John F. Simon, Jr. iClock. 1998-present. Daily drawings, website.

iClock is a meditative daily drawing practice reaching back to 1998 in which Simon, Jr channels multi-dimensional states of mind into intuitive drawings that, according to the artist’s writing, map both geometry and change. Sitting with the resulting image made manifest on paper, Simon, Jr employs a poetic taxonomy inclusive of the date and a short reflection made up of prose and diaristic writing. Describing the practice as divination drawings, Simon, Jr. writes “My subconscious mind is using the drawing to send signs to my conscious mind.” In the context of the data/base, iClock is an outstanding example of how the process of visualization both renders and reorients the artist to the subconscious and subocular. Known for his seminal code-based work such as Every Icon, wherein an algorithm actively renders out every possible bitmap iteration of a 32x32 pixel grid at solar system speed (it will take trillions of years to complete), Simon, Jr continues to center the immediacy of a humble drawing exercise in his practice.

S_D/B: How, if at all, have you used your art practice to collect or create soft(qualitative) data on a lived experience (i.e: illness, pain, grief, trauma, etc.)?

JFSJr: Improvisational drawing naturally promotes healing - as I let go into the marks, I often notice strong feelings and irritations passing through my thoughts. Later I might remember some strong feelings that had been buried and I can let go through the pencil. The drawings are records of this. The drawing attached was the one that gave me a realization of the emptiness of self.

S_D/B: If applicable, what kind of corresponding hard(quantitative) data had accumulated in relation to this lived experience?

JFSJr: The feelings are the soft data, the drawings must be the hard data. I also take time at the end of the day to pick a drawing and put words to it. The words don't explain or describe the drawing but add some more concrete data about what the drawing is bringing up in my thoughts.

S_D/B: Has your creative practice altered, ameliorated, or otherwise defamiliarized your relationship with this lived experience? If so, how?

JFSJr: The daily drawing has opened me up to myself, shown me a meditative path, and is the anchor of my creative practice. I understand much more about who and what I am because of it.