The philosopher Simone Vé defined prayer as absolutely unmixed attention.

The artist Anne Hamilton embodies this notion in her sweeping works of art that bring

all the senses together.

Her creations are literally astounding.

42 giant wooden swings that pull on a white silk curtain.

An 80-foot concrete tower with a staircase that resembles a double helix.

But there are also poetic and intimate, a wooden meditation boat in Laos, a pinhole

camera placed inside the mouth, merging sight and voice and making photographs with every

opening and closing.

I think one of the questions that is behind a lot of the things I'm working on is, where

is it that we can gather and kind of be alone together?

And you know, there's so much as we all know us them.

And you know, what are the circumstances for we that I can enjoy the pleasure of something

I'm seeing here knowing that I'm also sharing that with a person next to me.

And there's an interesting kind of intimacy with this total stranger, the situation makes

possible.

And that can change your whole day.

I'm Christa Tippett, and this is on being.

Anne Hamilton prefers to be called a maker rather than an artist.

She also teaches at Ohio State University.

I spoke with her in 2014 before a live audience at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

And you know, we haven't met before, in fact, we're just now meeting.

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