Moments of Zen

Turf Projects are pleased to bring together new work by artists Harry Meadley and David McLeavy, and a special guest appearance from Hatsune Miku. ‘Moments of Zen’ attempts to contemplate the profound in the stupid and the stupid in the profound. Without claiming to be neither funny or entertaining, many of the works are explorations into the boundaries between art and comedy or art and entertainment, or even between artist and entertainer.

As an exhibition it cares about its viewers and aims to both pander to, and challenge, its audience. There is an examination of the act of viewing an artwork and the moment in time during which an audience member allocates to the digestion of a piece of artwork, and an analysis of the varying approaches of presenting artwork to the public and how being discrete or explicit may affect its delivery.

Turf Projects are a non-profit organisation based in Croydon, South London, working to support the development of artists, curators and the public through free exhibitions, workshops and events. ‘Moments of Zen’ is presented within Turf Projects’ gallery & workspace on Keeley Road, Croydon, which opened in May 2015. To coincide with the exhibition there will be a family fun day, reading group, artist lunchtime crit and an artists talk by Harry Meadley. The exhibition and events were made possible with the generous support of the Mayor of London, Arts Council England & Centrale Shopping Centre, Croydon.

‘moment of zen’
This phrase is mostly commonly found at the end of every broadcast of “The Daily Show”, with Jon Stewart saying the tag line after the last commercial break, and throwing up a short video clip before the end credits.

A moment of Zen is something which inspires the same reaction as does contemplating Zen Koans.

In Zen practice, deliberately irrational statements are sometimes used in Zen to jar people into realising the limits of the common uses of the intellect. One well-known example is, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”.

Either of these instances can be applied to Jon’s “moment of Zen”, which often depicts political figures making fools of themselves, or satirizing the American public in general, so the epiphany can come from the realization of the satire, or the realization of how some people are just really, really stupid.

“Here it is folks, your moment of Zen!”
(clip appears onscreen of Italian Prime Minister talking about “bunga-bunga” parties, and the news correspondant realizing he means orgies)’

by dbrow127 February 19, 2011, Urban Dictionary.

#MomentsOfZen

Photos: Tim Bowditch