Category Archives: Source Material

Posts linking to realted, useful and informative source material including work of practicing artists, theorists and commentators, research of anecdotal evidence, magazine or news items.

I NEVER BEEN GLID BEFORE

When I was 16 and at college, 50 years ago, there was a question you asked to see if a person was cool or not.

You would ask “What’s yer favourite Gong album?”

Any name given, from Camenbert Electrique (my favourite), to Angel Egg or Flying Teapot would do.

But “Who’s Gong?” would not do. Uncool.

Here they are from that time, long ago. Daevid Allen, the lead singer, was central; he was the pivotal figure over many years and band members.

So I was pleased to hear this from 2024…

They were a thing of a time and place, the place was France, and the time was the 70’s.

But it’s good to hear that the spirit lives on.

So what’s yer favourite Gong album?

An Introduction to Process Art for Health

This article is a follow-up to recent posts on ideas about curiosity and art as research.

It is about Process Art.

Process Art is a type of art where the emphasis is on the creative journey and the actions involved in making the art, rather than on the finished product. It encourages exploration, experimentation, and discovery with materials and techniques, allowing for a more open-ended and intuitive approach to art-making. 

Process Art is a bona fide art movement in which the experience of art making is central. See this article here from the Tate Gallery and here from Wiki.

The process of art making is also central to the arts therapies. The end product is not the sole purpose of the work. The process of making is the source of therapy.

This article here from Krista Zeiter, a Teaching Artist at Rumriver Art Center and Art Therapist brings Kristas insight to the importance of a process focus to arts for health.

In the article, Krista says “One of the myths of art is that you must feel inspired, have endless ideas, or feel confident to create. But not-knowing allows innocence. Accepting imperfection yields compassion. Risking vulnerability opens the door to breakthrough and awe. This approach develops an awakened stance towards life that is centered yet expansive.”

Adventure is setting off with a direction, but not always a destination. The journey, the process, is the destination. Art making is always a bit of an adventure.

To read the article click the link above or to read the full article on a separate page, click page 2 below. (Contact me if the link below does not work.)

Six Hidden Forces That Kill Curiosity

How to overcome curiosity killers.

From Psychology Today

Jeff Wetzler Ed.D.

July 2, 2025 

Curiosity is central to art making. It can be undertaken as a kind of adventure or as research in which we are curious to see what happens when we make some thing come into existence that has not ever existed before. The making of it will frequently bring up unexpected outcomes.

This article came into my newsfeed on July 2nd, and the author Jeff Wetzler, has done a great job of bringing a deft journalistic touch to a wealth of research evidence about curiosity with six clear ways curiosity is thwarted.

Jeff writes largely about curiosity about other people’s experience, and this is manifest in our encountering art made by other people. So in this sense, being open to art as insight into the experience of ‘the other’ intrinsically promotes diversity.

But personal arts practice as research may be understood to bring this insight into one’s own diversity.

The content is great call to embrace curiosity and I suggest viewing and doing art is a great way to nurture curiosity about others and the self. If one makes art outdoors, then the same curiosity may be nurtured regards the more-than-human world as well.

If you feel like you are in a state of writers block, or your curiosity to make art is diminished, the article may also have good advice as to possible causes and ways to unblock.

You can read the full article here on the original website and get access to other excellent articles by Jeff, or to view it on a separate page, click page 2 below. (Drop me a line if the pagebreak feature does not work.)