I - Art of meditation

Meditation is not necessarily about getting calmer. For me at least, emerged into the Zen Buddhist tradition, I meditate in order to get behind my own mask. When meditating I can get to the core of who I am, searching beyond the ego and illusion of the self. We generally spend way too little time exploring ourselves and after you have been practicing meditation for a while you discover that you are not your thoughts. The inner you, the soul - call it whatever you want - is something totally neutral. It is just pure energy. When you reach that point you become free, because then outside factors are irrelevant, including your monkey brain thoughts. I think we get stuck in judging ourselves and others way too much. Meditation brings you awareness, it helps you observe your thoughts, feelings, sensations and environment without judgment. But I must say that it requires hard work and there is no fast-track to enlightenment, meditation is something you practice for life - and for being one with life.

II - Meditation on art 

Art is for me one of the purest forms of human expression, it is what sets us apart from other species. Not that we are more special, but we do not really have examples of other animals doing art. There is one very important similarity between meditating and doing art; both require us to go beyond the ego. Of course art is many times a commentary or statement, sometimes even political, colored by the self and opinions. But great art, I would still argue, goes beyond that. A true artist will create a painting, sculpture, photography, installation or performance that is channeling the inner core of who they are. It is frozen and objectified energy. We live in a time and age where everything is or can be art, but where gallerists and critics decide what is ’real’ art. Art has become too intellectual and contextualized, too elitist. I have a romantic belief that art is not something that only belongs to the rich and famous, that true art is available to all of us. All of us are artists and can express creativity. If we just dare to take off our masks.