I attended the presentation of the Mind the Heart Project by Maya Gelfman and Roie Avidan. They spoke of their journey from Tel Aviv to America, searching for meaning and truth, living out of a van and installing art in public spaces. Their art not only sparked conversation in public, but also within their lives. Along the journey, they asked themselves what five things needed to happen in a day to make them happy, constantly reflecting and growing. Their project meshed well with the concept of humanities in terms of this personal growth and its use of arts and other disciplines to explore what makes us human. They particularly explored the humanities in turning their identities upside down by abandoning their jobs and lives to find meaning. I also found it interesting how much of their motivation to do the project was by putting art in “ugly” spaces, triggering your senses to notice the often ignored area. This is a revolutionary concept; art often focuses on what is traditionally “beautiful,” so it is shocking to find art in often neglected spaces. Their combination of creating art where it is not typically found alongside their personal growth during the project made this a perfect event to reflect upon the humanities and revolution.
