Patrick S. Ford (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam): The Path To Enlightenment
- duration: 12 min
- watch: 6th December 2018 at 1 pm UTC
DESCRIPTION: It is said that in order to reach a state of enlightenment and experience nirvana, we must first rid ourselves of worldly delusions. Nirvana literally means something like ‘extinguishing’ or ‘quenching’ and the flame that we must extinguish is that of greed, hatred and other selfish and worldly obsessions. In this performance, Ford acts as another Sisyphean character attempting to extinguish the candle that represents the delusions of life that must be quenched, and as is the nature of the Sisyphean experience, each attempt fails…the candle relights itself. After a period he tries again, only to fail again (shades of Beckett’s famous line from Worstward Ho: ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better’).
BIO: Patrick S. Ford is currently living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His art education began at Leeds Arts University (UK) – receiving a ‘Merit’, at Northumbria University (UK) – receiving a BA (Hons) Fine Art degree, and at RMIT (Aus.) – receiving an MFA degree. He has exhibited his work in solo and group shows in Europe and Asia beginning in 1981 and since then has participated in over 100 exhibitions and art projects. His work is held in several public collections in Europe and Asia and in numerous private collections. Originally trained as a sculptor, Patrick has also worked as a printmaker and is currently pursuing projects involving the development of an approach to drawing methodology and performance, especially that related to Walking Art. His practice often seeks to take art-making out into the environment to encourage observation, reflection and response, and just as often focuses on the border between disciplines. Some of Patrick’s most recent projects have involved collaboration with other artists, usually internationally, which has encouraged the exploration of alternative working methods through the use of Skype, social media, the employment of specific apps etc. These lines of investigation are feeding directly back into his practice, forming a kind of virtuous circle of working methods. ARTIST’S WEBSITE