Making a Life, Not a Career: Listening for the Life That Wants to Grow with Paul Hansen

The Grownup Noise by @CydScottPhotoPhoto © by CydScottPhoto

Paul Hansen is the person who inspired me to explore this theme I call Art of Life. When we last talked on Zoom, he said something that stayed with me: artists have to find their own way to live because no two lives unfold the same way. In this interview, Paul repeated that the essence of life is a long chain of decisions made based on one's own aesthetic sense, and that is what it means to be an artist.

Dancing with a Dove

Sofiane Ouissi and dove from "Bird," photo © by Pol GuillardPhoto © by Pol Guillard, L’Art Rue-Dream City 2025

At the Aichi Triennale 2025, one experience stood out as a shared highlight for our group of thirteen: Bird by the brother-and-sister team Selma and Sofiane Ouissi. Doves make no effort to “collaborate” or to “create a good work.” For this reason, Sofiane must have needed a radically different reconstruction of bodily context than in dancing solo or with another human. That was what I wanted to witness.

Morcote — In Search of Stillness

Photo © by Hai Yen Ho

Perhaps it was a kind of revelation when I realized what I longed for was a lake. A still lake, shrouded in mist — peaceful, yet faintly uncanny. And Morcote, by Lake Lugano, appeared as the answer, after just a few seconds of searching on my computer.

Radiance: The Universal Language of Mariko Mori

Love Sculpture by Mariko Mori, at SKNY, photo by Christopher PelhamPhoto © by Radiance exhibition by Mariko Mori installation view, photo by Christopher Pelham

The creations of Japanese artist Mariko Mori, a respected and well-known figure in the international art world since the 1990s, have never seemed more present, needed, and timely than now. Why? In an era saturated with stimuli, her work invites us to slow down, suspend our assumptions, and enter a quieter relationship with ourselves, one another, and the world. Her art calls us back to what she simply names Radiance, the light and interconnectedness that underlie everything.

Between Destruction & Birth: Bassim Al-Shaker at the Aichi Triennale

New Birth © by Bassim Al Shaker, photo by Megumi Miyamoto

Before encountering the artworks themselves,
the moment I stepped into the venue,
I felt as though I were descending into the deep sea.

A profound stillness emerged—the kind found when one sinks toward the ocean floor, where only one’s inner pulse can be heard. I noticed my breath slowing, and I simply watched it do so. From the space itself, I sensed a quiet invitation: you can go deeper. At the same time, I felt momentarily overwhelmed by the intensity of the energy. I sat down, closed my eyes, and listened to the presence lingering in the air.