I wish to begin this blog by first saying that I have not actually seen Life on Mars at the Carnegie Museum of Art.  Therefore, I am writing this as a reaction to the initial questions that have formed this International show: Are we alone in the universe?  Are we ourselves strangers?  These questions seem to probe that strange part in ourselves that lives in an existential manner, whether we realize it or not.

Existentialism really came into fruition in the twentith century.  It was based on the idea that it is the individual who places meaning on his or her existence, not a god or a higher power, but rather that the only means of revolting against the physical constraints of time and flesh is to return responsibility to the individual.  It is an alternate reality, one not based on comparison, but on the idea that each person is reponsible to see reality in him or herself.

So what does this mean?  Does existentialism try to prove that we live only for ourselves and therefore make our selves a stranger to others?  And if it does, is it possible to see a larger universe inside of your own and still come to accept the ideas of love and giving and responsibility to others?  Or are these merely contradictions?

I remember learning about a Buddhist theory once that gave a metaphor for our lives.  It decribed life as a waterfall.  Before we were born, we were filled with oneness as we were connected to all other water as one.  As the water flows over the waterfall, however, we seperate and become individual drops of what we are together and therefore we have fear.  But when we come to realize (Existentialism) that we are water no matter how fast or where we fall, then we defeat fear, we defeat time, we defeat death and the feeling that we are strangers in our own world.

Therefore, as one begins to perceive existence as larger than experience, as one becomes truly aware of that "oneness," in the enlargening of his or her sense of being, he or she enevitably becomes one with him or herself and every bit of existence that surrounds us in this waterfall of life.

 Posted by Cecilia