Energy

inspired by science, Will, Rafat, Christopher, Beuys, and my nutcase of an Uncle.

Will and Rafat

Breakfast at Christopher's (photo creds to Lydia!)

The conversation Will and Rafat had on Energy, and the power and importance of art at Christopher's elicited a flashback of my uncle, in his swim trunks, stuffing a bag full of BBQ crisps in his mouth, his body all sprawled out in the fishy and polluted sand of Lamma Island.

Uncle James

My uncle who lives in China is a self-proclaimed, self-employed inventor. He plays with little toys and trinkets related to sound, technology, physics, and mind control technology. I do not see him often because my mom thinks he is crazy. He is a little crazy and lives in his own little lab, but I understand his intense passion for science. and I think he is a brilliant man. He could spend hours talking about what he does for a living, or, well, what he does to live. Truthfully, I could spend hours listening to him because this guy really knows his stuff. We sat for a good 3 hours at Lamma Island in HK talking about molecules, particles, waves, colors, the big bang theory, planets, forces, energy, Milkyway, aliens, parallel universes (yes, he believes there is more than one universe), and he then mentioned about Chi energy. Chi energy is a force or a flow of energy. It can be used for healing and in martial arts to breathe life into other living beings.

Lamma Island

I was a little shocked. My uncle actually brought this up and had a small sense of belief in it because this is type of pretense physics would make any scientist cringe. This concept is not scientific, but people used to believe in this Chi, and I think some people do believe in it. The idea that Energy can be passed on from one person may not be scientific, it may not be Aristotelian, but it sort of makes sense. 

Although Chi Energy has to do with properties of healing, which I, a biologist think is rather phony. I suppose that Energy of feeling and emotions can be passed on to other people too. 

Christopher

The concept of Einfühlung was created by German philosophers. Einfühlung is empathy or "in feeling/feeling into". Empathy is the ability to experience the feelings of another. Is that, in a way, a passing of energy too? To transfer feeling from one person to another? OR an artist can create something, a painting or a song, and a person can experience einfühlung from something created by a human. So that means energy can be passed from one person's creation to an inanimate object (a statue, a painting, a monument) to another person.

Joseph Beuys, Energiestab (Energy Rod) 

"Beuys regarded copper rods as receivers and transmitters of thermal energy. It is attributed to an important role in the flow of energy between body and mind. The rod is wrapped with felt which highlights the idea of storing and isolating spiritual forces. Materials of copper and felt generate energetic tension in specific locations."

Energiestab (Energy Rod)

Conclusion

I have gathered my not-so-scientific conclusion about Energy:

1. Energy does not exist in a vacuum. It can be contained and emitted.
2. Artists capture Energy in a drawing, in music, in literature, etc.
3. Some people will take in Energy. Some people will not take in Energy.
    Both of which are normal reactions.
5. Energy is ubiquitous. It could be under your nose, and you might not even notice it, but it does something to you. There are so many places around us where Energy is present:

-Paintings
-Songs
-Poems
-Literature
-Food
-Film
-Nature
-Symbols
-Theater
-Clothing/fashion
-Pictures
-Any medium of art
-and so many other things that are not mentioned in this list.

Just call me Rudolf Clausius because I am in the works of creating my own concept of Energy.

"A storm is a sign of a great shift in energy." - Christopher Cartmill