Myths at Midnight

 

It’s strange. I came up with the idea for this blog in the winter of 2010, but I never really put that idea into practice until March of the following year. Initially, I envisioned it as a kind of online art journal. A place where I could post my early experiments with video collage, essays I’d written at university that I thought might be interesting to a wider audience, and insights about art, history and current events. It seemed almost incidental at the time. An afterthought. Not really something that would be an integral part of my artistic life. However, Amid Night Suns quickly grew beyond that initial premise and became one of my most important avenues for self-expression and psychological health.

I quickly came to realise that the various forms of creativity posted to the blog didn’t have to be perfect. They just had to be thoroughly authentic. To myself as a person, to the things occurring in my inner life, and to my outlook on the world in general. I think I’ve managed to honour that requirement as my skills and modes of expression have evolved in the past fourteen years. It’s kind of crazy to think about because the blog is even more meaningful to me now than it was back then. It’s really been a touchstone for me. A useful platform for contemplation and self-reflection. Even though I deleted much of the blog’s earliest content during one of my lowest points, I didn’t remove any of my video-collage work from my YouTube or Vimeo channels. You can still find that work today, if you’re interested. Hundreds of little pieces of art, of varying quality. So, be kind. I’m still learning!

I also reposted many of the blog’s key deleted pieces, restoring much if not all the work I’d invested so much time and energy into. I’m glad I did that because I was never ashamed of my creative process, my earliest work, or the mistakes I’d made trying to hone my craft. I was just in a very dark place and became disillusioned with the exhausting journey of self-discovery, not the work itself. I quickly came to my senses though and realized I shouldn’t abandon Amid Night Suns. It was created with good intentions and had served me well up until that point. If depression and melancholy were the symptoms of a spiritual malaise, then art and creativity were the cure. That and firm, loving friendships. By the sheer grace of God I have all these things in my life now.

This is all to say I’m supremely grateful that I was inspired to create a platform where I could express my interests and explore my depths without fear of judgment or censorship. Obviously, I’m aware that my work isn’t for everyone. Many people might find the things I post here too dark, too oblique or self-indulgent, and that’s ok. Like I said, I initially envisioned this blog as a kind of online art journal where I could establish a dialogue with myself. More specifically, a dialogue between the conscious and subconscious aspects of my mind. Amid Night Suns is largely a journey through the various depths of one individual’s imagination. The utility of that journey is yours to decide, my friends.

I just want you guys to know that I’m not trying to trick anyone here, or appear smarter than I am. I have no interest in maintaining a mystique, or some ephemeral allure that comes with distance and inscrutability. I don’t give a shit about any of that. I don’t mind if these recent videos humanise me in some way, or even highlight my vulnerabilities. In fact, I’d prefer it. Artistic ego and delusions of grandeur are not why I post the collages or the esoteric free verse pieces on this blog. I do it to change my normal register of discourse, to better establish a connection with my subconscious mind. In a way, it’s a method of ever so slightly altering my consciousness without the use of drugs. I sometimes use meditation and breathwork to assist me in entering that more symbolic realm of mythopoetic imagination.

Artists and thinkers have often engaged in similar pursuits. Most famously the psychologist Carl Jung delved into the depths of his own consciousness and documented the entire creative process in what has become known today as The Red Book: Liber Novus, first published in 2009. Many critics view this process of Jung’s as a kind of creative illness. Perhaps even a form of madness. To me this seems an overly grim assessment of what is just an expression of the fundamentals of creativity, storytelling and narrative in action. Poetic association playing out in real time, through the lens of one person’s imagination.

So, I see my own work as a plethora of stories, video-collages and free verse poetry pieces that all exist in the same ‘world’ - within a kind of interconnected personal cinematic universe. Or multiverse, if you prefer. The Midnight Multiverse (patent pending). But in all seriousness, this process of mythopoetic imagination has been a very deliberate and illuminating experience for me. I’ve gained so much insight and joy from my artistic endeavours here at Amid Night Suns. And I hope they have uplifted, entertained or resonated with you in some way.  I’m a big believer in the idea that, even if we create something like an online art journal primarily to express ourselves, art is most potent and useful when it’s shared in a spirit of genuine friendship and service. That’s what I’ve been trying to do here for the last fourteen years. To connect and help people in some way though my own little bits and pieces of self-expression. The art of others has got me through some very difficult times, and my life is all the richer for it. I hope my own modest efforts can do the same thing for you, my friends.

Wishing you all the best, and with love,

Raj