Our Dark Arts collaboration features artists who promote the mystery and beauty of life, through their creative works.

Dark Artist | Phoenix Savage

I am honored to curate the month of March for Black University’s Dark Art collaboration with an artist.

As an artist, working off the theme of mystery is central to my studio practice, here I will explore a few of my personal delights in universal mysteries as well as some of my own works and those of other artists who’s works invoke a feeling of mystery for me as a viewer. I am of the mindset that what makes a mystery great is its insolvability. That is what a mystery actually is, the existence of an occurrence that defies explanation, yet, nonetheless, there it is. Sadly, we have come to believe that mysteries exist for the benefit of our intellectual challenge to solve them. By assuming the role of sleuth, we are denying ourselves the joy of the mystery. Instead of seeking to uncover the why and how of a mystery, it would be delightful to just rest in its folds. To allow the vulnerability that arises in the unknown and find peace. All too often the default position for our vulnerableness is to disallow its uncomfortable feeling. We become troubled and seek to solve for X to combat, and triumph over, the discomfort. I say, let a mystery be a mystery. Sit with it and feel its wonder free of any false misunderstanding that your destiny is interwoven in the triumph over mystery. When, in fact, your destiny is your original mystery into our vast cosmosphere of existence.

Sidebar- None of the information presented is to disavow the wonders of science, I love science in fact if it were not for scientific studies very little of this information would I be aware of, nonetheless, my point remains, everything does not require an explanation and somethings are just as enjoyable in their state of unknowingness and they are in their known realities.

BLACK HOLES: a trans-configuration of a star at the end of its desired lifespan that becomes a mass of gravitational energy so forceful that nothing is emitted, hence, the black hole. In art, the color black is that factor where the hue of all other colors have been completely absorbed. The most interesting aspect for me, when thinking about a black hole, is a quasar. A burst of light said to be of the brightest light formation in the universe. A quasar forms at the point of consumption by a black hole. Hence, you have in simultaneity the brightest and the darkest known matter to human knowledge co-existing albeit for a very brief time, long enough for the star to be consumed by the black hole. We live in fascinating times.

Image: Black Hole Simulation - https://www.nasa.gov/

Dark Matter: In conjunction with Black Holes another mysterious phenom is the idea of Dark Matter. Dark Matter is to astronomy what Superstition was to early Archaeology and Anthropology. When you read older archeological reports, often the unexplainable objects that were found, were categorized, not simply as “unknown object”, but for some odd reason these objects were categorized as objects of superstition. It would be perfectly fine to say there is no knowingness for said objects, hence the object’s significance to the people in the study is, Unknown. So, it is with Dark Matter. Believed to be the glue of the universe, Dark Matter is the term used to explain all the missing matter in the universe. Scientist have accounted for approximately 15% of universal matter, those particles known as “atoms, plasma, gas, stars, ions”, and so forth. However, that leaves 85% of universal particles unknown, and this is Dark Matter. I think Dark Matter is a woman.

25,000 Black Holes

and this is just within a 2% area range of the cosmos. It is reported that at the center of every galaxy there is a super massive Black Hole.

Stars Dancing

stars dancing at the circumference of a black hole.

Pinwheel Galaxy

I know nothing about it, but it is beautiful and for now that is enough.

OLMEC HEADS: In the beautiful unknowingness of these ‘colossal” heads, it was previously thought that they were created to honor ballers. I love that. Made more than 2,000 years before Columbus was a baby, there are nearly 18 of these large basalt carved heads. In whose likeness is still up for debate. The facial features resemble that of African as well and Polynesian phenotype. Belong to the Olmec civilization these heads were first mentioned in 1862, with their “rediscovery” occurring in 1932 in Tabasco, Mexico. Weighing between 4 to 20 plus tons, the Olmec heads predate both the Mayans & Aztec civilizations in Mesoamerica. The majority of the heads are housed in museums in Mexico. Some have been replicated and are at international museums. It remains a mystery why or of what significance the Olmec attributed to these sculptures. It must have been of great importance to them. There is a considerable amount of labor that was expended to haul the stone over 50 miles of “jungle” terrain and hand carve each head with stone tools as it is reported that the Olmecs did not work with metal tools. The Olmec heads, their mystery not withstanding, have always been a great way to look at human labor in a society. I don’t suspect that these stone carvers woke one day and thought it would be a great idea to roll a giant stone and carve it. Therefore, these undertakings are directed tasks, just as the building of the pyramids there exist a ruling class that directs labor. The direction of labor is nearly always unidirectional. That is, its goal is directed for the benefit of the ruling class. Either to honor, or commercially support them, but labor rarely benefits the laborer.

For me, the hidden mystery rests in who were these laborers? What were their thoughts and emotions towards the task? It is always assumed that a certain pride and honor accompanied their actions. But what if it was just a job, an ancient form of cubical dead-end-ness?

ROCK ART: What I find so fascinating about Rock Art is its individuality. Unlike large scale sculptures that I mentioned earlier that serve rulers. Rock art is intimate. It is the telltale evidence of that lone individual in contemplation with self and nature who struck upon the idea to record their existence. There is something so fabulous about that, and the imagination of what that person was thinking and if the art was for them to enjoy, or did they perceive of others coming to view their handyworks. African Rock art opens the door to so many possible notions of the human imagination and human vanity. That one painting where the guy is spearing the large wild beast and then goes and makes a drawing of it in a dark cave, that is vanity in its most wonderful way- the artist way. I also wonder the ratio of cave painters that would have been women. The concepts depicted point to the painter being male, but what about women presenting as male, or that one guy who got his girlfriend to paint his triumphs because she was a better painter.

Bubalus Period engraving Pelorovis Antiquus, Wadi Mathendous Libya

According to the British Museum of Art, who has the most extensive database of African Rock art, “The oldest scientifically-dated rock art in Africa dates from around 30,000 years ago and is found in Namibia.”’

Quartzite slabs depicting animals, Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia. Image courtesy of State Museum of Namibia © State Museum of Namibia

RELIGION or SPIRITUALITY: As quite as it is kept you can be spiritual without being religious. There are certain elements that “must” exist to be a religion. Certain specificities like, site of worship, liturgical information, hierarchy, governing rules so to speak. Whereas spirituality simply requires a sense of feeling beyond the human senses, towards nearly anything at all. It will be absent of hierarchy and sites of worship and the like. So, yes, Hippies were spiritual. I love Hippies, and I just may be a born-again- Hippie. For the record I have a religion. I practice Yoruba/Ifa religion, which is one of the many African Traditional Religions. (ATR) I will share more about this next week when I discuss my art and its relationship to Yoruba culture. For now I will leave you with this video without any explanation whatsoever so you can enjoy their mystery.

I frequently snap images of my shrines which I think of a temporal works of art. The images help me to recall past prayers and maintain gratitude for the blessings received via those prayers. In many ways, prayer itself is a mystery- we cannot see the mechanism of its operation and must rely on faith that in enacting any prayer, results will manifest.

Opon Ifa Divination tray, made of from the secred Iroko tree- the face at the top of the tray is that of Esu the orisha that serves as the communicator between the two worlds Aiye-Earth and Orun-Sky, there is no concept of heaven or hell, while sadly many interchange the word Orun with the word heaven but it is not that at all. Earth is the Market place and Orun is the celstrail abode of Olodumare the maker of all things. The Opon Ifa is where the langage of Ashe comes to present itself for humans to learn from and it appears in the form of secared pattern called Odu.

In Ogbomoso, Nigeria they host an amazing Egungun Festival that venerates their ancestors, the Ogbomoso Palace also hosted one of the world’s oldest tortoise who has sadly passed away. He was reported to be 344 years old. I will keep looking for my picture of the tortoise his name was Alagba, meaning the Elderly One. Ogbomoso is in Oyo city. I think the Egungun festival is designed to assist us in not just connecting to the wisdom of our ancestors but to easy the mystery of the afterlife, here the ancestor appears cloaked in colorful strips of cloth, untouchable, unseen, and all knowing. They dispense their blessings and commentary upon the community and while today it is very much a spectator event, in reality it is as intimate as the African cave drawings, where one’s ancestors reveal visions to their offspring to keep them on the right track.

“And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time…”

— T.S. Eliot

"Wherever you are, Whatever you do, Love."

— Rumi

“If you get on the wrong train, every stop you come to, will be the wrong stop.”

— Susie Hazzard

Peace Phoenix

www.phoenixsavage.com

For centuries the usage of the phrases Dark Arts and Black Magic have cemented the words darkness and black to evil. This prejudicial usage is a cornerstone of empire culture. Our Dark Arts Feature will highlight artists who create human freedom by pushing back against this mythology and dogma.

DARK ARTS ARCHIVE

Viva la Vulva LA
Phoenix Savage (Part 1)
Phoenix Savage (Part 2)
Chris Wells
Cole James
Dra. Rocio Rosales Meza
Xiana - Black Sun Academy