mandala

Donebauer was unconsciously drawn to the archetypal strength of circular or otherwise centred images in his early videos. This became more conscious as the years passed and culminated in the Mandala tape in 1991.

Mandalas are found all over the world and from most known periods of history. One can find them particularly in medieval Christianity, the Pueblo and Navaho Indians and in Tibetan Buddhism. They are at the basis of many religious structures including churches (it has been argued that the word “church” derives from early words for circle) and Buddhist stupas.

They are regarded as age-old symbols of “wholeness”, “totality” and “deity”, and symbolise the universal Self as opposed to the individual self or ego.

Interestingly, it has been speculated that many of the universal religious practices of mankind, including the creation of mandalas, serve to promote “bilateral hemispheric integration” of the right and left sides of the brain.