M-PEACH NOW

this administration must be held accountable for its blatant lies and other heinous crimes. my M-PEACH image, as well as good ol' DUMP W (upside down) are available on t-shirts and stickers at cafepress.com. the graphics themselves (copyleft) are available through me free of charge for use in whatever capacity you wish.

sonic sailboat sails at mcasd

as a kid, i raced sailboats every weekend of every summer of my life. to me, racing sailboats fulfilled the same sorts of needs that going to chruch seemed to fill for others. through it, i developed a sense of community, ritual, and communion with forces greater than myself. my sonic fabric project was inspired by the small strands of cassette tape we used as tell-tails, or wind indicators. i recall imagining that, if the wind hit the tell-tails just the right way, i'd be able to hear music wafting off onto the breeze. years later i learned about tibetan prayer flags, small squares of fabric inscribed with images of mantras, or sacred sounds. this reminded me of the tell-tails, and i was immediately inspired to create a fabric woven from potential sound. to me, sails are the ultimate prayer flags. after years in the development and experimentation stages, i'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to finally create a set of sails made of sonic fabric. the installation is currently on view at the san diego museum of contemporary art, where it will remain until may 2008.

next, i'd like to create a set for an america's cup yacht, or an old wooden herreshoff.

triangle x

a new short film from the center for the improbable and (im)permacultural research.
it's another one inspired by buckminster fuller:

buckminster fuller challenge

the buckminster fuller institute is offering a $100,000 prize for the simplest possible idea that has the potential to affect the greatest global change for the better in the shortest period of time. i've been polling friends, and so far we've come up with a few ideas: a harmonica that only plays OM (hmmm...maybe i oughta revive my 1998 "campaign to change the dial-tone to OM"...?), listening to banjo music, having chickens around, forming a non-government, non-corporate organization to check-and-balance the government, making an animated movie to post on youtube that somehow tries to convince people that living absolutely for THIS LIFE, and not some promise of greener pastures later, is the key to stemming the tide of all manner of holy zeal (hmmm...didn't john lennon write a song about this??).

the bottom line is that just by THINKING about the answer to the problem, we're helping to solve the problem. kudos to the bfi for being the catalyst...

improbable

dear friends, several small developments to report:

i am, admittedly, somewhat relieved to announce that the center for the obvious, big bend chapter, is now defunct.
"the center for the improbable and (im)permacultural research, ltd" has sprung up, at higher elevation, in the form of a beige 1970 school bus, in its stead.

sonic fabric, the audible textile inspired by sailing and tibetan prayer flags, continues to enjoy it's life outside the confines of my intentions or expectations. as part of an effort to foster its independence, i have posted two short videos on youtubethat i hope will help clarify things.

if you have not already, i hope you will take a moment to experience the solo guitar music of julian mock (collaborator on several sound, video, and gardening projects), now available on itunes and cdbaby.

and, finally, upcoming shows, all of which contain pieces made from sonic fabric
(greater detail forthcoming as dates approach):

in los angeles:
"do it now: live green"
ben maltz gallery, otis college of art and design
aug 25 through oct 20

in the uk:
"dott07: our cyborg futures: me or machines?"
discovery museum, newcastle upon tyne
aug 10 through oct 28

in san diego:
"soundwaves"
san diego museum of contemporary art
sept 23 through may 4, 2008

thanks, as always.

millions against monsanto

i was over at david byrne's blog the other day, already riled up about the disappearing bee situation, and read his post about possible links to gmo crops and related pesticides. my hair stood on end. one thing lead to another, and before too long i found myself sending irate letters to congress and scathing faxes to monsanto.

how to make an ice-cream cone buckyball

philosoprop shop sale

in celebration of the grand opening of the center for the obvious, big bend branch, i am hosting $10 cheap art & propaganda sale. please visit the virtual shoppe to see the work, &/or email me for details.

gargles in the rat-race choir

as genius dylan lyrics go, for me "gargles in the rat-race choir" is one of the most outstanding. from the uncannily-pertinent song "it's alright ma", it's a line that i believe speaks directly to the times at hand.

it just so happened that my studio at blue mountain center this past fall contained a turntable that would make every record it tried to play skip in strangely perfect loops. i set about recording the loops, then layered them to create a collage. i also filmed the turntable itself spinning around and around using an old-fashioned super-8 film camera...the whole experience seemed to be the perfect metaphor for current events, especially given that the album containing the song ("bringing it all back home") was originally released in 1965. i added some video, digitized the film, and knitted it all together to create this little movie.

anyhow, times being what they are, i felt compelled to share it.
i hope you'll enjoy.

ps: for anyone interested, the original lyrics to the song "it's alright ma" by bob dylan can be found here.