Art Reboot

107 19 the talk walked I spent four decades devoted to the study of Chinese art before I started to paint, an invaluable preparation. Immersed in the visual art of what is arguably one of the most sophisticated aes- thetic traditions in the world, by the time I picked up the brush I already understood the wonder beyond the surface, the inner languages that lead to the Gates of Wonder. Interacting with both Chinese and western art, I also came to question conventional theoretical wisdom and began to devise a transcultural theory of art. All of this led to a key shift in focus from the surface of visual art, including the product, to the entire process, including its purpose, and facilitated my ability to participate in Chinese aesthetic culture directly without the usual decades of acquiring technical skills. Alan Watts wrote that life is a dance, and when you are dan- cing you are not intent on getting somewhere; the meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. By removing the constraints of initial intention and allowing format, subject matter, materials and methods to evolve like a dance, the process became primarily exploration of perception and expression rather than the pro- duction of pictures. This led to what I look upon as ‘for ever