Museum Exhibit Blends Art and Prayer, Creating ‘Intention’ and Power

By Charlene Carlies

 

The Rubin Museum of Art held a media preview of its new exhibit, The Power of Intention: Reinventing the Prayer Wheel, on Thursday, just ahead of its grand opening that was set for Friday night.

The exhibition is an interactive one, featuring contemporary art inspired by Buddhist prayer wheels. It brings together traditional and contemporary art to illuminate the relationship between our intentions, commitments and actions. The Buddhist prayer wheels were ritual objects containing thousands of written prayers and mantras, the intention being to show how we can empower ourselves to create positive change within and around us.

The first part of the exhibition features an intention wheel in the lobby, where visitors are able to put their intentions into words by typing an intention into the wheel. The intentions then travel up the spiral staircase, where they become part of an immersive installation on the fifth-floor of the museum, where the rest of the exhibition is showcased.

Elena Pakhoutova, curator of Himalayan art and organizer of The Power of Intention, spoke about the significance of the exhibition. “Our intentions can be very small or they can be very grand. . . It depends. The main thing is that we want to say that the power comes from within. You have your own power, and this is intention and commitment to carry through with your intention into action.

“By the turning of this wheel of intentions you are making physical effort to activate it. We think this is more powerful, because it’s not just the wish. You have to have commitment as well. So that’s what we’re exploring. Each section explores various aspects of what it means to have the power of intention. It is inspired by the Tibetan prayer wheels, these ritual items used to create positive karma and good, not only for the person who is turning them, but also for the environment and everybody else.”

Gregory Lasserre gave some insight into his work of art, Metamorphy, a tangible circular membrane that guests can touch, as the membrane creates sounds and emits ephemeral visuals that change, depending on the pressure of the individual’s touch.

“This work represents the relation to the body, so this work engages the body,” Lasserre said. “You explore different elements and it’s an exploration according to where you touch the work and you will listen to different sounds. You have a mirror in front of the work, so you are physically engaged inside the installation. You are a part of the installation when you interact with it.”

Alexandra Dementieva produced the work Breathless, an interactive light object. One enters the sculpture to engage with notions of power and intention. Guests can go inside and exercise power by breathing into the anemometer, affecting the output.

“The words on the structure represent the media and language,” Dementieva said. “When you go inside, this is also like your own present moment . . . ”