A work of visual art and ideas, The Record-Mind, Matter, and What Happened in 1987 begins as a series of three art books in which two stories are told using the ideographic code of two 'meaning matrices'. These have poetic content, but, as the book explains, are 'meaning environments', rather than poems.
The meaning matrix that becomes the language of the story is presented in the preface for each of the first two books within the book - The Record of Gabrielle and The Orphan's Tale. '
Book III - Meaning Matrix Primer and Workbook' is a series of 'lessons' for anyone wishing to approach interpretation of the matrices more pedantically.
The inception of the meaning matrix was in the art discourse, but interpretation is informed by science. In 'Book V - An Experiment With Logs - The Meaning Matrix Meets Science', connections are made to conceptual metaphor theory, cognitive psychology of concepts and categories (pp.280-298), interaction of visual and linguistic processing (Spivey, p. 282); linguistic relativism (Whorf, Boroditsky, p.279); science of consciousness and panspychism: (Jung/Pauli, Bohm, Nelson, ..., pp.269-279+); science of the subject in time (Dunne, Schooler, ..., pp.254-269).
Although the momentum and output of the process are subjective and creative, the form of the matrix is meant to test the impact on reality of shifts in meaning content of a network of concepts. There is the intent to move the reader towards the experience of subject/object unity.
In 'Book IV: Book of Correspondences', and 'Book VI - Wind Angel Places: An Artist's Tale', the relevance of he meaning matrix to modern art is explored via connections to Duchamp, Beuys, Smithson, and Hamilton-Finlay. The role of art in the crisis of truth is elaborated, and modern art is interpreted as parallel processes of deconstruction and reconstruction. The meaning matrix is situated as reconstruction.
The contemporary crisis in truth ultimately is addressed as a crisis of meaning arising from the confrontation of dualism with non-duality and panpsychism. Interpretation of late twentieth century art suggests a way forward.
Neill, Marianne: - Marianne Neill completed four years of Architecture school before earning a degree in Philosophy. She then pursued studies in Visual Art studio, developing an interest in sculpture, performance, and cross-disciplinary work in art and linguistics while completing Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees. Exploration of the ideas developed in The Record began during this time. Upon graduation from the M.F.A. at York University, she was awarded the Samuel Sarick Purchase Award.Over the next four years, she was employed as an Assistant Professor in Visual Art at York, Western University, University of Saskatchewan, and Fanshawe College. The ongoing search for a solution to the problems presented in The Record eventually became incompatible with the exhibition demands of academia. While working toward discovery of a solution to the inquiries of her studio practice, Neill was employed in education, and ultimately as a union leader. This was simultaneous with involvement in political activism, social justice advocacy, and public speaking.The Record-Mind, Matter, and What Happened in 1987 is a compendium of a decades-long process of art-making and multi-disciplinary thinking. The content is relevant to questions about how meanings are endemic to places, why truth has become a challenging concept, and why we need to attend to meanings if we wish to achieve lasting change.Originally from Ontario, Marianne has spent the last twenty-five years in Vancouver on the West Coast of Canada. She lives with Maurice and the memory of a little cat named Simba.website: https: //www.marianneneill.ca
