Anyone going to CoSM?

[winder]

Alex Grey's chapel in NYC is hosting art by electricsheep.org and entheogenic salon this Saturday evening.

[Cassie]

of course i cant, but i would if i could, so ... BUMP!

[TroutMask]

Oh man, if I had the money...

[treyu]

if I didn't already have plans for this evening, I would absolutely go...

For anyone who is in the NYC area and hasn't been to CoSM, its a trip in and of itself - I can't recommend it highly enough.

Just out of curiousity, has anyone on the board attended their full/new moon drum & dance gatherings?  I've often wondered what the atmosphere/crowd is like at these events but have never attended.

[winder]

Here is my trip report from Saturday night, but not a trip of the sort that has been the inspiration of so much visionary art, but the trip of the type that was a quick travel into NYC and back to my home in a different state. I went and enjoyed, but did not stay all that late; at midnight I was headed back to Penn Station.

I arrived mostly for the "lecture" by Spot (as Scott Draves is called). Having traveled by car, train, and a 15-minute hike through the West side, I gave myself plenty of time to get there and of course was way too early. I looked around the portions of the CoSM that were open, but since service was in progress, portions were closed off. A small crowd of maybe 25 people were lingering, seated and standing. One tall, lean, dark-goateed man was older than the rest, but looked to be taking in the scene rather deliberately as he sat on the sofa under some prints. I choose to venture back into the coldest night of the year (with a howling wind) to seek some fuel for myself. A good burger, sweet potato fries, and some coffee at a diner nearby filled the time and my gut without clobbering my insulin levels, leaving me alert and not lulling for a nap. I headed back to the CoSM and saw that the crowd had grown considerably. I sat by Mr. Goatee and he began to chat with 3 others standing nearby, who had traveled from Houston that morning and were going to be enjoying a rather late night of visual stimulation.

Given all the technical equipment needed for the presentation. Some computers were brought across country from San Francisco, and unfortunately were at first lost and there later were found to have suffered damage from the airline's handling of the hardware. These small set backs were found during set-up and the start of the evening was delayed. When the growing crowd that was beginning to fill the CoSM's various rooms and hallways was informed of the situation and that the evening would be starting soon, there were some glad hoots and clapping.

Shortly thereafter, the doors opened and people took their places on folding chairs. A few people had no chairs on which to sit, among them myself since the doors opened while I was using the men's room, so I took the opportunity to assist in getting more chairs out. Alex met me at the closet door and recognized my Spiritplants T-shirt. He said we really enjoys that board and asked me how I am called. I told him somewhat cautiously "Winder", since I was unsure if he was asking about my pseudonym or my real name. I was somewhat embarrassed, as I have never spoken with or sought to speak with anyone that has or is close to having some celebrity. The tone of Alex's voice was so upbeat, which was a pleasure to hear. He didn't seem hassled at all. So we and others get additional chairs out and shortly the talk by Spot began.

Introduced as a surprise guest, attending unbeknowest to Alex and Allyson until that evening, was Joshua White, the creator of so many rock light shows way back. Joshua looked younger and more fit than I expected. Spot began his presentation, with the standard Electric Sheep projected on to a larger screen, while a high-definiton version was shown on a large computer monitor (damn the airline).

Alex told of his first visionary experience with LSD on a sugar cube as being the inspiration for his art. Spot recalled a similar episode from 1987 with an injection of 100 mg of DMT and 70 mg of Ketamine. The audience cheered at this. But Spot had gotten into computer graphics programming prior to his chemically induced high graphics. He said that when he was first exposed to computer programming in school in 1979, we wrote a Spirograph rendering program. The substances just changed the forms that he would seek to create. Many have wondered what is the point of computer programming as an art form, since you get what you used as a design back out. That may have been the case before, but now is not; now creation is spontaneous and has no firm initial construct as a rock sculptor or canvas painter may have.

The premise concerning "Electric Sheep" has been provded elsewhere, so those details will not be included in this account. But a couple of points made were interesting and I found quite valid. Ironically, and somewhat resistantly, Spot has termed the graphics program as both benefitting from "evolution" and "intelligent design". The crowd enjoyed this irony. The evolution is from the survival of the designs that are voted on by the viewers of the screen savers. The intelligent design is from the 250 variables used to generate the morphing patterns, the programming code that he put into his open source that distributes the computing to about 45,000 machines simultaneously. Spot is seeking to improve the code. It was nearly 10 PM and Alex stood up to give a description of what the rest of the evening would offer. There were 3 music stations and dancing and live painting.

As the crowd, which had now doubled with people continuing to come in the door to the 4th floor gallery, was milling I asked Spot what he would improve. He stated that there is one glitch to overcome since 1 server is struggling to parse out to 45,000 machines these designs. His solution would be to use bit-torrent to distribute the content source, but this will take some effort also on the part of the participants given how firewalls and torrents interact (I am ignorant about the obstacles, but the use of torrents as a solution was what I expected him to offer).

With that, I walked through the rest of the gallery, including the Chapel itself. I have never really coveted anything until now. If there was anything that I just long to have hanging on my walls, it would be one of a few of Alex Grey's works. Among these would be the 100th birthday portrait of Albert Hofmann. The Chapel is stunning with how life is captured and warm with color. As I was viewing the works about the halls, I wasn't in a talkative mood. I noticed that a series of painting which shows the various stages of life and relationships. Although hanging in a logical sequence on the walls, they were not painted in that same chronology. My remark to another observer was received with a reaction of silence. "Okay, I will stay silent." In the nook between this gallery and the actual Chapel of the Sacred Mirrors was a display book of prints for sale, cards, and hardcover books. One blogger started talking to me, and I was very uncomfortable for some reason. I am not highly educated or trained about these works or the people or create them, feeling like I could offer no real critique. Rather I was there simply to observe. Adding to my unease was my self-consciencenous about appearing perhaps somewhat out of place as a clean cut 40-year-old among the younger crowd that was peppered with some older hippie-likes. My clothes and hair matched none fo the fashion there. So when Mr. Blogger started talking to someone else, I took the opening to get to the dark dance floor area. Not to dance, just to observe.

Well, observation was worthwhile, since shortly after I had positioned myself, Alex and Allyson set up their painting station. Many people stood in a semi-circle to watch as Alex proceeded to add fine details to a largely finished portrait. He was bobbing to the beat. Allyson and Alex seem to thoroughly love what they are doing, rather than considering it work. They shared a kiss and a hug when she brought him a insulated beverage tumbler. Of all that I longed for that evening, having that bond of joy was the greatest possession missing for me.

As I watched the two work, I realized that I have no good estimate idea how much time these people invest in planning and actual making their concepts realities. Most who watched took photos with their cell phones, which is something I just cannot fathom. I'd rather not be troubled with such an interruption and through such a poor portal; I'd rather watch what is happening with my own eyes. I had a chance to chat with Allyson as she outlined the patterns for 1 of the 20 panels she has planned for a new project. But first I had to wait for her to finish her conversation with an art history major attending UPenn.

I had seen some of their work before at Baltimore's American Museum of Visionary Art exhibit titled "Addiction". While Alex like reds, yellows, oranges, and flesh, one or two of Allyson's by contrast had a strong preference for an emerald green, a preference I hadn't ever seen in Alex's. This was the subject of my desire to speak with Allyson. I asked her where these were, and she politely corrected me that there are 19 colors in her works, just as in the one she was planning on the panel before her. These particular works were in an office. She appreciated that the green stood out for me. She explained her work of order and chaos and her alphabet code that is between the two. She asked about my religious background and explained her roots in Judaism. Allyson then asked about how of heard of the place and the event, and I explained that I had seen a topic at The Nook and decided to look. She says she isn't a reader of these boards, but when I showed her my shirt, she explained that Alex does enjoy reading some of them. She asked about my career and profession. I was embarassed to offer chemical engineer, but she riffed on it, asking about chemicals. I explained, not really chemicals of any strong interest to the people present, but polymers. I further explained that I went for the security of a large company; she replied that Alex did that once. She was amazed at the crowd and suggested I come back for one of the meditations. I told her that I'd like to, but that the March calendar seemed empty, so I wondered if they were traveling. She said no, that the web page is just a little backlogged and that March will have the normal events. They would not be traveling until May when they visit an intentional community in Italy.

Allyson had a very personal and touching manner that was pleasant, and I enjoyed meeting her, although I doubt I stood out in any manner.

I felt I had enjoyed enough of her conversation and others should enjoy her energy also. I unseated myself not even looking back to see who next sat down to face Alysson in discussion while see crafted her art panel. I went to look again at some her panels that were near the ceiling of where the lecture had been held, this time through the proper end of a pair of binoculars that were available. (I had mistakingly used the wrong end eariler and thought they had been mishandled and damaged, not that I myself was being careless- Oh the sense of superiority dealt yet another blow). I then found my bag and coat, and waded against the continuing stream of incomers.

I do expect to visit for a meditation.

[treyu]

Winder,
Thanks for the detailed trip report! It was nice to get such a comprehensive narrative of the experience.  Glad to hear that they got the equipment up and running despite setbacks.  How many people would you estimate were in attendance?

I would also say you shouldn't self-impose the obstacles of your age, appearance or career on your degree of worth in a room.  I think that anyone who paid the price of admission to support their work was equally welcome and entitled to enjoy themselves.  Anyway, I think I'd be highly inclined to go to one of the future meditations/full moon ceremonies.  I'm sure it would be an enjoyable opportunity to interact with like-minded folks, however, I'm not much of a dancer (yet) so I wonder how much dancing is necessary at the ceremony, and if it is voluntary...

On a side note, I'm quite astonished that Alex Grey had any knowledge of Spiritplants!  Hell, I didn't even know there were tee-shirts made up...

Thanks for the report Winder, maybe I'll see you at the next one!

[winder]

As for attendance, at the lecture maybe 100 and for the dancing maybe 400.

As for my worth being there, I hear you loud and clear.
The world needs all kinds mixed together; so more than freaks at freak events.  Maybe I should converse more and more freely.

Thanks!

[treyu]

In a room full of freaks at a freak event, the truly freaky would be the ones who don't seem freaky at all.

freaky.