Sagarika’s journey

I was born and raised in Auroville, and studied in the alternative, free progress route Auroville nurtures. By the time I completed my high school education in Last School I had worked on a variety of art projects, and I applied to college in the United States with an art portfolio. Taking time away from school and building this portfolio felt like a rite of passage, and as a visual learner it was a powerful collection of decisions to reflect on. At Bennington College in Vermont I was able to continue designing my education, using a system called ‘The Plan’. This process essentially allows and facilitates the student in mapping a field for study as well as practice that goes beyond the bounds of a traditional major. This means that at Bennington there are no majors or minors and the student’s ‘Plan’ is what informs their coursework for the term, eventually aligning with their year, and finally their ‘Senior Work’.

At the start of this journey I returned to Auroville during Covid in 2020-2021, and was one of the few students in my online classes able to continue working with clay, and out of a studio. Shoutout to Flame Pottery, Path Studio and Kailash, for sharing their space and resources. Lots of gratitude, too, for my community, especially during this year of uncertainty.

As an art student, I built and pursued my Plan of ‘Transformative Visual Language’ through a variety of classes. These included Qi Gong, Slow Studio, The Right to Opacity, Transformative Justice, as well as Nonsense, Surrealism and the Absurd. I also took advanced classes in Ceramics, Painting, and Drawing and developed a studio practice under the umbrella of Transformative Visual Language, using a ritual and process-based approach. This practice, starting from a need for authenticity in a new context, evolved to simply prioritise being rooted in holistic and integral ways of my being.

My senior work was a two-piece painting on canvas, a culmination of movement, mantras, codes, images and intentions that I had been researching and working with. The elements of this work were perpendicular to each other, one laying on the gallery floor, and the other on the wall. They were positioned to face each other, generating a third element in my eyes, the space in between.

Moving from the philosophical and spiritual lens of Last School, on through the academic space of Bennington, I looked for hands-on and immersive jobs in order to be more in the physical. Landing briefly at Matagiri in Woodstock, New York, while waiting for my work permit, I heard about Arcosanti, an adventure that piqued my interest.

Arcosanti (see Arcosanti.org) is an Urban Laboratory, founded in 1970 by Visionary and Architect, Paolo Soleri. His vision follows a term he coined, ‘Arcology’, a blend between architecture and ecology. Some may have heard about it from the potters and architects who have visited, or from the early exchange programme, Hexiad, which linked Auroville, Arcosanti, and Findhorn.

Getting in touch with old friends David and Nadia Tollas, and after an interview with Jean Tuller, the COO of Arcosanti at the time, I was invited over for an adventure, with open hands and nothing promised.

Landing at the Tollas, and being introduced to Arcosanti by three people who had been to Auroville made the transition very grounding for me. The Tollas and Adam Taylor shared their home through the lens of values, ideas, purpose, and love, all aligning with how I’m used to navigating community and finding myself within it. ‘Arco’ became home quite quickly, and as the community had a good understanding of what Auroville is, they allowed me to follow my own interpretation of their workshop-style entry process.

This space felt intuitive, inspiring, filled with incredible people, and brimming with energy. At Arcosanti, everyone works eight hour days, forty hours a week, and to live there, you have to work there (aside from the spouse policy). This was a dive into karma yoga, and it turned into a strong bond of family! Here I was involved in various workspaces for the first couple of months, gathering an understanding of how the place runs. I continued streamlining into more art-related projects, and also worked in the Ceramic Apse. In the Apse I led a mug project along with Shanta Ambady and Angela Piro, using the famous bell moulds to produce mugs. The mugs survived the prototype and review stages, and are now selling well in the gallery at Arcosanti. Participating in the design review committee for the mugs also provided me with a lot of insight into community processes and the aspirations of Arcosanti.

Throughout my time there, there was space for me to sense what part of my upbringing in Auroville was alive in me through my work, outlook, sense of community, and self. The intense application of physical work was transformative, and allowed for parts of my learning to fuse and become integrated in myself and my practice. At Arcosanti I did very little of my own personal artwork: my energy was completely channeled to my body and I was held in this by the collective work of my community.

As my visa neared its end, I had the chance to take a step back and reflect on Auroville and Arcosanti. Here is where I read Linking the Future about the three communities in the Hexiad project, familiarised myself with Teilhard de Chardin, and read more of Soleri’s work as well. Reflecting on the holistic and spiritual approach of Auroville, and the transformative power of Arcosanti, I began designing an exchange programme, which is still in the works. It was a blessing to end my journey by taking time to engage with the space in between the two communities, feeling completely supported by both spaces. And it didn’t hurt to have a huge festival, with DJ Skrillex closing the weekend in my backyard!

Now it is always a special adventure to be back home in Auroville. Thank you for allowing me to share a reflection of my journey away, open to what is to come.