Facing the World

"I do believe in stressing the physical aspect of consciousness because I believe that is what connects us as human beings. For me there are two kinds of culture, one that is an expression of the connection of man with the physical world that surrounds him and the other is familiar to us all as Western rationalization that separates us from the physical world. The paradox of this is that one leads to materialism and rationalization and the other to magic and freedom. My job in a broken but self-conscious world is to reaffirm connection. The world and my body must identify as one." (A. Gormley in: J. Hutchinson, E.H. Gombrich and L.B. Njatin, 'Antony Gormley', London 1995, p. 120.)