Zen & The Art of The Extra Ordinary - 'The Galactic Road' (#1)

'The Galactic Road' (#1)

“To see the universe in the ordinary
In the folds of a leaf or a lightless shadow
Is to see the simple complex of reality
As above so below”

And so I start this Zen like journey of discovery with a series of photographs and poetry, all meant to entreat, delight and enlighten through different framing and perspectives of the so called ordinary things around us. And in so doing I hope to lift the heart with a little art. Indeed, art with heart.

I Paul Heaney otherwise known here as @lightpainter am the author of all text and photographs. I hope you enjoy and find joy through otherly perspectives of the ordinary every day objects anyone can encounter. My perspective is that no-one and no thing is truly ordinary. This is a mission to find and frame and add the 'x' in the extra ordinary, the hidden gems in plain sight, encountered every day in every way.

'The Galactic Road'
One day whilst walking my local street I came across this patch of motor oil in the road where a car had obviously stood. I could have just walked away unimpressed by the fact it was a kind of pollution, but in fact I was fascinated by how the oil had reacted with the water and also beautifully avoided the Autumnal leaves which were isolated from the oil by the water. Whoever thought oil could be elegant? Why not? Perhaps it depends on context and our ability to see beyond the constraints of the conditioned mind.

Now I appreciate all the more the nature of this oil and it's ability to take simply beautiful paths can can inspire and lift the spirit. I wouldn't drop oil on the road to create future art, but I can appreciate what is in front of me sometimes, and that is not a bad thing. Value judgements can vary depending on circumstances and our ability to be open and flexible and as dynamic as oil.

I don't always see all the ways in which or why a photograph works immediately at the point of taking the picture, sometimes moments of recognition and appreciation come at the editing stage or even by someone pointing something out, possibly years later, and these are wonderful latent aspects of the whole art, full of surprises way after the photographic event took place. To my eye this photograph looks like a galaxy in empathy with it's surroundings.

All I did technically here was increase the contrast to emphasise the pattern. I love the way the apparently ordinary or mundane can be transformed into something quite magical and otherly. It actually gives me quite a thrill to find incidental subjects like this I stumble upon which I can work on in order to make some kind of art form from. What does it say to you?

All images and text copyright Paul Heaney © 2018