of those people, of that atmosphere and the feeling of perfection wouldn't come out of my mind. Something had happened, and a reverse was impossible. It didn't take long to decide and a month later I returned to the monastery as a disciple of Buddhist esoteric school. I lived in this context, contaminated by anything for the duration of my visa, exactly - 3 months.

THE ART:
There was no concept, no initial project. There was only the necessity to tell what I was experiencing. To memorise it. A stop in time. The story took the form of a diary. Every detail was important, everything had meaning and was substantial in my experience. Every word, every gesture, every sound and every image. I had already started my small notebook collecting words and images. Upon arrival I changed the measure, and I moved on 50x75 sheets of calligraphy, recycling papers, newspapers, everything I could find, that later I have put together in a book of "Leporello" type, a constantly growing folding book. With a size of the extended side to the "infinite" ...
A diary written everyday, things found on the streets, spiritual teachings, calligraphies of the monks, my drawings and also their designs, phone numbers. Without judgment and without classifications. Accepting the manifestation of the secret order in the “casuality - randomness”, in the nature, in the universe. Everything that happens is perfect.
Everything stopping in my visible and invisible horizon, the discovery of the inner world, what was the reason for my trip. A journey into a world little known to me until now.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF “SAISEI":
The Japanese word 再生 "Saisei", meaning “Rebirth", is composed of the kanji 再 “sai” meaning “again” and 生“sei” meaning “birth".
In the process the things began to take shape. I stopped one day in front of it and saw an oval repeated on every page. This element gave the name of this project. The oval was the embryo, birth and rebirth, every day was a new life, every step was a new step, and every cell was new at every moment. As we are born naturally “empty” we are free to choose. Consciously or not at all times we make choices. They thus affect the world we live, on the basis of the principle: Cause and Effect.
Understanding this and recognising it, is fundamental to our conscious presence of acting because we often find our selfs is a stage of sleep comforted by the idea that things stand outside and not within us.

THE STUDY:
In the course of this study intertwine my personal interests ranging from quantum physics, psychoanalytic science, the philosophical and not least the Buddhist philosophy. All put on trial from my real experiences. I find many common points in these sciences but also in art. A universal truth that is infuse every aspect of life. What we need is just to observe.

THE PERFORMANCE:
The tantric monks performed a walking ritual alongside of my extended work, when it had the length around 30m. The performance is seen as a "pilgrimage in life." As a manifestation of the ideas expressed in the content of the work. The performance ended with the journey of a child who has left his footprints on the work. Thus contributing to the idea of ​​unity in diversity.

IN PROGRESS:
On my return the sacred mountain, my work continues. It is a search of life. There is no beginning and therefore has no end. I continue to structure, to observe, to write and to gather key moments of life, objects and experiences. What drives me is the enthusiasm to find a way of serenity and interior peace within myself, and consequently within the world. I would like to donate my own vision, experience and reflections, hoping also help those who get a closer touch with my art.

THE WORK:
The work is seen in vertical. Its current length is around 45m. The form of collapsible giant book is maintained. A part of the pages is folded resting on the ground, while extended on the vertical is a part of it, as the height of the space allows.
It is recommended to project the video of the performance alongside the work.

STORYBOARD:
I lean on the platform to share the little things that have influenced its creation. What you will find here will be notes, as well as images from the internal pages, but also photographs and video that have a contextual meaning of a emotional, rational and logical kind that has served the story of my work. The first images date back to my personal path, subsequent images tell my vision, while the last two parts are the creative process.


A search of integrity through the "how" instead of “what", on order to get to know better ourselves, humanity and our world. To develop trust, confidence and sensitivity of the true nature of things. Free of any concepts and boundaries.