Across The Universe
We’re all searching for our rightful place in the universe. Some people find it′s right in the middle.
By definition, preoccupied people are the ones too absorbed to watch
where they’re going. Their minds are busy rummaging through piles
thoughts, while the body navigates on autopilot. Their gaze, by default,
drops to the floor, which doesn’t demand too much attention.
That was me, staring absently at the dull pavement, until my foot nearly
crushed the delicate, curving line etched in crimson sand on the side-
walk. this unexpected shape branched into three more nearly identical
spirals, each of them tipped with a
glittering blue circle ringed with a
sequence of tiny alternating red and
yellow dot.
I traced the flow of glittering lines
,curving out of each other like bud-
ding ivy, to the focal point of the
entire web - where a wild haired elf-
man sat and spiced the rim of each
sphere with a dash of colored sand.
The man was Joe Mangum, a mul-
timedia performance artist, and the
circular phenomena growing on the
sidewalk was called a mandala.
-Amanda who? granule of color borders with others,
-”A mandala - an ancient symbol
of continuity and oneness”, Joe an-
swers, not once removing his eyes
from the perfect circle trickling
from his balled first “officially de-
fined as a ‘any map or pattern which
attempts to symbolically represent the universe’”.
After graduating from the Chicago art institute nearly a decade ago, Joe
took to wandering. For five years he roamed the globe – India, China,
Thailand, Uzbekistan – going anywhere affordable, but drawn particu-
larly to sacred places. Through his journeys Joe nursed a growing obses-
sions with, um, circles.
“Everywhere I went, I encountered the same symbol, over and over again.
In ashrams, in the church’s Rosetta windows, in Indian dream catchers,
in the Cherokee’s healing circles. The more i studied the mandala the
more fascinated I became - it’s like a metaphysical onion, encasing layer
upon layer of meaning. it doesn’t merely represent the concept of whole-
ness - it brings it to life”.
Well, I see a pretty round drawing on the sidewalk, but if he gets a one-
ness out of it – good for him.
There are many types of mandala’s. The sand mandala, beside symbol-
izing the universe and all, demonstrates the all time favorite Tibetan no-
tion of transience. After toiling for hours or days over the placing of each
colored grain of sand in its exact position, the initiates of the mandala
will take a big ceremonious broom and with one ceremonious swoosh
they scatter the minuscule universe back to the raw chaos from which it
emerged. That’s exactly what Joe’s about to do: within a few hours, all
that will remain of this intricate sprawling creation is a photo.
Joe embroidered sidewalks around the world with mandallas made of
sand, candy, rose petals, papers and even household garbage. The deci-
sion to work with bio-degradable materials and in open public spaces is
integral to Joe’s personal philosophy. This choice has a charm to it, an
inherit modesty and ecological reverence; it also bears a heavy price: the
exhibit’s life span doesn’t extend beyond the time of it’s making. a few
hours and it’s gone. Despite their obvious beauty, Joe’s creations will
never reach the coveted retirement spot in a collector’s salon. Nor can
these works sell. All that’s left for Joe to trade with, in the end, are sou-
venirs: photos, videos, posters and other reproductions, which he distrib-
utes through his web site and Facebook. The bulk of his income comes
from donations which he collects on the spot.
joe sits crossed legged on the pavement in union square, in the midst of
the noise and traffic, drawing a map of the universe with a trickle of sand.
Bystanders slowly gather round the mandala, which is now almost 10
feet in diameter and still growing. They seem mesmerized by the slow
and painstakingly accurate work.
“The mandala doesn’t only represent a concept of wholeness and harmo-
ny between all things - it actually brings it to life” Joe repeats his former
statement before the assembling audience “it’s a tool that serves to free
the thought from the windowless cell of “self” . The construction of the
Mandala is a form of meditation, which draws the individual to experi-
ence the relationship between himself
and the world he is a part of.’
Joe has their rapt attention.
“Imagine yourself as a single speck of
sand, one atom in the larger scheme of
the mandala. that is your “self’. each
grain in the mandala has a specific
place and purpose, for along with the
few grains surrounding it, it creates a
smidgen of color - much as we our-
selves would look like when viewed
from high above, from the top of the
empire state, for example. This small
and together they weave into a single
vein, like a blood vessel, or a street,
or a mountain range. these veins split
and branch and repeat the same pat-
tern till they fade into the horizon, but
they all spout from a single dot, from
one invisible focal point in the very center - which brings us back to
where this started - the “self”.”
this hasty guided tour joe offers his transient congregation is a simpli-
fied abbreviation of a Buddhist meditation. Originally it’s an hours long
practice, in which the initiates divide their attention between mentally
following the intricate weave of the Mandalla on one hand, while focus-
ing on their own physical presence on the other. This intense cerebral
exercise stretches the boundaries of consciousness, allowing awareness
to one’s simultaneous existence in different scales , thus endowing the
practitioner with an insight of his own place in the scheme of things.
Joe suggests to the crowd to try it..We all fell silent and devoted our-
selves to the task. In fact, We were so in engrossed in dividing our at-
tention that none of us noticed the boy walking towards us, cell phone
in hand. When people are preoccupied, either with meditating or with
texting while walking, they just don’t see where they’re heading....
The kid walked right through the mandala, dragging his feet, absent
mindedly ravaging the delicate weave of our symbolic universe. I guess
he also had headphones on, since he was oblivious to our cries of protests.
Only half way through the mandala did he finally lift his eyes off the cell
phone screen and realize the situation. Slightly flustered, he rushed to the
other side, leaving behind a wide trail of destruction.
Joe was flushed with rage. “How can people be so freakin’ stupid?! how
can anyone ignore something this damn big?”
“It’s supposed to be scattered it in the end anyway” I tried to console
him.
“But i didn’t photograph it yet”! Joe protested, on the verge of tears.
“A moment ago you said we all have our place and purpose in the scheme
of things - that means he must have had a purpose as well” I remarked,
just because there aren’t many things as amusing as an enlightened per-
son losing his temper.
Joe chokes down a curse, grinds his teeth and falls to his knees to repair
the damage. I immediately regret my tactless remark, but Joe won’t lift
his eyes from the pavement , and frankly i don’t blame him.
I drop a few dollars in his donation box and slowly drift away, my eyes
on the floor. We’re all connected, we all have our place and our purpose,
but we sure have a lot to learn before we can live side by side in har-
mony.