Hey friends, this is Dan Burke. You're watching behind the scenes Divine Intimacy Radio So grateful to EWTN. Did I say I was grateful to EWTN? Really grateful to EWTN for allowing us to do this show and send it out over their airwaves and for all the good they do for the church really so blessed to have been an employee there for a long time and Now to continue the relationship by being on the radio just really really blessed by them So please support them Today, we're gonna be talking with actually Jordan Burke. My son is the co-host today He's been on a series on finding peace in the storm with Stephanie and I Stephanie's off gallivanting. I think somewhere is up. Is it appropriate to say she's gala gallivanting implies something negative? Don't know I thought it was a positive I think gallivanting is bad. I think so she's not gallivanting. She's visiting family.  Grateful for her to be able to go do that and so so it's just me and Jordan today and today we're gonna be talking about Finding peace in the storm The book he is responsible for getting in my hands. Well, you're the the Uniformity with God's will which I then wrote Finding peace and with some spiritual commentary, but we're gonna be talking about Desolation aridity prayer mental prayer all that sort of stuff and How to find peace in the midst of the storm before we jump into the show and we'll do that in a minute Want to tell you about one opportunity just one so be patient To or just skip ahead You can just move the little cursor It actually takes less time to move the cursor and skip ahead then right So at J. Homo Lenten retreat conversion stories in the call to prayer March 24 first of the 23rd It's an online event includes father Chase Hillenbrink Laura may Mary Phelps Christian Flynn Christopher Carstens Father Samuel Moorhead Simone Rizcala and many more spiritualdirection.com forward slash events spiritualdirection.com Forward slash events and you'll be blessed to spend an hour or so or a few hours Listening to some incredible speakers to help you with your lint. So with that, let's jump into the show And let me just make sure I'm on the right page and we were starting on 78 All right on your mark get set go. This is Dan and Jordan Burke. Welcome to divine intimacy radio Your radio haven of rest your hermitage of the heart Your monastery of the mind where we lift our hearts and minds to heaven To draw upon the wisdom of the saints to help us to navigate the tumults of this life And the saint of the day is who Jordan Burke? Saint Alphonse the gory Not according to the calendar, but according to what we're talking according to us. Yeah, he's the saint of the day Yeah, there's a different saint of the day today, but But for divine intimacy radio saint Alphonse the slaguri is the saint of the day And we're talking about finding peace in the storm, which is a spiritual commentary on On uniformity with God's will and we're on we're in uh chapter six, right chapter six. Yep spiritual desolation And um talking about You know a lot of a lot of this book is really about Fixing our expectations. Don't you think? Yeah. Yeah If you fix your expectations And you receive if your expectations are divine, let's say that If they're properly oriented to God and you receive what he desires to give you then you will have peace True or false True. Well, it seems like the majority of what we're what we're dealing with here is the lens in which we look at whatever happens to us And if you can change the lens or gain a new lens at how to look at whatever you're dealing with and whatever may come Then yeah, it's as you're saying, you know, you're gonna experience peace versus kind of The opposite which is not good and not fun Not good and not fun and to the degree I'd say In principle to the degree that we embrace what comes in our life, whatever that is Um And maybe the embrace isn't the right word To the degree that we do we choose In in essence choose What comes which is because whatever comes is either caused or willed by him well caused or allowed us. Yeah Then we are choosing his will that doesn't mean Which I think we've said over and over but it's worth repeating because people forget It doesn't mean that we don't seek to remedy ills or Pains that we feel or difficult circumstances. It doesn't mean that the perfect model of This kind of thinking is jesus in the in the garden. Guess how many you have a comment about it. No, I was just Picking up on where you were where I'm going. So yeah, because he says You know if possible that this cut past this hurts like crazy But you know, like no other man has ever hurt in the history of humanity, right? Um, but not my will but dying be done. So He's asking for it to be changed But he at the exact same time is saying You know, you know, what's best I yield, you know, and I'll I'll do what you asked me to do And so in this circumstance that we're talking about today Uh, so there's this book walks you through all different kinds of Things that can rob you of your peace in life and or your peace in your faith and this one is desolation Spiritual desolation. What is desolation desolation? and eridity either word um are There are synonyms what they mean the perceived absence Of the presence of god that's that's the commonality there between eridity and desolation and They and desolation in particular Cresses down upon you and and Christ it's push you away from god It puts heaviness upon you. It weighs you down. It's a lot of feeling and emotion. Mm-hmm. Yeah negative or dark feeling and emotion, right? So What st. Alphonsus is trying to do is deal with that and help us so he quotes Here's a few great quotes from st. Teresa of Avalos. She says our lot is not to enjoy god But to do his holy will another one love of god does not consist in experiencing his tenderness But in serving him with resolution and humility Another one gods true lovers are discovered in times of eridity and temptation Let's leave the last one for a second the first two our lot is not to enjoy him, but to do his holy will and And love of god does nothing consistent experiencing his tenderness, but in serving. It's fascinating about both of those Is it's not about what you receive. It's about you giving to god What does do and it's 100 counter to what we are taught culturally which you mentioned later on In your comments here, but it's worth. I mean a lot of people I think hear that and think I can't Understand what that might mean because we're so used to doing Something either for reward perceived reward or actual reward or you know for ourselves rather than for the purpose of serving Yeah yeah, and Basically, it's the opposite of narcissism or it is love our lot is life is not to enjoy But to do his will so our disposition isn't I need to enjoy this and I should enjoy this and if I don't enjoy this It's bad right instead of saying no whatever it is. It's his will and I need to You know, I need to join with him accept it or if I'm going to struggle against it I struggle with a light, you know a light trigger if you will or a light hand Recognizing he may want me to retain this difficulty You know, I've talked a number of times about my own illness and it's obvious You know that that at least So far I haven't been healed of this. Yeah, and so Then it means it's God's will that I have this disease And it means it means that I struggle and that I don't feel well and and but what I but my What my disposition toward God hasn't always been this way. I mean it's important to be honest Is that I need it from my salvation or he wouldn't allow it to continue. Yeah Right. So if I reject it now, I have the disease and I'm irritated, right Right and you're sinning and you're losing the grace that you would have had otherwise, right Which I think all phones just talks about a little bit later on. Yeah. So then so and then Love does not consist in experiencing his tenderness, but in serving him love authentic love is concerned with obsessed with serving giving of self to the other Self-denial for the purpose of self-giving. That's real love. It's called a ceaseless Right the the last quote from Teresa, which I also really like Is God's true lovers are discovered in times of aridity and temptation meaning Those who truly love God At a deeper level when they encounter difficulties Remain with him Right and they don't abandon him because they don't like what he's doing, right? You know, they don't if he doesn't give him what they want Then they don't go. Okay. I'm out of here or something that they don't understand Which we see a lot today as well where people are confused about something that's happening in the church or in their own personal lives And because they have those feelings attached to it and some of it may be objectively bad You know, they assume that God has exited the building and therefore they're going to exit Right. It's like dude, that's a that's so far opposite of what you need to be doing right now Yeah, you know on a smaller example and further. I think he's quoting Teresa or he this may just be him But it is important to lay great stress on the point because some souls beginners in the spiritual life Finding themselves in spiritual aridity think God has abandoned them or that the spiritual life is not for them Thus they give up the practice of prayer and lose what they have previously gained, right? So I'm curious So I know in in my own story of my reversion I when I first started learning mental prayer It was showered with consolations. It was just like every time I went to prayer It was just consolation after consolation.  My prayer is very very dry. It's been dry for years And what we're reading in here And this is the question I'm asking you because you've counseled a lot of people But my suspicion is and this also comes from my conversations with a lot of people That as soon as prayer gets hard People exit, right? Is that what you've experienced as well? Yeah, I mean it's common. Well, it depends like in the average parish. Yeah I think you know in our community. No because we teach in a possibly VA we teach people And help them understand this and and the folks in AV or tend to be have gone at least through some significant conversion Those who have not gone through any kind of conversion Are often praying and this isn't a condemnation Or even a criticism. It's just a description They're often praying to get something from God Or bargaining to get what they want and if they don't get what they want, they're out of here, you know And and and these people are often good people like they wouldn't do that to their spouse or their best friend It's like give me this and then stand there And if you don't give it to them then go well to blank with you I'm done with you because you won't give me what I want, but what's weird is The one to whom we owe everything Nobody on earth fits that description, but the one to whom we owe everything We do that too.  There's no, you know, people uh This there's this big controversy now about this pill for people who are using weight that Also the people use for diabetes or something, you know And uh, so that but when you go off the pill apparently you gain the weight you had before And a lot more, you know So and it's apparently pretty dangerous, but You know, why do people do take pills instead of doing exercise and eating right, you know It it's that it's sort of that mentality.  I used my turn signal Where's my stuff?  I'm out of here Like who does that everybody? Yeah, too many people do that.  It's wisdom. It's perspective It's like if you were in the first century walking around and you're struggling with something and jesus is a football field away What are you doing? I don't know about you I'm going over there because he's the king of kings and lord of lords. He knows everything The world is in his hand. Why wouldn't I go and give myself to that? Well, let's see other problematic aspect of what we're talking about it or talking about where people when they choose to leave You know prayer or leave Whatever the case may be in times of aridity or desolation. It's fundamentally saying that I'm not getting my way which is one narcissistic and then two I can do it better than god Yeah, well, it yeah, or or it's saying You're terrible at being god. Yeah, right, right, which is in essence saying I'm putting yourself in judgment over god, right like there's a better way to do this and boy You sure don't know. Yeah, it's a dangerous dangerous place. If you were as smart as me You'd be better. So we better we got to go to a break. So when we get back We'll continue talking about aridity desolation mental prayer and finding peace in the storm. We'll be right back before we go back into the show a etch a homo retreat lentin retreat spiritual direction. Comfort slash events a course In the avalanche institute a graduate level course bible and revelation of prayer A review of prayer from genesis to revelation Dr. Alfonso pinto was teaching it. So Really a powerful course check that out many other courses to change your life avalanche Institute.org So let's head back into the show shall we So we're doing 12 and a half minutes this time Let's make sure I just did that on purpose to To loosen up the okay. I'll have to fix that Yeah, so Okay, and your market set go. This is dan and jordan berk welcome back to divine intimacy radio We are talking about aridity and desolation and prayer And that we should never stop praying No matter how we feel ever ever ever and if we do Devil's pretty happy about that. I don't know. Do you think the devil's pretty happy about that? Yeah, yeah without a doubt Yeah, one of the one of the several demonic principles is anything but god Yeah, and that covers a wide range of things But if in this case if they can get you away from prayer Then separate you from the vine in that way, you know, you're not going to receive the graces that you would Even if you don't feel them you're still getting graces, you know, they're still there And in fact, you know, I tell guys this all the time Yeah, I don't I don't feel anything in prayer. It's like I don't either but guess what? There's almost more merit in my mind at least I could be wrong and showing up when you don't feel like it Then there is when you show up, right when you're being showered with constellations Yeah, I've certainly heard that taught so that there is more merit When you yeah when you don't because it takes more will yeah more of an act of the will I think it's important to Talk about this aspect of all of these challenges Aridity stinks It's not fun Desolation feels terrible.  Yeah, no not at all. That's not what we're promising It's not what Alphonse's Liguria is promising You know, Jesus Jesus felt The incredible pain and suffering he felt in the agony of the guard in the garden or In the passion, you know in his crucifixion. He felt it But there's a difference between those who are dominated By their suffering They have a victim mentality there and they they pile on irritation and rejection of God's will to that and so their disposition is one of darkness Rather than one of peace in the midst of the storm So you can suffer and be at peace at the same time, right? Have you ever experienced that? Yeah, I mean a lot actually there's stuff I can't talk about but I mean I've got I've briefly hinted at you know, some of the incredibly painful Unobjectively unjust objectively evil things That I'm having to endure Um, and I'm at peace with in that circumstance, but your heart still aches Oh, it's that doesn't mean that I don't have nights where I just weep Yeah, you know and days where I'm just like trying to hold it together. Yeah Because that happens. Yeah, but You know my my peace is not Dictated by how I feel right because I can experience those things and still know that God is working through those things And I think it's important too because if if you If you only focus on yourself if you only I could I could easily say this is objectively evil This is what's happening to me. This is unjust all of that would be true But what I'm not doing is looking at God and saying God, where are you at in this situation? Right? So when we're talking about this shifting of the lens of your viewpoint of everything What I'm doing is I'm actively saying like in the garden Lord, I would really love for you to take this away from me. You're well be done That is my prayer Right and people should be saying that like that is they Jesus gave you that example for a reason That is the perfect prayer for these situations. There's no better prayer Um, but when I'm when I'm focusing on God, where are you at? What are you doing? I'm I'm allowing myself and I'm opening myself to turn Instead of turning inward to turn outward and see oh look, he did move there This little thing was definitely him his hand is on it here His hand is on it here and then you start seeing more things Still doesn't relieve the pain But it allows you to know and have peace God is in control of all this if everything that I believe in scripture is true Then I need and then he's working somewhere and whether or not I see it You know, but the more you can turn outwards the more you can see it. I don't know if that makes sense It does make sense. You know the other aspect of this where peace comes in is that You stopped looking at people as political adversaries You know or enemies even if they act like it. Yeah Um, even if they are objectively your enemy and they want to harm you You you look at them and you think a number of things You know father forgive them for they know not what they do like Jesus prayed Or you you think well hurt people hurt people and But the whole perspective you have From this vantage point of luguri is God's at work. This person is in your life For a reason right What's the reason and how do you how do you join what he's trying to accomplish? Usually it's your own salvation and your own You know Your own, uh, I don't know Maturation or realizing, you know faults in your own in yourself But I but the but when we Rail at other people and get upset with other people It's it's just because we're not looking up right right. There's like no divine Element to the way we view relationships and and the people that God allows in our lives, right, you know, I I've I've had A huge a number of beautiful people in my life And some that did tremendous harm Even in my own home as a kid You know even even recently where you know folks will Make judgments based on limited information and Because they don't they're not disciplined to assume the best They assume the worst and when it's nothing even close to the truth and then there's no track record of that either Yeah, when there's no right when there's no track record either that's like oh, yeah, which makes work It's sort of more painful. It's like well. Have I not you know demonstrated Over the years that I you know, I'm I'm trustworthy, right So When and when have you seen me not trustworthy? Okay. Well, why why are you suddenly accusing me of not being trustworthy? You know, whatever whatever the circumstance where I'm just sort of making things up to mask the any details But the the the fundamental principle is there for me And and by the way, I've been that person for somebody else. No doubt, right same. Yeah Where somebody else is going why did god put dan Burke in my life? This guy is such an idiot and he's and he's really causing me pain and he's really bugging me and you know Um, I just have no doubt somebody has thought that a long way But you know, when you when you recognize his work, you think well The lord gave you to me and me to you and we're both supposed to learn something Doesn't mean we're always supposed to walk side by side unless we're married Then we are always supposed to hug somebody side But but I mean just it's it's one of the things I love about the word sojourner, you know And the apostolate be a community we have this concept of sojourners Or meaning people who walk side by side with us for a period but may not stay With us, but we will remain friends, you know regardless So so it may not be it may be that you know There's challenges and that the person isn't supposed to walk with you Forever and those challenges come to an end when they stop walking with you But while they are walking with you look up and ask the lord to to show you what what he's doing And then all anxiety is gone and then You know And then we're walking in a place of peace right but the other way is just too painful Yeah, I just don't like it What else does he say here that's moving to you anything else stand out? The time of aridity is the best time to practice resignation to god's holy will I do not say you will feel no pain in seeing yourself deprived at the sensible presence of god It is impossible for the soul not to feel it and lament over it When even our lord right out on the cross my god my god, why have you forsaken me? Right? And I think it's just a great way to sum up everything that we've said Yeah, I mean the the example of jesus Saying that about people who are Spitting in his face and mocking him and people just need to keep that in mind You know the time of aridity is the best time to practice practice resignation to god's will because it is so contrary To our feelings and emotions so contrary to our feelings and emotions If you can get that one thing in your head and remember it Like okay god feels really far It's probable that he's actually closer than he's ever been Even though I can't feel it. Yeah, if you're in here I can make a strong statement on that effect If you're a person of good will and you're chasing after him I can promise you and assure you that his he is present right and it only feels like he's not right, but it's you know I love the analogy that john of the cross uses And our producer has a new little baby as well named lisa but when lisa There's a point at which lisa needs to be put down You'd like to carry him around all day and because he's so stinking cute and he's got a great smile and he's A great disposition so you'd like to carry him around all day But a smart parent knows that the little one's got to be set down Why because he's otherwise his muscles won't develop. He won't learn to walk You know all of that, but the the first time you set lisa down I'm betting I don't know if the producer would agree with me or not His it's the first time you put him down and he and his face is toward the ground And he can't yet turn his head over or turn. He's crying. He's like, where's my I've been abandoned Life is terrible Nobody loves me. I'm alone where but mom or dad is just right behind him right Why why does he feel that way? It's because he he he's not able to see in the moment Yeah, and but we have to exercise by faith what we can't see And trust the lord and trust the saints in the way that they teach teach us that know You know probably in eridity Or especially contemplative eridity, but probably in eridity He's closer. Yeah, you know, and he's doing work in us That we need done a sort of holy spiritual surgery And if we would just say I trust in you Jesus, I trust in you Jesus I trust in you Um, we won't find the storms so scary Yeah, or so threatening or so disheartening You know losing we losing hope is terrible losing Faith is terrible, you know But it come we come we come by it pretty easily. So If this book is in this conversation has been a blessing to you Please go out to ewtn's religious catalog and pick up finding peace in the storm If you buy the book from them two cool things will happen one they'll send it to you And the other is you'll help ewtn that's certainly something we want to do And you can find all these previous shows out on spiritualdirection.com And we're just about the end of our study if you want to catch another show today Because we're live streaming now an ewtn pop over to spiritualdirection.com YouTube page And you'll see the part two of the next show But whatever you do, we're glad you're here and we're grateful And hopefully we're helping you in the interior life and in your spiritual life And uh with that we're out Until next time may the god of peace make you perfect in holiness May he preserve you whole the entire spirit soul and body You're approachable at the coming of our lord jesus christ


We are going to start our open studio exhibition. These are students from Fine Art Experimental Media. They prepare something for us. Happy to see you here. Yeah, I think everyone's ready. We can start. So I will present myself very quick. I'm Selina. I'm studying my MA Fine Art Masters, Masters in Fine Art on Brock College. And I'm also a social media ambassador. So I'm here. We're happy to be here. We're going to start an exhibition, as I said. It's an open studio exhibition with our students from Fine Art Experimental Media. They prepared something for us. And we also have here with us Kelly and John. If you can maybe wave. Kelly is the program leader and John. He's the main teacher. Thank you guys for putting this together for all of us. So if you may please kind of start with telling us about the program, what are the students have been doing for the past years? What are we going to, what are we expecting to see today? Thanks. Thank you, Selina. Yeah, sure. So I'm Kelly Hoban. I'm the program leader of our Bachelor's of Fine Art Experimental Media program, which is a three-year degree. It takes three years to earn this degree. The students who are here presenting today are currently in their third year, only actually less than a semester away from graduating. In the first two years of the program, students experience a lot of different media. They study in traditional media like drawing, painting, and sculpture. And our program really emphasizes new media, the use of technology. And this is why our program is called Fine Art Experimental Media. So they work with animation, video and sound production, three-dimensional animation, 3D game art. Some of our students explore virtual reality and augmented reality in their studio practice. So after two years of really exploring a lot of different approaches and studio-based research to really establish a person's own studio practice, in the third year, our students choose their own path, their own direction. They select the media and the approach that they really want to pursue as a professional artist. So they spend the year really fine-tuning and developing this independent studio practice with the support of critiques, support of lectures, tutorials, individual attention. And they cultivate this practice throughout the entire year, which ends with a final exhibition. And John Hill is the module leader for the independent studio practice module in the autumn and the final exhibition module in the spring. So maybe I can hand it over to John. Yeah, thanks. So I mean, I teach all throughout the three years of the Prague College fine art course, working with people in theory, working with them on exhibition practice, but it's really in the third year where I'm the module leader and the head of the studio program in the third year, where I get to really work with students on what they make and on what they want to make. And it's in third year that students get their own studio space. And Sophie and Kea are currently in the first floor studio space. Oh, and you can see now. So this is a video we took early today of the fine art studios on the first floor of our studio building called Bishops Court. And that's where students will spend the whole of their final year really working on projects in any media, any of the medias they've worked with throughout their time at Prague College, whether it's digital or whether it's a more traditional drawing or painting or photography. And they have two full semesters, first of all, to develop really fine tune what exactly it is they're going to do, the tools they're going to work with, the media they're going to work with, the ideas they're going to work with. And then in the final semester, the final half of their third year, which is where we are now, we've just started, it's really about taking that work and getting it ready to show, getting it ready for a final exhibition where there'll be a public audience to really come and see a completed body of work. And it doesn't need to be one thing. It doesn't need to be in one kind of art. It doesn't need to be in one media. And as you'll see, I think the students who are going to show you work today, they're all working across a range of different things, even right up to the end. But it's all being brought together through their study, through their research into a single practice, a single thing that they can say, each part of the work that I'm showing is part of the same way of thinking, part of the same, my own personal artistic approach to my own, the thing I want to say, or the thing I want to do, or the thing that I want to put into the world. And they get a chance for everyone gets a chance to see that at the final exhibition, which this year will be right at the end of June. Thank you, John. I don't know if someone from the students want to say something about their space that we're seeing on screen, any comments around how do you feel Bishop's Court, this studio is based in Central Dunham Prague, very close to many things from the front main campus too, so if any student want to just comment about the space, what guys do you think about the space you are giving? I think it really depends on what you want to do. Like, different parts of the spaces have a different aura. For instance, my studio is a bit near the window and it's really nice, but it's not that cozy and it's a bit cold. But mainly I was doing maybe some watercolors or some collecting of trash there, so it's fine. And it's really close to a lot of shops. Sometimes just grab some oranges, I mean. Yeah, I think this school and the studio provides, like, they provide the alternatives for what you want to express or dive into an experiment with. So if it is digital, there's good internet and good computers to use. Or if you want to do paintings, there's also like the teachers in painting and sculpture that will help you. And I think the teacher has different attributes that they can provide also different opinions and a good broad spectrum of knowledge. Yeah, for sure. So I think it's great. I'm also, as I said, studying on the Fine Arts program and I also have a shared space studio and I think it's one of the best features out of these programs that us, like we have a space where we can just completely be creative and use as we want. And it is great for our own research, artistic research and experimentation. So with that said, I think it's enough for introductions and I think everyone is eager to see some of your work. So let's start with the work of Sophie. You can wave your hand on me and just show us your work, what you've been doing. Yeah, so I think we had a portion in the video that sort of showcased one of the things that I was doing, which is an installation. And I, this past semester and just in general, I think I've been very interested in memories and sort of how we remember things and how that can become something very specific or something very general and sort of the way how our brains work in that way. So that was sort of one of the bigger topics that I was looking into this semester. So the installation itself has a sound part and a more visual part with photos. And it sort of is both talking about the difference in sort of very vivid memories and memories that are more forgotten or more like a very specific concept of a memory. So that's sort of what the thing itself was about. I will share part of your video with everyone. So we can see it again there. This is a little bit about the photos. Like, did you got them from during a period of time? Are they recent? Yeah, so the photos are basically from a very big archive that I had, which are photos that I've been taking of just my life, my friends, sort of very vivid moments that I wanted, in the moment, sort of wanted to remember. And it's like a really big archive at this point because I think I started it back in like 2012 maybe. And I've always wanted to give some input with those into my artistic practice. So I first always more used them as sort of an archive. And now I really wanted to see more how I could make them part of this installation because the sounds that you're hearing are a lot of people, friends, for my life that are talking about a very vivid memory that they had. So that's sort of describing something very vivid in my mind. And I think a lot of the photos that I use for this piece are things that are very vivid memories, but maybe they also sort of became vivid memories because I have photos of them. So there's sort of like a two-part setup where part of it is the sound installation and then the part of it is like a part of that archive of photos that I had that I'll have some sort of a context on the back so that you could sort of go through them physically. Thanks for any questions that anybody has. You can just pop them on the chat of the Zoom or Facebook and I will just keep going, going back to them. So then we have, let me just stop, sorry, Niklas. Hi, Niklas here. You want to wave your hand and talk to us a little bit about your work, please. Yes, so I have this a bit chaotic space that have kind of fluxed. Like first I was sitting next to the window and was working next to Anthony. But my sort of creative process expanded through the shared space of the studio. It's kind of working with the relationship with like the environment, how we were influenced with, influenced by all the impressions that we take notice of or we don't take notice of it. So in the beginning I was kind of like, I was sort of feeling my colleagues and fellow students who was working and I ended up moving my space to this, this what you see and putting, trying to concise all of the stuff into this smaller space or kind of big space. But, and so I'm trying to understand our environment of like, yeah, trying to understand how things work. So it has led to me focusing on textures and also like this because, so I, and yeah. So this, so then I work with the material that I have at my disposal and it becomes my gesture, sort of like an interactive work process and going back and forward and trying to see how the space work within itself or maybe I take it out like in a white box kind of scenario and or I'll put it back inside my, my ongoing work space that, and I'm creating the environment and I'm creating the environment and trying to think about like, what's the different with making an environment or making an installation. And yeah, so it's kind of a lot of things to think about and you see some of my tools that I work with and that is also important to me. What about if I can interrupt you? What about this work? Yes. A little bit about it. Yes, so this work I called the Risesware and it's kind of like a Risesware is the area around the roots of a tree or a plant there. And so it's about the being like growth and what it's, and I'm thinking about that and you can think about the different things like sitting under a tree and meditate. And I guess when you present artwork, what are you trying to say and thinking about this? And I guess I would want to inspire people to meditate. So I have a tree on top of my head. Thank you. I will jump now to Teya. You can maybe raise your hand so we see you. Okay, I see you now. Hi. So let me pop your video and start telling us a little bit about your work. What do you want to show us today? Sure.  And I've also been exploring performance art during this time. And still a lot of my work is centered around video and how video relates to performance as well. This past semester I spent most of my time working on my research thesis and also understanding what my own practice is about. So I was experimenting with a lot of mainly digital things, one of which is I was using a lot of medical imagery in my work. And this is because of a workshop that I attended last year and I've basically been doing a lot of experiments with that kind of material. And a lot of my work also includes my own image. As you can see on my website, it literally starts with my face. So yeah, there's a lot of me in my videos. The one you're seeing on the screen right now is actually the one that I'm going to show you. And just to talk about this, maybe just talk about this specific video. Because we had to make a video CV and I really wanted to make something that I want to be able to show people outside of applying for a job or submitting for a project in school. I wanted to make something that I personally like and I can say that it's mine. And it's, you know, it has something to do with my own practice. So I used videos of people that I know that I've worked with. And I just used videos of them talking about me and their experience of working with me. So this video is mainly about understanding how working with those people has shaped my practice. And that's what I wanted to do. So I wanted to make something that I personally like and I can say that it's mine and it's, you know, it has something to do with my own practice. And that's why this is my video CV. Yeah. I'm going to rock. I worked with Kaya on the project that was called insider with very word team of four women working together. We were creating a. Installation performance for one person at a time. Working with Kaya is always fun. She is very creative. She always, she was a great attribute in the process because she was always thinking differently. The other three of us were working more in. Performative arts and so her. Thinking was always very different and she always brought like. Ideas that were new to us and a little bit. What we were thinking. So that was always a great way of working together. She's also very hardworking. She's maybe too hardworking. I don't know. But she never really gives up on anything. She really wants to try anything. The people you interviewed, they knew they were going to be on this, on this piece or you like didn't tell them anything. You were just like, Hey, what do you think about me? How was the approach? I actually had like a whole plan for the video CV initially that I wanted to, I had, I had kind of written a basic script on the way. So I had written down messages to each of these people that I want to use. I want to just, just send me a short video of you talking about me and I also give them some context that I wanted to be just some highlights about, you know, just talk about when we work together and how you felt. So I didn't, I didn't really tell them exactly what to say, but I did give them some structure of what I want them to talk about. And it just so happens that everyone sent really long videos. I didn't expect that I thought I would just say, give me like 30 seconds of how much you love me. But then everyone sent really nice long videos and I thought, this is what the whole thing should be about. Yeah. Yeah, all right. Like kind of respecting the material you receive from other people and not trying to fix it on a box. It's maybe kind of on the challenges. Yeah, that's true. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the material. Thank you. Now give the word to Elisabeth. Elisabeth, can you. I'm not sure Lisa was able to join the call today. Sorry, sorry. So Anthony, I see you there in class. So, I will put it on the share screen once again. Yes. So, so my work. Start with the comments from my previous teacher of concert. He said that I, he knew that I breathed like a thousand or a million times a second. And so my work is basically about digestion. So, so this, this year I kind of diagnosed as having Crohn's disease, which I'm still kind of skeptical kind of, but, but so all this is my trying of like how to poke because at first I didn't trust like restaurant food. And so this is also my food log and this is my planning of how like, how I can show all these things. So there's one layer of my personal digestion to, to understand what I should eat at where and what.  And so, and so I'm so confused and, and that's why I knew I need to build my own layer of understanding. And so you see all of these. And while in the video, somehow you can see a shelf and that is the second layer of digestion, which is kind of like a lot of the times I ate, but get the report of art, which now I kind of don't want to buy too much of it. But anyway, I had accumulated a lot, but get the full part reps and all, all are the different kinds of materials, mainly papers and some trust. Let's see. So much. And, and so, and so I think that although these, these are maybe perhaps 40% of the ways that are produced. I think that is, is also a good practice for me to think about how I can digest my experience generally. So, so the next semester, I might, I might try to ask help from him, from him to help me to kind of try to how to build an environment from, from these kind of trash and thinking about like, like about digestion, like we, we are all dealing with more information and we ask other people for advice, but we never really ask about ourselves about how we feel and think about it. And I think we, we should, we should instead of trying to tackle the problem of how I can digest, but how I can guide my own normal digestion. So, so see, so to, to shape or to like have a second offer I to see how I normally think. And so to, to, to change how I normally think. So it's kind of meta, but anyway, all these things is about digestion, digestion. So, I think that's it for me. So was there a kind of some guideline or parameter for the food you were choosing to try? Like where you were all types of food or any recommendation or you were limiting yourself. So it depends on different period of time for, for instance, there were a period of time where I was super weak. And so every day I cook the same thing, which is chicken breast rice. And then later on, I feel better. So I start to eat cooked things that are less oily. And, and even in vegan restaurants, although they are kind of healthy, but they are oftentimes oily as well. So at that period of time, I have this decision. And then I, other period of time that I have different choice, decisions, because I maybe asked my nutrition for advice and she said something, oh, you should not eat eggs.  I just cannot handle how I just cannot think about like, what is the otherwise. So, so in this night naivety, so in my own, so now I'm acknowledging how naive I am. And so now I'm just trying to cook and eat with my knife, naive naiveness. While at the same time, I know that I have to learn cooking better. But, but so there's some kind of balance and, and it's, it's about, it's not about what to eat. It's about what to eat at what moment and what environment. And yeah, it's kind of like just to be present. I think to find a comfort in yourself a bit like this. I personally find it pretty reliable. Like there's no one being that doesn't have this process of digestion. I think maybe we can have, kind of have thoughts around it. Yeah. And it's also like now, now that I'm eating and I'm thinking, oh, I can, I can, I can still survive. I can, it's fine. I can still, now I'm better. So I eat restaurant food. But at the same time, you kind of understand that perhaps I still have to learn about each, and though now I feel good eating restaurant food. So it's, it's like, it's like what I eat now and what I eat before I got diagnosis. It's a bit, it's quite similar, but the understanding is different because I do all this research and how understanding what I feel about different kinds of food. Nadia, if you can talk to us a little bit about your work, while I put your video on. Right. So because of this current situation and I haven't been really working in the studio itself that much. So it ended up just being me having all my things in my apartment and I didn't know how to really display all this stuff that I made. So it was a mixture of digital things that you can't really see here from this video that much, but there were videos and different things that I was just exploring. I really wanted to focus this time, this studio time on just trying to make as much content as possible to then pick and choose and maybe see what I'm really interested in to kind of develop further into the final project that we're going to be working on right now in the semester. So I decided to bring the things that I made and since it was a lot of different things, physical and digital, I created this installation because I didn't have a set space in the studio anyway. I thought why not make it like play with the content? So how do I kind of display it in an interesting way? Or I put it in the toilet, in the bathroom, you know, just a really, you know, unconventional, I guess, place, but it worked with the content really well, I think, especially with the video. After seeing that the projection really fits with the ceiling, like just how it dimensionally kind of fits in the ceiling, I thought, okay, I'm going to do that. So you can sit on the toilet, look up, watch the video that's created with different textures. I really was interested in exploring, like creating the body, kind of taking it apart and maybe making something else out of it. It's almost like making, like processing it through like a food processor, I don't know. It's just all texture, very meaty, fleshy looking things. Kind of maybe landscaping, maybe a little bit overwhelming, especially in this tiny space. So yeah, and yeah, I also did some paintings there. I was really with the physical things, the mask, that's right at the beginning. This is a failed experiment. This phone was used as a texture in the video. And I was also exploring different parts of the body. So for example, you know, bones or teeth that are my own.  The spray paints were also stenciled from the model of my teeth. And this is my video CV playing on the computer. And yeah, the mask at the very, very beginning with the, the white one with the teeth on it too was made. Yes, this one. It was modeled at the teeth that are like a, a cast from the alginate that dentists use. So I put dentures in and then made a copy of this like set of teeth and painted it and glued it onto the mask and the hair is, it's real hair. It's my hair from my childhood, which is also like what makes it so personal. I named it it's personal because it's kind of all the memories that it holds and the relationship of me with my hair and how I use it to express myself. And I still do to some degree and how it kind of affected me as a woman, as a person growing up and all that stuff. So yeah. I understand your video on the bottom has some audio. So no, no. No, no. Only the CV, but that's like a separate thing. Yeah, so just a question now, like you didn't think about this face, it just fit. I think that's very interesting. Like, not in a first layer with things that would fit, but maybe you're reading the space. I don't know how did it occur to you when you saw the bathroom. So I knew it. I knew how kind of how it looks, but with me with my process, everything is always last minute. It's always pushed to the very, very, very last thing. So when I heard that, oh, now we have to think about installing it in the real space, because it was a question. Do I show it digitally only because I knew I'm going to be away. I'm away from the country now. So there was a suggestion, maybe you can make a video of your videos and of your works. But I was like, I have three days. This is too much work.  I want it in the real space. I want to have a hammer in my hand and just some, some stuff to the wall, you know, like it's fabric. So I thought, okay, I'm going to make it in the studio. But then I was sitting down with some of my friends, like Kaya and Sophie. And there was this list of people just reserving space. And actually, I think Kaya was the one that suggested maybe you can use the bathroom. Yeah. Okay, let's try it. And then I tried it and I loved it. But it was a very chaotic, very, very fast process of me trying to pack my stuff and leave the country. And also said it's all in the studio with all the restrictions that are going on. So. Yeah, I think for, for artists now it's one of the main challenge. Like, maybe you're not in the place, but just with COVID, the pandemic going around, where do we show our work? Who wants to display it? And does our work need to fit this space? Like there is a whole conversation going on about, so we have to make it digital. No, everybody can see it. Yes. I think your installation kind of reflects that challenge that artists are dealing with now. Like, so we, where do I put it? Which gallery? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So does anyone, let me just check the chat to have some questions. These are the list of students I have. So yeah, I have some questions here in the chat. So I will just ask them. So Sophie, we have a question about the sound installed in your space. Like, what is it is? Where do you got it? You know, general, general about the sound, like if there was any special process to it? Yeah. So I think in my practice, I've always been very interested in sort of being able to convey through foreign languages. Being like an expat in progress. I think that's like a very central thing to a lot of people's lives. So I had in the past always used a lot of samples from different languages or different people talking. So these were specifically conversations I was having with friends of mine about, they're all describing. Memories that they have and the most vivid memory that they have from their past. And we were sort of having conversations of them and I took a lot of snippets from them. So I think it's like a Norwegian girl, a Ukrainian, a Turkish, there's some Dutch in there, there's some Austrian in there, some German. So it's a big mingle of all these different languages and sort of all trying to convey a story to you. That was sort of very much the intent that it was them telling a story to you. So when you sort of walk through the room, they're all from a couple of different speakers so that you could sort of get closer to some people telling you the story. And so it sort of matches with the things that are displayed. You're on mute, Selena. Thanks, sorry. Right over here, you're on mute. So I'm sorry, Kaya, this is for you actually about finding collaborators to work in Prague. How difficult was to reach for these people with the current situation? I would say most of the people I've met kind of started through Prague college, honestly. One of the first people that I started working with was one of my teachers, Christina. And through her, I met some more people in Bernou, who also enjoyed like working with me. So it's really just been about meeting people through whatever immediate connections I can make. So school has been a good way to do that, but it does take some, I would say it does take some action, like you really need to be more active and try and work with people that you meet in school.  Yeah, I asked them. Some of the people are actually from Bombay. Two of the people in the video are from India. Before coming to Prague, I was also, I was working in a digital marketing company. So I already have like some experience of working with people and in like a more sort of corporate ish. So those are the people who are also in the video. Yeah. I think I want to add something. I think, like, if there's no COVID, like even in COVID, I think Prague is kind of having a free vibe where there's a lot of, like, young community that is starting up and or, like, it's mainly going to those places that you talk to people and then, and it's not like you directly gain connection from there, but it's like, you see them enough and they kind of invite you to do something. And so it's being active is not only, like, in the school, but also, like, maybe asking your teachers to invite you to some kind of exhibition and some kind of parties and those people are really interesting. And yeah, I think that's one of the really important things to do as an artist in Prague, I think. So maybe I would be maybe curious about stranger's first impressions, but maybe it would be a little difficult to talk to someone and be like, hey, what do you think about me? Just for how I'm right now, I think it would be kind of also a challenge. I don't know, I'm just thinking about that. Yeah, no, it was better before COVID. Now maybe a little bit less people and then so it seems like more stranger, but if there's more people, it's like everyone is. It's also kind of stranger, so it doesn't really matter if you're a stranger or not. I have a question for Nadia about the content of your videos. I will share again and I know this is maybe a little bit hard to see with the video we have, so you can just talk us through what we can see on the videos. What you can see. What we can't see. What we can't see. Okay, so there. Yeah, this one was my video CV, which is because, I mean, that was a task to one of the tasks that we had to do was to create a video CV, but it kind of grew on me. Like when I first learned about that we have to do this, I really hated the idea. I thought it's pointless and just terrible because I hate writing artist statements and CVs and all that stuff, but with the video as a medium and with the ability to create an artwork out of it in a way, it really became a statement like a really strong thing that tied everything that I did together, even though it was, as I said, a lot of different things that you can also see here. And there was like a series of photos and all that stuff. This was like a very important piece in the end. So I decided to display it even if only on this monitor. And the projection in the bathroom was like a bunch of experiments with textures and just tied together so it would play with the space a little bit. So if it was dark and if you were sitting there with the doors closed, it would look like kind of an illusion of the ceiling moving and everything being kind of overwhelmingly above you that you can look at. And I used a lot of different techniques here. I think the video is a couple minutes long and this piece right here was created with artificial intelligence.  And then it was put through an algorithm that looks for a landscape in a picture, but it wasn't a landscape. It was a piece of face, right? So it kind of distorted the images and made this lateral walk, I think it's called, where it creates a sequence from pictures into a video. So it kind of morphs together and it looks like this now. If I can ask why a landscape? Why did you choose the algorithm of landscape and not any other? To kind of have something that's a little bit recognizable but not really. So I didn't want it to preserve the look of an eyeball or like the look of a smile with a mouth and teeth. I wanted it to have an uncanny kind of baked resemblance to something that you know, so to just look fleshy and look like a part of a human or like an organism in a way. But it's not to an extent that you can clearly tell what it is. I find it very interesting with the whole story. And it fits with the bathroom idea, right? Yes, I mean it is a little bit gross and yeah. Okay, I will go to Nicolas now.  What has changed in working here in Brock College and is there some evolution to your work? Yeah, nice questions. Like before I was painting a lot and I consider my... and kind of have a challenge of like how abstract my painting would be and I always kind of like almost went abstract but kind of had some figurative elements to keep it bounded. But it feels like trying all the new media or the technology so I'm like really broaden my... all the tools that are available for my art practice and having a lot of challenges like this which you don't see here. But this kind of... then again went like full circle so I sort of come back to the painting and it's like I paint freely with the materials. I'm not bound to paint and brushes. You see like there's cardboard and fabrics and in some ways it's still sort of like a painting to me when I work but it's freely working with all the materials that are available to me.  I need to check if you have a question on Facebook someone from Thailand is watching hey there and they comment on the Facebook. Yeah so if you have any other questions don't be shy pop them I'm checking for them here in the chat. I think it was an awesome display of how different it is now how maybe you guys started in a different scenario and you have to adapt to the studio work and adapt to what's happening and changing your research practice which for me personally is kind of the most challenging part like maybe I can just come and get all these tools and try to do something because research has to hold on to time even this time it was like a little disconnected on display because we had all these other things to process through so yeah I don't think there don't have any questions I'm receiving so I'm not young if you want to tell us something after hearing your students like if there is any that you anything that you will add to their work or something that maybe you notice more because sometimes us as students we don't see this process and our teachers can have clear a timeline Well I mean the only thing I would say which I think was quite obvious from what everyone said and all the work they showed was one and how much people are working together and how much like it's like so much of having a studio practice about is about conversations between between different people about their work whether that's through like the organized critiques and tutorials that we do or whether that's just people talking to each other in the studio and that's like a really important part of what makes what makes the course work and unlike how you learn to how you learn to be an artist I guess and then the other thing I thought was also just to say thinking about how like flexible the studio is so different people sometimes you're making very small work sometimes you're making very big work but in the space we have that you can see there is a really big or really flexible space so sometimes you can take over a whole part of the a whole corner of the studio to do an installation like Sophie has at the moment or like Nicholas has done and sometimes it's more about like bringing things together collecting things and you don't need so much space but when you do need it it's there and it's there for you to be able to use and I think like everyone this year has done a really good job of kind of making the best use of the space available while they can. Thank you and guys how does it affect your work to be seeing that your classmate or maybe other other artists like I know now it's mainly on digital and maybe you're not there but for me it kind of affects to see fellow artists working and how have you seen it in obviously reflected in your work and the work that you show that you maybe I don't know Nicholas if you kind of change from painting to see the contact with your other classmates or was it something else? I think it's like the reason why I chose this school I like just to kind of become or stay contemporary to have the arsenal of new media and but the space it's a it's a shared space but you have like your place where you can be private and work with your stuff but it's it's both a challenge but something that gives you a lot that you have your classmate next to you or across the studio and yeah I mentioned how my when I think about my work I think about all the impressions that you get if they're conscious or not and it's a great great studio space where people work hard under the things yeah definitely I've been there like once to be honest but I had like because the first week of the semester was he breathed so I could be there and it was like a great space I think everyone, every creative either designer or artist needs this type of space and also this type of webinars of open studio exhibition so that we can receive comments and I think it helps to talk about your work to people that have never seen it before this is your classmate so I think it was great to have you here we have some comments on the face of saying great job cool great job Anthony your work it's getting out there and I can maybe close just encouraging you to keep sharing it we can keep creating these spaces in social media for just broadcasting your work and I just wish you the best of luck for the next semester and what you're going to have presenting as your last one it will be very exciting hopefully we can be in person next time and if there's not any question guys or any other comments that you want to say I will play the whole video for you guys maybe just checking very positive comments guys around your work you can also maybe pop your social media on the chat for people or on the Facebook comments so they can see it there I think it was with the current situation very great to see we're kind of disconnected now and that you prepare these videos and all your work it kind of gives us an idea of what you're working on and what can be done studying in Prague College thank you for showing this to us thank you for putting some art out there in the world I think the world needs it highly and if everyone watching is interested in anything more just follow us on social media we'll kind of show you what you can do and also follow all those students there and find the whole Prague College community I think we will close now guys thank you again it was very nice goodbye