Episode #55 Meditation, Art, & Cognition: Resident Philosopher Carolina Flores talks with talkPOPc participant Nicholas Ligotino

Nicholas starts the conversation by saying that he has recently experienced a renewed interest in making art himself, which he hadn't done since a child. He is also a regular meditator, and argues that art "is one of the best forms of meditation."  As someone who is in the film industry,  he says (& RP Flores agrees) that David Lynch is a great filmmaker,  with Nicholas pointing out that Lynch also a meditator.  They agree that the mediation practice is evident in Lynch's films. How does meditation then relate to filmmaking and to art in general?Film is a more powerful art form to Nicholas because of the added dimensions of sound, motion, story, visual, etc. - what Flores calls "the experience of flow".  The person who makes the art, Flores argues, must access this part of the cognitive process.  She turns the conversation and asks Nicholas about what happens in the role of audience member, and he answers by talking about a recent inspirational visit to a gallery  on 29th street in Chelsea, NYC, but he also says that aesthetic inspiration can come from anywhere including the trees right in front of them: "Appreciation, being grateful, being thankful" plays an essential part. Flores then sums up the conversation by encapsulating his underlying philosophical point: "You can be properly inspired by the world because you are approaching it with this open-minded and open-eyed perspective and then that allows you to take it all in and your cognitive engines can crank out, and then in turn you can produce something of genuine value because it's bringing in this attentive, focused perspective on the world."Nicholas agrees: "Being thankful. Focus on the present."    Support the showWebsite: talkpopc.orgInstagram: @talkpopcEmail: [email protected]