Radiating Outward, Incrementally: A Manual

An experimental commentary on Atiśa’s 59 Lojong Slogans.

An artful, irreverent commentary on the Lojong or 59 Slogan teaching of ancient Buddhist sage Atiśa about how to live, how to manage, how to die, how to dream, how to everything and nothing-at-all but be.

Radiating Outward, Incrementally is a collaboration between writer Crystal Gandrud and visual artist Nuala Clarke based on the 59 Lojong slogans of Atisha. The work, part art book, part experimental essay, explores the interdependent nature of Buddhadarma and art. It attempts to convey meaning through a deeper lens than simply language commentary, offering the possibility that the best way to understand the ineffable is visually.

A portable installation, Radiating Outward, Incrementally is 208 full-colour uncoated pages with 69 images, sewn binding, and luxurious 3.5” French flaps. At its center is an eight-page fold-out map, printed on transparent stock, where the way can be seen from every side. While a tiny work of art, the book is intended for practice and not to fade on a shelf. Bend, tarnish, and engage with Radiating, and the pages will bend back.

Praise

“When I opened Radiating Outward, Incrementally I almost could not believe my eyes. The design, writing, and imagery are fully of a piece. It is a work of great coherence. Writer Gandrud and artist Clarke marry deep insight with nuanced feeling to bring the great sage Atisa’s 59 mind-training slogans into our kitchens, bedrooms, and work studios. Rather than instructing you, Radiating Outward dreams you into its world. There is no other book like it.”

—Susan Piver, New York Times best selling author of The Four Noble Truths of Love and The Buddhist Enneagram

Authors

Crystal Gandrud is an experimental writer and acquiring editor living in London and Normandy. Her work can be found in many literary journals and often pushes the boundary between the written word and art. She has practiced Vajrayana Buddhism for over 20 years. actuallyorange.com

Nuala Clarke is an abstract painter living in the west of Ireland. Her work is shown throughout the world and has been supported through grants from The Arts Council, Ireland. She is engaged in a multidisciplinary research project into Robert Boyle and the healing probabilities of abstract art. nualaclarke.com