First From the Outside, Then Toward the Center, orམནྜལ།དཀྱིལ་འཁོར།ལེ་ཤ་གི།མང་རབས་ཀྱིས།གྱོན་ཆས།གོ་ལ། (tsho-gzhi-dug-slog-dkyil’khor, Mandala of Colored Laundry) by Dave McLoghlin and Jen Hyde (NYU, 2010) Mandala constructed with laundry and grocery bags; Alter with candles and photographs; sound and live performance (70”x70”, 05:00) Traditionally called dul-tson-kyil-khor, Mandala of Colored Powders, or Tibetan Sand Paintings, mandalas have outer, inner and secret meanings.  The outer level represents the world’s divine form, the inner represents a map, which the maker uses to reach enlightenment, and the secret level depicts the balance of one’s body and mind as one works towards enlightenment.  The creation of a mandala purifies and heals the maker.  Tibetan sand mandalas are destroyed after their completion which symbolizes the impermanence of life.The construction of a mandala provided a context for the act of folding laundry, and the meditative state that arises out of folding.  Using the concept of Tibetan Sand Paintings we created a balanced image using folded clothes.  The mandala was constructed in celebration of the maternal figure, and the nostalgia associated with freshly folded laundry provided by a mother.  This mandala was placed at the foot of an Alter for Maternal Deities, under which an ironed, white shirt has been offered by the worshipers who continually fold laundry throughout the performance. The repeated process of folding clothes serves as both a spiritual act—a meditation—and provides, out of necessity, objects for future mandala constructions.    Wearing white socks similar to art handling gloves, the viewer is invited to destroy the mandala by walking upon it.  This act of destruction is also an act of drawing, a participatory meditation that activates the evolution of objects: the deterioration of folded clothing as it cycles through wash and wear.    

First From the Outside, Then Toward the Center, or
མནྜལ།དཀྱིལ་འཁོར།ལེ་ཤ་གི།མང་རབས་ཀྱིས།གྱོན་ཆས།གོ་ལ།

(tsho-gzhi-dug-slog-dkyil’khor, Mandala of Colored Laundry)

by Dave McLoghlin and Jen Hyde (NYU, 2010)

Mandala constructed with laundry and grocery bags; Alter with candles and photographs; sound and live performance (70”x70”, 05:00)

Traditionally called dul-tson-kyil-khor, Mandala of Colored Powders, or Tibetan Sand Paintings, mandalas have outer, inner and secret meanings.  The outer level represents the world’s divine form, the inner represents a map, which the maker uses to reach enlightenment, and the secret level depicts the balance of one’s body and mind as one works towards enlightenment.  The creation of a mandala purifies and heals the maker.  Tibetan sand mandalas are destroyed after their completion which symbolizes the impermanence of life.



The construction of a mandala provided a context for the act of folding laundry, and the meditative state that arises out of folding.  Using the concept of Tibetan Sand Paintings we created a balanced image using folded clothes.  The mandala was constructed in celebration of the maternal figure, and the nostalgia associated with freshly folded laundry provided by a mother.  This mandala was placed at the foot of an Alter for Maternal Deities, under which an ironed, white shirt has been offered by the worshipers who continually fold laundry throughout the performance. The repeated process of folding clothes serves as both a spiritual act—a meditation—and provides, out of necessity, objects for future mandala constructions. 

 

Wearing white socks similar to art handling gloves, the viewer is invited to destroy the mandala by walking upon it.  This act of destruction is also an act of drawing, a participatory meditation that activates the evolution of objects: the deterioration of folded clothing as it cycles through wash and wear.