Works of Peeter Laurits guide us into the realm of multi-perceptional visions, which shapes the magic words “wild aesthetics”. It is a realm, in which both sides of form – consciousness and unconsciousness – rub their noses together.
   Occasionally, consciousness erupts, and then things happen: grim, bizarre, inspiring. No one knows what or who consciousness is. Consciousness is difficult to speak about, since we most likely live within it. It sometimes seems that pattern or script are the best-suited models for consciousness. Consciousness is tugged towards patterns. A fine pattern is almost like a bait for consciousness.
   For forest-people, the forest itself is a model of consciousness; for water-people, it is the rivers and lakes; for cyber-peoples, it is integrated circuits and nano-clouds. I believe that in some unknown way, the development of consciousness is connected to wild aesthetics – to natural patterns that have a direct effect on the spinal cord, causing unusual intuitions in human beings.
   Walking through the forest, one feels a joyful spark of recognition at the sight of native totem poles – tree trunks engraved by bark beetles. These are sacred scriptoriums created by Ips typographus and Hylesinus fraxini. Carl Linnaeus dubbed pine bark beetles “self-writers” – Ips typographus.
 The writing influences us, although reading it requires a specific (“that”) state of consciousness. It’s impossible to make anything out of such writing when one is occupying an ordinary (“this”) state of consciousness. One is the lettering “at hand”, the other the lettering “at potency”. A tree gnawed upon by bark beetles is an ancient shaman’s staff; a primeval memory-stick plugged into the world’s port.

Valdur Mikita