Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
House of Hamsa Party/Day out of Time Event – July 25, 2010
I know it’s a ways off but I recently created a commissioned painting for this flyer and event, held in San Francisco on July 25th, 2010. Featuring the music of a collective of musicians from Hamsa Lila, Beats Antique and others, some great DJs and my artwork and some live painting, it’ll be a fun time. O yeah, it’s in honor of the (semi-controversially important) Mayan Day out of Time. One way or another, it’s a fun time… Come check it out. 800 tickets available…
For more information and tickets go HERE.
STS9/Conscious Alliance Posters
I’ve been working with Conscious Alliance for quite a while now producing a poster or two per year for them. Conscious Alliance gives the posters away for donations of food or money at various events and shows they attend. The donations go towards needy families across the country. They do some really great work.
Here is the poster that will be printed for the Sound Tribe Sector Nine shows this coming August in Chicago. The image is a detail of the painting entitled “Gratitude” which can be seen here.
While we’re at it, here is a poster I made for them for an event just about a year previous… at least, according to the dates on both posters. This one was made for the August 2009 STS9 shows in Georgia. This one used the painting “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” from the Evolution Series
MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference
I recently had the good fortune of attending and displaying artwork at the MAPS Psychedelic Science in the 21 Century Conference, held in San Jose, CA. MAPS (Multidiciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) is “a membership-based, IRS-approved 501 (c) (3) non-profit research and educational organization. [They] assist scientists to design, fund, obtain approval for and report on studies into the risks and benefits of MDMA, psychedelic drugs and marijuana. MAPS’ mission is to sponsor scientific research designed to develop psychedelics and marijuana into FDA-approved prescription medicines, and to educate the public honestly about the risks and benefits of these drugs.”
The conference was a meeting of many brilliant minds including Sasha Shulgin, discoverer of MDMA, Dr. Stanislav Grof, founder of transpersonal psychology and an early pioneer in LSD psychotherapy, Dr. Ralph Metzner, artists Alex and Allyson Grey, Dr. Andrew Weil and many others. I met some really wonderful and inspiring people and listened to some rather insightful talks regarding the conscious use of psychedelics for the purpose of healing and growth.
For more on the conference and to see some of the truly positive things that the media has had to say on this, check out some of the links below.
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/health/story.html?id=6c2cdc9c-2654-4061-8b4f-aede99ad4534
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/health-fitness/health/Ecstasy-could-help-ease-trauma-long-term/articleshow/5824715.cms
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123823§ionid=3510208
http://news.santacruz.com/2010/04/19/psychedelic_conference_a_hit
http://www.metroactive.com/features/psychedelics.html
http://muslims.net/news/newsfull.php?newid=358897
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36645291/from/ET
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mdma-drug-ptsd-trauma-psychedelic
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2010/0/21/cb.psychedelic.drugs.for.health.cnn?iref=allsearch
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/04/20/simon.psychedlic.drugs.cnn?iref=allsearch
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100416/full/news.2010.188.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100419/hl_nm/us_ecstasy_ptsd
An Open Apology
As you may know I went to Art Basel Miami a month ago in December. While I was there I attended the Moksha Art Fair. It was a multi-faceted event and featured some really beautiful and powerful artwork. As I sat on the plane on the way home, a bit worn out from five days of, well, everything, I wrote a blog entry about it that was not entirely flattering and, I think, overly critical.
Ray Oracca, one of the organizers of the event, went out of his way to contact me and talk about some of what I had written. We had a long heart-warming conversation about art, communities, framing situations, etc. In the end, I could see where he was coming from and recognized the places I had misspoken.I sincerely apologize for any views I expressed that did not tell the whole truth, were tainted by my own lens, and, in the end, may have dissed an event that a lot of time, energy and love went into.
I don’t know a whole lot about the Moksha Family in Miami. Those people that I did meet, who were intrinsically involved, had warm hearts and a sparkle in their eyes. They were genuine in their openness and certainly working hard to create something beautiful. In the end, it seems to be a bit like my own Moontribe community – a disparate tribe hailing from many walks of life sharing a common love of art, music, dance, and fun. They are people who are working at being non-judgemental. They are allowing each other room for growth. They work at putting on events that bring people together in a communal space. They most treasure the open exchange of ideas and energy. In this way, we help each other with our spiritual evolution. They, we, all of us, working together on a common vision from a million different angles.
Thank you.
Art, Stories, and Galleries – Recent Happenings
Coming back to center after what seems like a month (and is!) away from writing much. To get the words flowing again maybe we retrace our steps. It seems like there was this beginning of winter thing. Violet and I shared bouts of fluishness that left us feeling far less inspired than we would have liked. Along the way though we:
- Made a story book about Fortunata the Fearless Fairy for our niece Isabella as a holiday gift.
- Painted live paintings at a Christmas Eve party in LA (lots of fun)
- Did the best we could to help out with the Temple of Visions Gallery in LA
- Did 26 other things that are sort of a blur now
The storybook! The story is about a fearless fairy (hence the title) who gets lost in the woods and meets up with some possibly scary creatures and situations but her fearlessness sees her through. The point of the story is that fear is all in your head! Maybe we could have included the “Litany Against Fear” from Dune: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
And, just like that, she finds her way home! We might in time have copies of this available for others. Here are a few images and a bit of the story (as written by Violet):
Live painting! Here’s a couple of photos taken by Ben Lin (www.lifeafterdusk.com):
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And on to the Temple of Visions Gallery! Where do I even begin on that one? We’re stoked that Jimmy Bleyer has taken on this task and stoked to be able to have lent our support. From www.TempleofVisions.com:
“Temple of Visions Gallery seeks to bridge International visionary culture with the Los Angeles art world with a series of high impact shows, events, concerts, workshops, lectures and more.”
Course, that’s a bit formal. The truth is, if you’ve been left feeling empty by contemporary art galleries and feel that the general “gallery” scene just isn’t for you then it’s likely you’ll love this. The artists represented are diverse and inspiring: Amanda Sage, Adam Scott Miller, Mars-1, Check out the website… www.TempleofVisions.com
And come on Jan. 29th to DownTemple for a night of art, soft lights, and downtempo music with a live set from Eastern Sun as well as Dela, POD and the Galactic Groove Choir.
And the 26 other things! Ah well, all in good time…
Art Basel III: Moksha Art Fair II
The Moksha Art party that occurred on Saturday night (and well into Sunday) was a particularly crazy affair with the silk dancers, performances, fire dancers, art art and more art, lights, music – live and otherwise, vendors, carousing, spoken word performances, multiple dance areas, etc etc. One person told me it was the best party she’d ever been to. Awesome.
I was honored with a chance to paint on the main stage alongside Shrine, Alex Grey, and Allyson Grey. The painting I painted through the course of the night is called something like The Immutable Core. It is pictured above. I like the idea of creating a painting, from start to finish in one night. Granted, I will, in time, sharpen some of the lines and clarify some of the corners but, for the most part, it is a complete piece. The painting had six stages to it and I knew what I was going to create from the beginning. The best part was the white line: o how beautifully it connects the whole thing – that simple straightaway. Delicious!
Live painting enabled me to get out some disparate emotions, dive head first into a painting, and bring it to it’s conclusion before the end of the night – along with bringing my own mind into a sharper focus.
The tough thing with parties of this sort – where the intended focus is on the art is that the art sometimes gets lost in the spectacle of it. I wish people had been there for the lectures or in the daytime for some of the other things going on – where there were some real opportunities to learn something. I think that, as such, the level of respect for the art and the quality of it’s container is, in some ways, diminished.
In this, I think, is where the crux of the problem of how to bring this work to a broader audience lies and, as such, command a higher price point and find truly interested art buyers. While some might feel this sense of “monetization” is too mainstream or commodity oriented, the truth is: we artists need to eat and like to sell our work at a value that reflects it’s true worth. The broader audience is sometimes a bit put off by that porous container that this work is often presented in. Personally, I would want to give people some solid ground to stand upon – some firm footing for the ride the art might take them on. Also, while there are certainly differences between the way the work was presented (and the set and setting thereof) and perhaps a more austere and spacious setting, I feel there has to be a way to bridge that gap.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I like parties and have gone to many, many events over the years. Some were centered around art. Some around music. Some around music and art together. As I’ve gotten older however, it’s not that I’ve grown out of the parties, but, rather, I’ve become more and more aware of how the artwork is presented and the container through which it is perceived.
Looking around the rest of Miami, The Nada Art Fair, for example, was such a conflagration of booths, randomness, and unconsidered angles hung and strung with a mishmash of “contemporary” art that the art made even less sense than it might have edged upon otherwise. Scope Art Fair, with it’s breezy interior, bright wood floors and well-organized layout, seemed to support the edgy modernness it hoped to present. The main Art Basel event had all the trappings of a museum quality show that seemed to offer some reasoning for why they might be asking such absurd amounts of money for some seriously atrocious pieces of art.
Along the way, through these places, I ran across many gems. I saw some work by Jeff Soto, an artist I was familiar with but had never seen in person. It was quite lovely with a strange inner language, dreamy and dark. I saw an original Magritte, something like doves of stone agcruainst a blue sky. There was a beautiful chess set of brass fingers (literally) made by Dali, as an offering and response to Duchamp’s own Dadaist chess set, with small snow shovels as pawns (for whatever non-reason). There were all sorts of things and dreams like this, tucked away, along the many cubicles and corners. While, with all of these shows, there is a vast amount of drivel, there are also some really well done pieces. Such is art! Such is life!
When I looked at the Moksha Art Event through that same lens of “frame” and “container”, I had feelings that were about as mixed as my experience with all of the other events. Much of the artwork presented at the Moksha event was quite beautiful, well-rendered, and deeply moving. I was especially struck by a gorgeous piece by Autumn Skye Morrison and a large and truly impressive thanka-like painting by Luke Brown.
What needs to change, I feel, for this work to reach a wider audience – and, mind you, I want it to reach a wider audience – is for us to reconsider the container we present it in. If we really care about raising consciousness (and not just of ourselves and our friends and mutual appreciators) then we need to open our doors a little wider and consider a broader audience and how they respond to our container as well as our work. We need to really deeply and honestly consider the frame within which it is presented. I challenge the artists to push the envelope a bit and, at the same time, sharpen the edges of the container just as they refine the edges of their own lines and gradients. In doing so, they can create crisp and beautiful visions of reality as it can be experienced. I think the challenge is to find and create spaces that reflect that solidity of vision and work with those who seek to create such spaces. If this doesn’t happen then this artwork will continue to be relegated to the fringes.
But the “fringes” are not the “edge”. Perhaps there are those who would prefer to be on the fringes since the light there is dimmer and one can be less transparent. If that is the case however, then the work that is created there will forever be tainted by that dark unsettledness. Myself, I have no fear of darkness. It is the murkiness of that fringe that I am uninterested in. Murky, muddy colors: what good are those?
I’d rather step to the edge and experience the crisp endless darkness that lies at it’s depths because, only through that, can one experience the piercing light of day with a clear conscience. Yes, my friend, we have nothing to hide. The roots of our work, of the truly visionary art, lie in compassion and wisdom and that adds a depth and a height that these words will never be able to express.
Live Painting Experience pt. #1
Waking up too early but going to bed too late… my brain has this issue: once the light starts passing into them through the drawn blinds – once the field of color over my eyelids is no longer black but now varying shades of speckles of the movie screen coming to life – it awakens. And now even having gone to bed at, what, six o clock – enough time to see the sky over the rows of San Francisco streetlights down below, the park across the street, the occasional up-too-late or up-too-early car to be making it’s way onwards and upwards – all this was growing light and I’m trying to be the voice of reason – saying that I must get to bed and get some sleep (or I turn into a pumpkin dontchaknow.)
I’d say that ’somehow’ I found the energy to keep going last night. To keep painting and moving and talking but I can safely say that the caffeine found me (with a bit of seeking on my part) and, well, it helps. Turns out that ‘live painting’ is sorta fun – having an easel, a canvas, the paints and just going for it and it’s much like when Im just painting anyhow but now the music is way loud. I’m dancing, I’m painting, moving, foot tapping, in a groove because the music is in a groove – at least when it’s good – and it’s just going and i’ve tuned everything else out – the voices, the people, the eyes, the dancing, the flashing lights, the lasers – and yet i’m quite aware and feeling it. Good times.
The first band was just not my thing being some kind of hip hop mcs with a live band in the back. Interesting but too much “Make some noise!” to end up being, at least to my non-hip-hop-tuned ears, a lot of noise. Second up however was the band Particle. It’s been, what, ten? twelve years? since I last heard them. That was at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT. I wasn’t all that into it at that time. It was just, sort of, meh. To say the least. So I had very few expectations. So they came out and really just powered through what was like an hour and a half of non stop jam rock electric intensity, took a breather, and then came back for another hour and a half and, for the most part, it was hard, electric, funky and rocking (they should relally just lose the sing song parts – or take some vocal lessons perhaps). And it was fun to paint to. What if I’d been there to see the band? Don’t know, couldn’t say. But it was a rocking soundtrack.
And at that moment, late into the night with little sleep the night before, having woken at 6:30 to get on a plane at 9 and then a long day of the travel situation and laboring through thef set up – art display, banners, etc etc… It was good not just to have some caffeine running through my blood and brain but also to have the music from wherever they were going.
And what did we paint you ask? An overly ambitious painting that is 38″ x 52″ and has some sort of mayan themes, spirals, lights, a galaxy, some leaves… It’s the Day out of Time Party after all and , while the origins of the concept of the Day are debatable – did Jose Arquelles (celebrated and sometimes questionable source of all things Mayan who, in his own words, claims to be the reincarnation of Pacal Votan. To each their own.) really just invent it based on his own counting of the calendar as many claim? Do the Mayans really have such a thing? Why this day in July? My loose internet research turned up a Wikipedia article on the Day out of Time that forwards to the entry for Jose Arquelles and then other articles that either reference Arquelles – either as a reputable source or a questionable historian – or are written by Arguelles and the discussion sort of ends there. I’d almost say ‘nuf said, but the debate goes on and I’m going to leave it to the debaters and instead I’d just like to focus on the fact that it was rocking time in a super sweet venue – the Regency Center in San Francisco.
The Regency is seven floors of gorgeously hewn freemason architecture built in 1909. It was built as the Scottish Rite Temple – a freemason society gathering place. The level where the party was held was the freemason lodge with massive curving post and beam architecture reminiscent of a gothic cathedral, made from massive timbers, stained glass windows, red carpets and velvet walls – surrounded by deep rich wood everywhere. Pretty slick and magical. The stage itself has twenty different hand painted backdrops depicting a variety of scenes. The “tree grove” backdrop seems to be the one that was chosen. Some of the painted trees were cut out and a bit forward to provide a sense of depth. They were painted in a style reminiscent of Arthur Matthews, a Californian artist from the early 20th C. noteworthy for his soft use of color in an Arts and Crafts inspired romantic impressionism. Lovely stuff really and, with the lighting, the stage looked really quite elegant.
Violet and I were off to the left of the stage with an easel set up and some really bright lights that made it so that we could rally never quite tell what was going on behind us. This was the first live painting experience I/we’ve had so it was pretty epic, framed by a sweetly magical location.
Upcoming Event: Day out of Time Party/San Francisco
(flyer by Michael Divine/TenThousandVisions.com)
We will be in San Francisco next weekend for an event where we’ll be doing a live painting and also displaying artwork. Come check us out: there’ll be performances, art, and music in a really special venue.
HOUSE & GARDEN / HUMBOLDT WHOLESALE / A LUCID DREAM PRODS. present
The Second Annual Wreckoning
Friday, July 24th, 2009 in San Francisco, CA
Featuring:
- Particle
- Righteous Movement
- The Park – San Francisco, CA
The Day out of Time
Saturday, July 25th 2009 in San Francisco, CA
Featuring:
Special Presentations both nights include
- Live Painting by Michael and Violet Divine/http://www.tenthousandvisions.com
- aerial acts by Zirk Ubu / Circophillia
- Full Drum Procession
- Fire Dancers / Jugglers
- and other visual entertainment…….
Both nights the party will be held in the historic Lodge Level of The Regency Center (1290 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94109) Built in 1909, The Regency center is considered the finest example of Scottish Rite temple architecture in the country. The Lodge level originally housed a Masonic Temple and boasts 35 foot ceilings with fine displays of gothic and neoclassical architecture. A TRULY AMAZING VENUE!! We’re bringing in sound from the professional audio team at Sound on Stage. No corners have been cut this will be a truly special weekend. Occupancy will be limited to 800 people each night so don’t get left out in the cold……..these tickets will go fast.
For ticket information contact www.house-garden.us/events.
VIP and open bar tickets are available.
Special thanks to all the special people that helped make this happen.
Bonnaroo, Phish, and the Art
Sitting high up in these bleachers, high above the the sweating drinking raging crowds with their glowsticks and pumping fists, all pressed against one another with others lying on the wet and muddied ground, the scent of beer, pizza, bodies all intermingling – high above it was good. it gave me a chance to enjoy the simple perspective of the music as the rainbow colored lights swooped over the crowds.
Hey man, i turned to adam, theses seats are pretty good.
He pointed to my wristband. They’re for people who know people.
I had made it for the last night of Phish’ s two nights . They’d played on Friday night, Bruce Springsteen played on Saturday night and now, Sunday night they were back on stage. Violet had come to see the first hour of the show then split off to take care of our vending booth and I was there to enjoy my turn. Phish had played some classics through the first set that I missed. As soon as I showed up tho, they crashed down the ending of Antelope and invited out Bruce Springsteen. I’m no fan of the guy, it’s no secret. They ended their set with Glory Days, rocking it out. Maybe it was good and there was likely some rocking stuff in there. But it just wasn’tt part of my vibe…. Then there was a long long set break and, upon their return… they meandered through some noodley crap (except for Number Line, not a terrible song).
What is this crap? I asked Adam.
It’s Phish, he replied, a tad annoyed. When did you stop listening to them anyhow?
i never listen to anything after 1997, I replied, over the music, except one song – First Tube.
They morphed into Prince Caspian…. I recall that, ten years earlier, when this stuff had started coming on more in their sets, I’d been sitting down with my friends bemoaning this, at the time. new direction for the music.
Then, suddenly, they lifted themselves up out of that meandering pit and played First Tube one of the songs on my list that i wanted to see – a freaking great rocking song – and I was reminded why I love this band and, also, how they inspired my artwork with Trey’s laser bam intense guitar. But that was the last song of the set – sort of an ‘o yeah, we sorta can rock too’. After a quick break there was a Suzy Greenberg into Tweezer Reprise encore and it was over.
I decided that the Phish I knew back in 1995 was never the Phish I’d get to see again. I mean, they’re good musicians and, when they stick to their pre-97 stuff, they are pretty great. But I’m not a rock’n'roll guy and, typically, I don’t really dig jam bands much anymore – but I do like Phish as they’ve always had something for me – at least those old shows that i like to listen to. When I listen to rock – it’s spaced in between lots of other stuff and, typically, it’s really just a pretty small selection – the classics like Pink Floyd, a little Jimi Hendrix, a select few from Cream and the Rolling Stones… but then anything new is more in the guise of what might be called Alternative, Indie Rock, whatever… and in there is a lot of LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead, Spoon, the Pixies and, somewhere between the two genres, a lot of Talking Heads.
Alas, Adam reminded me that i was there, ultimately, to share my artwork. We had a vending booth that was bedecked in red and copper satins, red velvet, some brownish fabric walls and my artwork hanging all over – prints of the Evolution and Illumination series’, and some others. People loved it. So many people riding the stories of the paintings and their colors and lines higher and higher… That was rewarding and a good time. We met lots of great people, had lots of inspiring conversations, etc… It was a lot of work, a lot of fun, not too much mud… And now, at last, it’s over and we can get back to California where we have all sorts of things planned for the next month. We only do one or two festivals a year and this one seems to’ve been it. If we’re going to choose one, we hope for it to be a good one – a big one with a wide cross section of people and if you happen to’ve been there and we happened to’ve met – then thanks for adding to a great experience!
Solstice Gathering – LA
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December 20th, 8PM – Winter Solstice
Studio Isis, Los Angeles, CAJoin Us for a night of Art, Wine, Cheese, and Music at Studio Isis in Los Angeles
Art and Decor by TenThousandVisionsMusic from:
- TREAVOR – Moontribe / Desert Dwellers
- BRAD – Moontribe
- BEN ANNAND – Moontribe / Tropical
- SUN – Space Station 3
- MAGGIE – Moontribe Family
- DELA – Moontribe Family
- PETEY – Moontribe Family / Technique
Admission is FREE before 10pm/$20 after.
Studio Isis – 610 Isis Avenue Inglewood CA 90301 MAP
