Simply extraordinary music... "Ritual" by Jon Hopkins, his new release.
His website says:
"By turns devotional, empowering and nurturing, Jon Hopkins’ forthcoming RITUAL is a 41-minute ceremonial epic built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay.. Tense, immersive and ultimately triumphant, it is a culmination of themes explored throughout his 22-year career, and acts as the kinetic counterpart to 2021’s Music For Psychedelic Therapy.
A single piece unfolding over eight chapters, RITUAL is personified by depth and contrast. Taking ceremony, spiritual liberation and the hero's journey as inspiration, it taps into an ancient and primal energy."
Clear vinyl copies of this album are available for order on his website!
https://www.jonhopkins.co.uk/
Showing posts with label spiritual. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual. Show all posts
Saturday, August 31, 2024
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Touch Everything
“When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.”
--Lao Tzu
“The great lesson from the true mystics…that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family, in one’s backyard, and that travel may be a flight from confronting the sacred—this lesson can be easily lost. To be looking elsewhere for miracles is to me a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous.”
--Abraham Maslow, "The Farther Reaches of Human Nature" (1971)
--Lao Tzu
 |
| Le Satyre dans le Bois de Boulogne by Felix Vallotton |
“The great lesson from the true mystics…that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family, in one’s backyard, and that travel may be a flight from confronting the sacred—this lesson can be easily lost. To be looking elsewhere for miracles is to me a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous.”
--Abraham Maslow, "The Farther Reaches of Human Nature" (1971)
Monday, February 5, 2024
Just watched "All Of Us Strangers"...
...by writer-director Andrew Haigh, starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell.
Well, actually I watched it several weeks ago but I have been unable to really speak about it or even write about it without being overcome with emotion. The story concerns itself with a script writer, Adam (Andrew Scott) who is attempting to write about his childhood and parents who tragically died in a car accident when he was 11. At the same time, Adam meets Harry (Paul Mescal) the only other inhabitant of the new highrise apartment building they live in, and they begin a relationship. Motivated by his script, Adam returns to his childhood home to reconnect with a time long past, and through some sort of...power of...something...he encounters his parents, still living in the house, appearing exactly as they did before they died.
Normally when I write about a film here, I don't include spoilers, but I just can't do it this time. Warning: major complete spoilers ahead.
When I saw the trailer for this film late last year, I felt a resonance with it. I lost my parents in a very tragic way as well, albeit not at such an early age like Adam, but still young enough to regret that they were unable to see much of my later adult life and how things turned out. Like Adam, I am an only child and carry a theme of loneliness and alone-ness inside me. And of course, Andrew Scott is an out gay actor playing a gay character...and I am an out gay actor who has played gay characters. But what really shook me was his encounter with his parents. After my mom and dad died, I had dreams of them, which is not all that unusual when one loses a loved one. My father took his own life and interestingly, my dreams revolved around him coming to terms with what he did, not me coming to terms with it. But when my mom died many months later, they both came to me in dreams many times. These dreams had a very different texture than "regular" dreams. While I still dream of them at this much later stage in my life, the dreams feel more like "regular" dreams...not the hyper-real encounters I experienced just after they died. So I knew the idea of seeing someone encounter their dead parents in such a meaningful way was going to stir me, move me, perhaps upset me. But I was prepared for it. I can "go there." After all, I have been there, and come back. People can be so skittish of films (interestingly, books not so much) that take them to difficult places where they might be emotionally vulnerable. But as I said, I have been emotionally vulnerable, A LOT in my life, and it didn't kill me. So I was prepared. And looking forward to it. The film seemed to be something I needed to ingest.
What I was not prepared for was the extent of emotion and the tone of the film. It feels like a dream. There is a subtle, hushed quality from the writing, directing, and certainly the acting that creates an arresting sense of intimacy. All four leads are masterfully penetrating and perfectly thorough in what they are presenting...these might be career defining performances for each. Andrew Scott's staggering performance and his interactions with the equally amazing Paul Mescal give the film its real intimacy.
We are introduced to Adam and his seemingly lonely--and very alone--life in a London highrise. On a walk outside at night, he looks up to see the only other inhabitant of the building, Harry, staring down at him. Once Adam returns home, Harry knocks on his door and introduces himself. It quickly becomes obvious that Harry is quite drunk with bottle of whiskey in hand, and he asks to be let in so he and Adam can hang out, maybe have sex or not...Harry innocently and desperately says, "We don't have to do anything," which is a little heartbreaking right there. While both men flirt with each other, Adam declines and Harry wanders off back to his flat. So now we know our two main characters. And this interaction proves to be the paradigm for the entire film.
I've read some journalists and critics writing about this film who have come to the conclusion that Adam's interactions with his parents are completely in his imagination. But I am going to posit that it is completely not. After taking a train out of London to the town where he grew up, he first sees his father while on a walk on the heath. It actually plays out a little like a cruising situation, with the as-yet-unknown-to-us dad beckoning to Adam to follow him, and Adam follows out of a sense of curiosity, and probably that the man seems strangely familiar somehow. Dad, played by Jamie Bell, takes his son home...to the house he grew up in. When his mum, played beautifully by Claire Foy opens the door for them, Dad says to Mum, "Yeah, it's definintely him...look in his eyes." It is finally made clear who they are. And Adam of course is dazed and speechless at seeing his parents, as they were before they died when he was a child.
He begins a series of regular visits to see and spend time with them...to catch up. He tells them he is a writer and they are proud of him. He has an afternoon alone with his mum where she asks if he has a girlfriend and he comes out to her, letting her know he is gay. She is a little put off, asks him if people are mean to him, and expresses concern for this new disease gay men are suffering from called AIDS. He assures her that things are different now and while she needs time to adjust to the idea, one can sense that her love for her son is greater than any anxiety about his sexuality. And in one of the most touching scenes, he spends a different afternoon alone with his dad. They speak of Adam crying alone in his room after being bullied at school, and his father confesses that he heard him but never came to offer comfort. This is a very common situation with young gay boys and their families but particularly their fathers, where culturally imposed homophobic beliefs and attitudes cripple and prevent fathers from connecting in a nurturing way with their sons. Adam's dad mentions that he probably would have harassed a gay kid like him when he was in school, but is now understanding of what it truly means. Dad breaks down and apologizes for not being there in the way that was needed the most. Andrew Scott plays Adam's reaction to this in one of the most powerful, authentic pieces of acting I have ever seen.
Meanwhile, the relationship that Adam and Harry are forging is really quite beautiful and authentic. The sex scenes are phenomenal...frank without being tasteless or merely titillating, and they are needed to show the closeness between the two. They bond over their shared loneliness--Adam speaks of his life long terror of being alone, and honestly, how could one not have such a morbid fear, after having one's family ripped away from them at such a young age--and the fact that while Adam's parents departed his life, Harry's parents basically disowned him for being gay. In a way, they are both orphans. But Adam is very excited to reveal to Harry that he has been spending time with his deceased parents, and begs him to come to the childhood home so he can meet them. Harry is dubious about seeing people who have been dead a long while and once they arrive at the house, the lights are off and no one answers the door, very unlike all of Adam's encounters so far. Adam is confused and doesn't understand why his parents won't let them in. He leads them around the house to the back French doors where, shockingly, both Adam and Harry can actually see the parents inside, simply standing side by side in the blackness. It's as though Harry's presence in the mix somehow interrupted the magic or power at play.
Adam has a final lunch with his parents at an American-style diner they all loved when he was young. The waitress mentions that the three meals ordered is a lot of food...for one person. Clearly the waitress cannot see his parents sitting in the booth with him. As they wait for their food, his mum and dad want to know details about the car accident that took their lives, they express their love for Adam and wish him well in his life, to not feel the crippling loneliness he has felt his whole life, and they urge Adam to promise to invest his emotions into a relationship with Harry whom they say they saw through the French doors as well. Once they fade away into another realm where they can finally rest, Adam is left alone in the diner. But he can now return to his building to see Harry and tell him about what has happened, that he is ready to dedicate himself to a life they can share, that he no longer feels alone because he can open himself to someone without carrying--or even perhaps clinging to--an idea of loneliness. He comes to Harry's apartment, and when there is no answer, he lets himself in. We see he is immediately overcome by a horrific smell and consequently discovers Harry dead in his bed, wearing the same clothes as the night they met at Adam's door, clutching the same now-empty bottle of whiskey. Apparently, Harry has been dead for quite a while. But then Adam hears a noise in the living room. There stands Harry, agitated, on the verge of tears, imploring Adam, "Is that me in there? Am I in there?" We sense Harry is now regretful for the end of his life--perhaps his death was an accident (an inadvertent mix of drugs and alcohol), perhaps it was a deliberate suicide, but the real tragedy is that Harry has fallen in love with Adam and has seen that he too no longer has to carry around a motif of loneliness...and now it is too late.
And here is why I think Adam was actually seeing and interacting with his parents...because he was actually seeing Harry the entire time, too. Unlike his parents, Adam did not know Harry was dead...he had never been to his apartment since they had always spent time together in Adam's flat. And I don't--I can't believe that Adam was completely hallucinating an entire relationship with Harry. That would make him truly delusional, and the brilliant script-writer/director Andrew Haigh gave us no indication, clue, or information leading us to believe that Adam suffers from any sort of mental illness. Adam has been having a love affair with a ghost, to put it too simply. But a ghost that was somehow, inexplicably made of matter.
Of course where the film ends up is absolutely gutting, for three reasons: 1) Adam had just broken through his loneliness by working through the loss of his parents and was ready to dedicate himself to another person, 2) Harry too had worked through his ostracization and was ready to dedicate himself to another person, and of course 3) the couple cannot have a relationship since Harry is no longer alive. Now, you'd think this would be tragic, and it certainly is, (I have not been able to think about this film without crying and I am tearing up as I write this) but how the film closes is extraordinary. Adam now has emerged from his inner exile and has the strength and understanding to lead someone else out of isolation. Adam convinces Harry to accompany him back to his own flat. There, he leads him to bed and cuddles the ghost of Harry so he can heal and presumably move on from the physical realm, like how Adam's mum and dad dissolved. We see Harry, and then the pair of them turn into a pin point and a ribbon of light that expands and joins a universe of pin points and ribbons of light. So they are together...? However, Adam is alive since the actual physical world interacts with him. But perhaps seeing human beings as illuminated light, whether alive or dead, is meant to suggest that none of us are truly alone, that we are all connected in deeper, invisible, and powerfully immutable ways. However--and this could be my own issues of alone-ness--I just can't get past the idea that Adam is once again completely alone. He succeeded, he did it, he healed, he worked through his past and the death of his parents, and opened himself to life, but now he cannot be with Harry, and, having suffered two great losses now, he is still, horribly, utterly alone. My heart and spirit goes to Adam...but perhaps he has the strength now to either endure/reframe the idea of loneliness as well as the openness to allow someone else in to his life.
Recommend? Yes. It contains not only an incredibly moving, touching, tender story but also presents some of the finest performances on film. The film and actors have won several awards already including from the British Independent Film Awards, the London Film Critics' Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, and as of this writing has received six BAFTA nominations (awards given February 18, 2024).
https://www.searchlightpictures.com/all-of-us-strangers/
Well, actually I watched it several weeks ago but I have been unable to really speak about it or even write about it without being overcome with emotion. The story concerns itself with a script writer, Adam (Andrew Scott) who is attempting to write about his childhood and parents who tragically died in a car accident when he was 11. At the same time, Adam meets Harry (Paul Mescal) the only other inhabitant of the new highrise apartment building they live in, and they begin a relationship. Motivated by his script, Adam returns to his childhood home to reconnect with a time long past, and through some sort of...power of...something...he encounters his parents, still living in the house, appearing exactly as they did before they died.
Normally when I write about a film here, I don't include spoilers, but I just can't do it this time. Warning: major complete spoilers ahead.
When I saw the trailer for this film late last year, I felt a resonance with it. I lost my parents in a very tragic way as well, albeit not at such an early age like Adam, but still young enough to regret that they were unable to see much of my later adult life and how things turned out. Like Adam, I am an only child and carry a theme of loneliness and alone-ness inside me. And of course, Andrew Scott is an out gay actor playing a gay character...and I am an out gay actor who has played gay characters. But what really shook me was his encounter with his parents. After my mom and dad died, I had dreams of them, which is not all that unusual when one loses a loved one. My father took his own life and interestingly, my dreams revolved around him coming to terms with what he did, not me coming to terms with it. But when my mom died many months later, they both came to me in dreams many times. These dreams had a very different texture than "regular" dreams. While I still dream of them at this much later stage in my life, the dreams feel more like "regular" dreams...not the hyper-real encounters I experienced just after they died. So I knew the idea of seeing someone encounter their dead parents in such a meaningful way was going to stir me, move me, perhaps upset me. But I was prepared for it. I can "go there." After all, I have been there, and come back. People can be so skittish of films (interestingly, books not so much) that take them to difficult places where they might be emotionally vulnerable. But as I said, I have been emotionally vulnerable, A LOT in my life, and it didn't kill me. So I was prepared. And looking forward to it. The film seemed to be something I needed to ingest.
What I was not prepared for was the extent of emotion and the tone of the film. It feels like a dream. There is a subtle, hushed quality from the writing, directing, and certainly the acting that creates an arresting sense of intimacy. All four leads are masterfully penetrating and perfectly thorough in what they are presenting...these might be career defining performances for each. Andrew Scott's staggering performance and his interactions with the equally amazing Paul Mescal give the film its real intimacy.
We are introduced to Adam and his seemingly lonely--and very alone--life in a London highrise. On a walk outside at night, he looks up to see the only other inhabitant of the building, Harry, staring down at him. Once Adam returns home, Harry knocks on his door and introduces himself. It quickly becomes obvious that Harry is quite drunk with bottle of whiskey in hand, and he asks to be let in so he and Adam can hang out, maybe have sex or not...Harry innocently and desperately says, "We don't have to do anything," which is a little heartbreaking right there. While both men flirt with each other, Adam declines and Harry wanders off back to his flat. So now we know our two main characters. And this interaction proves to be the paradigm for the entire film.
I've read some journalists and critics writing about this film who have come to the conclusion that Adam's interactions with his parents are completely in his imagination. But I am going to posit that it is completely not. After taking a train out of London to the town where he grew up, he first sees his father while on a walk on the heath. It actually plays out a little like a cruising situation, with the as-yet-unknown-to-us dad beckoning to Adam to follow him, and Adam follows out of a sense of curiosity, and probably that the man seems strangely familiar somehow. Dad, played by Jamie Bell, takes his son home...to the house he grew up in. When his mum, played beautifully by Claire Foy opens the door for them, Dad says to Mum, "Yeah, it's definintely him...look in his eyes." It is finally made clear who they are. And Adam of course is dazed and speechless at seeing his parents, as they were before they died when he was a child.
He begins a series of regular visits to see and spend time with them...to catch up. He tells them he is a writer and they are proud of him. He has an afternoon alone with his mum where she asks if he has a girlfriend and he comes out to her, letting her know he is gay. She is a little put off, asks him if people are mean to him, and expresses concern for this new disease gay men are suffering from called AIDS. He assures her that things are different now and while she needs time to adjust to the idea, one can sense that her love for her son is greater than any anxiety about his sexuality. And in one of the most touching scenes, he spends a different afternoon alone with his dad. They speak of Adam crying alone in his room after being bullied at school, and his father confesses that he heard him but never came to offer comfort. This is a very common situation with young gay boys and their families but particularly their fathers, where culturally imposed homophobic beliefs and attitudes cripple and prevent fathers from connecting in a nurturing way with their sons. Adam's dad mentions that he probably would have harassed a gay kid like him when he was in school, but is now understanding of what it truly means. Dad breaks down and apologizes for not being there in the way that was needed the most. Andrew Scott plays Adam's reaction to this in one of the most powerful, authentic pieces of acting I have ever seen.
Meanwhile, the relationship that Adam and Harry are forging is really quite beautiful and authentic. The sex scenes are phenomenal...frank without being tasteless or merely titillating, and they are needed to show the closeness between the two. They bond over their shared loneliness--Adam speaks of his life long terror of being alone, and honestly, how could one not have such a morbid fear, after having one's family ripped away from them at such a young age--and the fact that while Adam's parents departed his life, Harry's parents basically disowned him for being gay. In a way, they are both orphans. But Adam is very excited to reveal to Harry that he has been spending time with his deceased parents, and begs him to come to the childhood home so he can meet them. Harry is dubious about seeing people who have been dead a long while and once they arrive at the house, the lights are off and no one answers the door, very unlike all of Adam's encounters so far. Adam is confused and doesn't understand why his parents won't let them in. He leads them around the house to the back French doors where, shockingly, both Adam and Harry can actually see the parents inside, simply standing side by side in the blackness. It's as though Harry's presence in the mix somehow interrupted the magic or power at play.
Adam has a final lunch with his parents at an American-style diner they all loved when he was young. The waitress mentions that the three meals ordered is a lot of food...for one person. Clearly the waitress cannot see his parents sitting in the booth with him. As they wait for their food, his mum and dad want to know details about the car accident that took their lives, they express their love for Adam and wish him well in his life, to not feel the crippling loneliness he has felt his whole life, and they urge Adam to promise to invest his emotions into a relationship with Harry whom they say they saw through the French doors as well. Once they fade away into another realm where they can finally rest, Adam is left alone in the diner. But he can now return to his building to see Harry and tell him about what has happened, that he is ready to dedicate himself to a life they can share, that he no longer feels alone because he can open himself to someone without carrying--or even perhaps clinging to--an idea of loneliness. He comes to Harry's apartment, and when there is no answer, he lets himself in. We see he is immediately overcome by a horrific smell and consequently discovers Harry dead in his bed, wearing the same clothes as the night they met at Adam's door, clutching the same now-empty bottle of whiskey. Apparently, Harry has been dead for quite a while. But then Adam hears a noise in the living room. There stands Harry, agitated, on the verge of tears, imploring Adam, "Is that me in there? Am I in there?" We sense Harry is now regretful for the end of his life--perhaps his death was an accident (an inadvertent mix of drugs and alcohol), perhaps it was a deliberate suicide, but the real tragedy is that Harry has fallen in love with Adam and has seen that he too no longer has to carry around a motif of loneliness...and now it is too late.
And here is why I think Adam was actually seeing and interacting with his parents...because he was actually seeing Harry the entire time, too. Unlike his parents, Adam did not know Harry was dead...he had never been to his apartment since they had always spent time together in Adam's flat. And I don't--I can't believe that Adam was completely hallucinating an entire relationship with Harry. That would make him truly delusional, and the brilliant script-writer/director Andrew Haigh gave us no indication, clue, or information leading us to believe that Adam suffers from any sort of mental illness. Adam has been having a love affair with a ghost, to put it too simply. But a ghost that was somehow, inexplicably made of matter.
Of course where the film ends up is absolutely gutting, for three reasons: 1) Adam had just broken through his loneliness by working through the loss of his parents and was ready to dedicate himself to another person, 2) Harry too had worked through his ostracization and was ready to dedicate himself to another person, and of course 3) the couple cannot have a relationship since Harry is no longer alive. Now, you'd think this would be tragic, and it certainly is, (I have not been able to think about this film without crying and I am tearing up as I write this) but how the film closes is extraordinary. Adam now has emerged from his inner exile and has the strength and understanding to lead someone else out of isolation. Adam convinces Harry to accompany him back to his own flat. There, he leads him to bed and cuddles the ghost of Harry so he can heal and presumably move on from the physical realm, like how Adam's mum and dad dissolved. We see Harry, and then the pair of them turn into a pin point and a ribbon of light that expands and joins a universe of pin points and ribbons of light. So they are together...? However, Adam is alive since the actual physical world interacts with him. But perhaps seeing human beings as illuminated light, whether alive or dead, is meant to suggest that none of us are truly alone, that we are all connected in deeper, invisible, and powerfully immutable ways. However--and this could be my own issues of alone-ness--I just can't get past the idea that Adam is once again completely alone. He succeeded, he did it, he healed, he worked through his past and the death of his parents, and opened himself to life, but now he cannot be with Harry, and, having suffered two great losses now, he is still, horribly, utterly alone. My heart and spirit goes to Adam...but perhaps he has the strength now to either endure/reframe the idea of loneliness as well as the openness to allow someone else in to his life.
Recommend? Yes. It contains not only an incredibly moving, touching, tender story but also presents some of the finest performances on film. The film and actors have won several awards already including from the British Independent Film Awards, the London Film Critics' Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, and as of this writing has received six BAFTA nominations (awards given February 18, 2024).
https://www.searchlightpictures.com/all-of-us-strangers/
Friday, May 27, 2022
The Way We See The World Shapes The Way We Treat It
"The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity -- then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective."
--David Suzuki
Sunday, April 4, 2021
Truth, Again
"I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organised; nor should any organisation be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organise a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organise it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallised; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others."
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
"The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear."
https://jkrishnamurti.org/
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
"The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear."
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
Saturday, February 6, 2021
"3:45" by Alisha Liu
CalArts animation student Alisha Liu created a gentle, optimistic short film called "3:45." I will say that I do what the young character in this film does, but instead of seeing one side or the other, I usually see both...at the same time...macro and micro...welcome to my head...
https://alishaliu.com/
https://alishaliu.com/
Thursday, January 14, 2021
BEAUTY: Wood Carving and Ceramic--Abigail Brown
I am enchanted by and fascinated with Abigail Brown's primitive carved wooden animal figures and talismans, and ceramic canopic jars. They speak to a tribal sense and animistic beliefs who live in harmony with nature and revere animals...
Check out her shop on her site where these gorgeous pieces are for sale!
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
BEAUTY: Sculpture--Rhonda Wheatley
Artist Rhonda Wheatly combines spirituality and sculpture into fascinating objects. She explains in her Artist Statement:
"My work is grounded in the speculative, metaphysical, and spiritual, and through it I explore healing, consciousness expansion, and transformation. As an energy healer, I imbue my work with meditative focus and intent. Each sculpture is attuned to the combined energies and symbolism of my materials—vintage found objects and electronics, as well as organic and natural materials, including fossils, cicadas, barnacle clusters, moss, and shed snakeskin. I treat these materials as ingredients that flavor each piece with purpose and power. For instance, barnacles, which attach to objects or other lifeforms for the duration of their lives, are a 'glue' that enhances one’s ability to adhere to intended changes. Fossils bring the energy of millions of years. Clock radios reference time manipulation and frequency—moving through states of consciousness—while antennas and crystals amplify signals.
My long-form titles, themselves written works, are integral to each piece, as they indicate the objects’ uses as shamanic tools. While I push the limits of reality as it’s commonly understood, I also explore often-uncomfortable limitations. Caveats such as 'For self-use only' on a power object that transmutes negative energy and 'The future is a moving target,' on a hybrid device that predicts future outcomes of potential decisions highlight these limitations, emphasizing the importance of others’ free will, the inescapability of unknowns and uncertainty, and that there are few guarantees in life. Ultimately, my objects and accompanying texts hint that acknowledging a universe of vast, yet-to-be-understood possibilities while relinquishing the need for total control, is key to attaining radical freedom."
FULL TITLE: Empath Protector. Helps empaths create healthy energetic boundaries so that they may clearly distinguish their own emotions, needs, and desires from those of others.
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, wooden beads, natural fluorite crystal octahedrons, and acrylic paint.
FULL TITLE: Life Review Device. The Life Review process uplifts users from depression and despair, triggering a life re-boot. Users re-experience their entire lives in a full/extra-sensory consciousness download, infused with the hope and purpose with which they entered this lifetime. The device facilitates the process of releasing blame and grudges, forgiving one’s self and others, and getting back on mission.
MEDIA: Three vintage clock radios, vintage TV antenna, and quartz crystal cluster
FULL TITLE: Energy and Intention Reverberator. Increases strength and resonance of healing energy one receives and.or one’s intention and will.
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, barnacle cluster, ceramic with glass, shed snakeskin, quartz crystals, hand-cut paper, collage, and acrylic paint. Round canvas and moss.
FULL TITLE: Karma Planning Device for Future Lifetime Maximization. Instantly assesses karmic debt accumulated throughout user’s earth incarnations. Knowledge embedded in dormant memory cells, activated by soul at opportune times. Does not override free will. Increases chances of reincarnating at higher levels in subsequent lifetimes. Positive past lifetime impact reverberation highly likely.
MEDIA: Vintage clock radio (metal), vintage TV antenna, and two orange rhomboid calcite crystals
FULL TITLE: Power and Energy Amplifier. Increases power and healing energy one receives and/or sends to others.
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, barnacle cluster, titanium quartz crystals, cholla cactus wood, and acrylic paint.
FULL TITLE: Subconscious Translator. Navigates unconscious mind. Decodes messages from one’s subconscious self received via dreams, physical ailments, and mysterious behaviors. Gets to root of self-sabotage, projection, haterism, addiction, and more. Provides emotional protection as painful suppressed memories surface. For self-use only.
MEDIA: Vintage headphones, beads, quartz crystals, plant roots, fossilized shark teeth, snake skin sheddings, collage, and acrylic paint
FULL TITLE: Trauma Healer. Repairs damage to physical body brought on by emotional trauma, beginning at the cellular level.
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, wooden beads, snakeskin sheddings, various seashells, snake bones, catfish atlas bone, and acrylic paint.
https://www.rhondawheatley.com/
"My work is grounded in the speculative, metaphysical, and spiritual, and through it I explore healing, consciousness expansion, and transformation. As an energy healer, I imbue my work with meditative focus and intent. Each sculpture is attuned to the combined energies and symbolism of my materials—vintage found objects and electronics, as well as organic and natural materials, including fossils, cicadas, barnacle clusters, moss, and shed snakeskin. I treat these materials as ingredients that flavor each piece with purpose and power. For instance, barnacles, which attach to objects or other lifeforms for the duration of their lives, are a 'glue' that enhances one’s ability to adhere to intended changes. Fossils bring the energy of millions of years. Clock radios reference time manipulation and frequency—moving through states of consciousness—while antennas and crystals amplify signals.
My long-form titles, themselves written works, are integral to each piece, as they indicate the objects’ uses as shamanic tools. While I push the limits of reality as it’s commonly understood, I also explore often-uncomfortable limitations. Caveats such as 'For self-use only' on a power object that transmutes negative energy and 'The future is a moving target,' on a hybrid device that predicts future outcomes of potential decisions highlight these limitations, emphasizing the importance of others’ free will, the inescapability of unknowns and uncertainty, and that there are few guarantees in life. Ultimately, my objects and accompanying texts hint that acknowledging a universe of vast, yet-to-be-understood possibilities while relinquishing the need for total control, is key to attaining radical freedom."
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, wooden beads, natural fluorite crystal octahedrons, and acrylic paint.
MEDIA: Three vintage clock radios, vintage TV antenna, and quartz crystal cluster
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, barnacle cluster, ceramic with glass, shed snakeskin, quartz crystals, hand-cut paper, collage, and acrylic paint. Round canvas and moss.
MEDIA: Vintage clock radio (metal), vintage TV antenna, and two orange rhomboid calcite crystals
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, barnacle cluster, titanium quartz crystals, cholla cactus wood, and acrylic paint.
MEDIA: Vintage headphones, beads, quartz crystals, plant roots, fossilized shark teeth, snake skin sheddings, collage, and acrylic paint
MEDIA: Vintage mannequin hand, wooden beads, snakeskin sheddings, various seashells, snake bones, catfish atlas bone, and acrylic paint.
https://www.rhondawheatley.com/
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Santcum by Levi van Veluw
Late last summer 2019, artist Levi van Veluw created an incredible installation, Sanctum, shown at Tenuta Dello Scompiglio, an Agricola and art/cultural showcase outside of Lucca, Italy.
This intense, transcendent space resonates with me deeply for many reasons and on many levels. I will let the artist explain:
"The installation Sanctum, developed especially for Tenuta Dello Scompiglio, testifying of a fictitious religious conviction, engages all the senses of the visitor. The last room where visitors ended their journey in Kerguénnec, nell'installazione 'The relativity of the matter', becomes the starting point for a more elaborate proposition in the expositive space of Dello Scompiglio. Levi van Veluw based Sanctum on of the first religious buildings, the Tabernacle, also called the tent of meeting. This tent served as a place of worship and symbolized God’s presence amidst those who had gathered.
The interior of the Tabernacle consisted of 3 spaces: the Forecourt, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, sacred in ascending gradation. Like the Tabernacle, Levi van Veluw’s work features symmetry and harmony, to express the strive for divine perfection and reflect the divine holiness through the careful gradations of the three phases. As such, he plays with the age-old composition of the religious structure and thereby lures the spectator deeper and deeper into the Sanctuary.
After a long descent, a mysterious dark blue glow shines through a narrow crack in the wall. The visitor enters through this opening into a high-ceilinged, underground space, the forecourt. Massive columns emerge on both sides and mountains of coal lie scattered across the floor, while the path in the centre is kept open. Static forms set in repetitive sequences recall the structure of an ecstatic building, made to glorify an unknown higher purpose. The space slowly comes into view, an open passage at the end leads to what appears to be a ritual environment, the Sanctuary. Fragrant water flows through an ordered pattern of geometric incisions in the floor. At the centre, there is a chapel, composed of a detailed network of grids, boxes and openings, the Holy of Holies.
Is this an opening to a new world in which religion, again, plays an important role? Or does the artist use existing symbolisms to lure the mind into a new religion? These are questions the artist leaves the spectator with."
Please do take three minutes to watch this beautiful walk-through of the installation which will give you a clearer picture.
Many years ago, in what seems like another life now, I attended regular Friday night services at a Hindu ashram in Oakland, California. They were wonderful times, but the thing that sticks with me is the magnificent sensory experience of the main Meditation Hall. It was bathed in a low indigo-violet light and the heady smell of incense (delicious Nag Champa and Dhoop). After a video talk by the guru (or sometimes a live talk if the guru was in residence), we would chant or sing in Sanskrit (thankfully it was always projected in phonetic English on a wall), and I regularly had transcendent experiences in which I felt a unique consciousness shift. It was very special and van Veluw's Sanctum seems like it has a similar feeling with its deep, penetrating color and fragrant water, and the sense of a place that is a manifestation/representation, however limited it may be, of a state beyond the physical.
And this profound installation has been resurrected for a site specific presentation at Het HEM, a former ammunition factory, now a home for contemporary culture, in the Dutch city of Zaandam. The artist refers to it as a semi-permanent installation, so it seems to be an open-ended chance to see this marvelous piece.
"Sanctum is a deep blue chapel that appears to float in between two floors. The work invites for contemplation while examining what the architecture of the spiritual consists of. Why do we assign value to objects, to the tangible, within the immaterial realm of faith? What is the basis of our devotion to altars, relics and icons? In the colossal space of Het HEM, Sanctum tests the boundary between an artistic and a spiritual experience."
What the artist is really working with is the idea of symbols and stand-ins for ideas and states of consciousness that are beyond our physical world. These objects become the machinery of the sacred, while ritual is the technology of the sacred. Of course these things can be used in ways that are not so pure or transcendent, which is the basis of a great portion of human suffering. But in a pure form, objects and rituals can be illuminating and serve as a connection to a place in us to which we all, all of us, personally have access.
https://levivanveluw.com/
This intense, transcendent space resonates with me deeply for many reasons and on many levels. I will let the artist explain:
"The installation Sanctum, developed especially for Tenuta Dello Scompiglio, testifying of a fictitious religious conviction, engages all the senses of the visitor. The last room where visitors ended their journey in Kerguénnec, nell'installazione 'The relativity of the matter', becomes the starting point for a more elaborate proposition in the expositive space of Dello Scompiglio. Levi van Veluw based Sanctum on of the first religious buildings, the Tabernacle, also called the tent of meeting. This tent served as a place of worship and symbolized God’s presence amidst those who had gathered.
The interior of the Tabernacle consisted of 3 spaces: the Forecourt, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, sacred in ascending gradation. Like the Tabernacle, Levi van Veluw’s work features symmetry and harmony, to express the strive for divine perfection and reflect the divine holiness through the careful gradations of the three phases. As such, he plays with the age-old composition of the religious structure and thereby lures the spectator deeper and deeper into the Sanctuary.
After a long descent, a mysterious dark blue glow shines through a narrow crack in the wall. The visitor enters through this opening into a high-ceilinged, underground space, the forecourt. Massive columns emerge on both sides and mountains of coal lie scattered across the floor, while the path in the centre is kept open. Static forms set in repetitive sequences recall the structure of an ecstatic building, made to glorify an unknown higher purpose. The space slowly comes into view, an open passage at the end leads to what appears to be a ritual environment, the Sanctuary. Fragrant water flows through an ordered pattern of geometric incisions in the floor. At the centre, there is a chapel, composed of a detailed network of grids, boxes and openings, the Holy of Holies.
Is this an opening to a new world in which religion, again, plays an important role? Or does the artist use existing symbolisms to lure the mind into a new religion? These are questions the artist leaves the spectator with."
Please do take three minutes to watch this beautiful walk-through of the installation which will give you a clearer picture.
Many years ago, in what seems like another life now, I attended regular Friday night services at a Hindu ashram in Oakland, California. They were wonderful times, but the thing that sticks with me is the magnificent sensory experience of the main Meditation Hall. It was bathed in a low indigo-violet light and the heady smell of incense (delicious Nag Champa and Dhoop). After a video talk by the guru (or sometimes a live talk if the guru was in residence), we would chant or sing in Sanskrit (thankfully it was always projected in phonetic English on a wall), and I regularly had transcendent experiences in which I felt a unique consciousness shift. It was very special and van Veluw's Sanctum seems like it has a similar feeling with its deep, penetrating color and fragrant water, and the sense of a place that is a manifestation/representation, however limited it may be, of a state beyond the physical.
And this profound installation has been resurrected for a site specific presentation at Het HEM, a former ammunition factory, now a home for contemporary culture, in the Dutch city of Zaandam. The artist refers to it as a semi-permanent installation, so it seems to be an open-ended chance to see this marvelous piece.
"Sanctum is a deep blue chapel that appears to float in between two floors. The work invites for contemplation while examining what the architecture of the spiritual consists of. Why do we assign value to objects, to the tangible, within the immaterial realm of faith? What is the basis of our devotion to altars, relics and icons? In the colossal space of Het HEM, Sanctum tests the boundary between an artistic and a spiritual experience."
What the artist is really working with is the idea of symbols and stand-ins for ideas and states of consciousness that are beyond our physical world. These objects become the machinery of the sacred, while ritual is the technology of the sacred. Of course these things can be used in ways that are not so pure or transcendent, which is the basis of a great portion of human suffering. But in a pure form, objects and rituals can be illuminating and serve as a connection to a place in us to which we all, all of us, personally have access.
https://levivanveluw.com/
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