Amy Jorgensen
"MAP OF CONSCIOUSNESS" A walk-through art installation demonstrating how our states of consciousness overlap and inspiring participants to meditate/relax regularly Most of us spend a majority of our lives in two states of consciousness: asleep and awake. While our brains are producing all types of brainwaves, our dominant state of consciousness is typically a beta/gamma state or a theta/delta state. The golden zone of consciousness is the alpha/theta state, where we can experience an expanded awareness of ourselves/reality, experience insight and deep relaxation, and therefore, healing. The Map of Consciousness overtly depicts how our brainwave states overlap and covertly depicts how more time spent in alpha/theta is beneficial to our understanding of self. The map is a walk-through environment built out of 'moments' spent in each state of consciousness. Each moment is represented by a columnar mobile with delicately woven spirals that rotate gently as participants walk through. Each state is a different color, design, and size crafted out of organic 4mm single strand cotton cord. See If possible (and entirely based on installation site), the use of audio helps with creating a meditative environment for participants to walk through the map (please note that audio is not necessary for a successful production). When I did a commissioned interactive installation for the TenWest Conference in 2019 at the TCC, the art added to the conference-goers experience and provided a bit of respite from the busy conference environment. It also served as an interesting milieu for people to connect. See https://www.amyjorgensen.org/the-weight-of-ideas/
A human lifetime is a lengthy compilation of trillions of present moments. Our ability to experience this very moment depends in part on what is happening outwardly but mostly on what is happening inwardly, in our unconscious mind.
The conscious mind is a tiny raindrop relative to the unconscious ocean.... a vast storehouse of every experience we have had, every image we have seen, every belief we have formed thus far. The reasons for our good and bad habits, the source of our security and insecurity, the explanations for our attractions and repulsions... this information is tucked within us in a remote location, waiting to be uncovered.
I like to use art to shake the blanket of the unconscious mind to explore what is floating around in this intriguing repository. Hopefully, the knowledge acquired through interacting with my creations adds to the collection of experiences that shed light on our inner operations.
Interactivity in the art world reminds us that we are not just passive observers watching life happen outside of us. We are active participants creating our own unique experience. Some of us take more responsibility and display more courage than others in choosing our experience. Many of us let others do it for us, defer to habit or stay in our comfort zone.
Our present moment quickly becomes our past so our awareness of what is happening right now becomes our personal history. By aspiring to create art that brings our unconscious minds out to the surface, I hope to assist in the process of self-realization, therefore helping to enrich the experience of the present moment (or at least baffling the populace).
https://www.amyjorgensen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Amy-Jorgensen-Installation-Artist-CV2025.pdf