SOURCE maui

.: : . .Dehumidifier. . . .

I live in Hai'ku.

This is one of the wettest climates one can live in. We are in the jungle. We keep telling people that and they think we mean we live in trees.

Some out here do live in trees or dug into the side of a hill. But most of us, we have houses, regular homes with roofs, doors, and windows. We even have appliances. But we do live in the jungle.

I have a King bed, carpet, a gas kitchen, a back porch surrounded by green of every shade, a stream behind the house and a bathroom with two shower heads--- the house and the location are amazing.

Except it's dank. Everything is dank. In upcountry Maui, when you are on the hilltops, or perched somehow to receive sun, it all dries out in the daytime. But in Haiku, on Holokai Rd., it can rain for weeks and never get sun. We are in the valley-- better known as a gulch- where the earth resembles a digestive system, everything is decomposing.

If I leave the refrigerator open for a few minutes, water drips from the seams. Anything in the closet that doesn't get washed every week starts to get digested by tiny earthen filaments floating in from the jungle outside my windows. My favorite photographs of my birthday last year and my nieces are molding.

Yesterday, someone mentioned to me that their friend had gotten mold in their lungs. They had to move to Kihei where it's dry. My roommate Jessica works with Malik, one of the leading nutrition and Chinese medicine specialists, who told her when she moved in that she couldn't stay. As I went to bed, the smell of mold crept up from my sheets and pillows. I sprinkled an essential oil of pine on the bed and went to sleep determined to be done with this.

So today, I fixed the dryer upstairs and I bought a dehumidifier.

Everything is different.

The dehumidifier has been on since 4pm (8 hours) and I have emptied about 100 pints of water. My thumbs are bleeding from wrench and metal scratches from installing the dryer. Right now the dehumidifier is in the closet, shooting hot air through the dank clothes.

I am realizing how completely sensitive I am to my environment.

I have lived here for 11 months. I moved in when the rainy season was just ending. That is what I was told. Now, I am told that the rainy season is just beginning.

My questions are:

• Why haven't I gotten mold in my lungs? How would I know if I did?
  
• If I haven't, at what point is this all mind over matter?
  
• Why have I been fine for 11 months? Am I just running the dehumidifier out of fear?
• What else have I been neglecting?
  

I've looked for a dehumidifier on craigslist for 3 months, starting when my new housemates, Jen and Jessica, moved into the house upstairs, and we started a cleanse for a month. Today, I finally went to Lowes (much better than Home Depot) and purchased the remaining dryer component and the dehumidifier.

Plants sprouting mushrooms
My room has been dank for months
I live in Haiku

Personal Note: Work Play and Focus

I've got my restaurant work down to about 2 days a week. My new relationship to my job waiting tables is that it provides me a job that I do well, don't have to think about and I get to spend time with a bunch of people I really enjoy. (Nice to get out of the isolation of the studio).

The restaurant is Hali'imaile General Store which in my view is one of the best restaurants in Maui. An operating wing of the company is Celebrations Catering, one of the largest and best Maui caterers. They also cater weddings and special events.

I spent an amazing day yesterday in Hana with my roommates Jenn and Nyema. It was clearing, yet we had stayed up 'til 6 am the night before with 30 of our friends initiating our home with a great party and I was exhausted. Today I went to the waterfall with Rachel.

All the while, knowing I had soooo much work to do (My To Do List):

1. Finish commissioned artwork for New York client. 5' x 3' painting
2. Complete and post on youtube, video of Source (interactive arts festival in Maui)
3. Promote The Black Box. The latest version is finished and available as a DVD. I want edIT from the Glitch Mob to provide the soundtrack and as luck would have it, he is coming out to perform at the Source fun-raiser in two weeks. The Black Box (original version) is on the internet, however the current version is only on DVD for now.
   
4. Create the latest Aloha Art Update to promote my artwork and share funky art news. I need to get this out before the War and Peace Art Show closes at the epOxybOx in Venice Beach, CA.
5. Find a gallery in SF/Oakland for the War and Peace Art Show that is traveling across the country.
   
6. Send Invoice for Website Work on HGS website.
7. pay bills, pay ticket, clean room so it's zen, prepare to go to SXSW film festival in Austin in March where the war and peace show will be...
   

I'll post in a couple days on how I'm doing.

Manifest.

Close-up of "Burning Angels, Hungry Ghosts and a Million Little Bubbles" now showing at the epOxybOx "War and Peace Art Show".

"Burning Angels, Hungry Ghosts, and A Million Little Bubbles"

If George W. Bush were to meditate, what would his experience be?

The notion that George W. Bush lives in a bubble, isolated from the opinions of the American Citizenry and the world around him, is a projection that we put upon him to relieve our own guilt and responsibility for America's war in Iraq. The fact is, that we as Americans are quite successful, in our own right, at living out joyful lives during war; each of us in our own little bubbles. We have pretty nice bubbles, especially here in Maui.

Like all projections, there is truth in it. Bush has a dogma he prescribes to that, given much external dialogue, would soon reveal it's inconsistencies. So, better for W. to remain in his bubble. Otherwise, the vision he is holding, his vision of freedom, which seems to include a religious polarity of us against them, would falter.

In the title, I am referencing Bush's self defeating starkly dualistic view of the world and religion. I am also referencing the public castigation of author James Frey for lying in his book A Million Little Pieces. Our failure to even censor the President for his lies is a painful hypocrisy.

In early discussions of what to name the art exhibition for which this art piece was created, Maui Artists for Peace wanted something bold and audacious that demanded an end to the war in Iraq. As more artists joined, the sentiment was expressed that it does not serve to fight for peace. To achieve peace, we must be and express peace. It has been said: heal yourself, heal your family, heal your community and the world will be healed. The question is how to manifest peace. The danger is isolating oneself on an island in the middle of the Pacific to the point where in other parts of the world, people experiencing the worst kinds of death and violence, seem a world away.

It was Dennis Kucinich who said, before the war started, that we must have compassion and hold the President's hand as we walk him back from the abyss. In this painting, a plastic bubble (made from petroleum) surrounds President Bush as he sits, meditating in the lotus position.

To manifest peace, I manifest a peaceful George W. Bush.

Cleanse and Rejuvenate: Day 22

Getting close to the finish line.
Tomorrow is all water. No supplements. No lemon. No nothing.
It's been raining everyday out here in Haiku. I was thinking of heading to Hana and getting a hotel for the night, but I don't want to be out there in the rain. Instead, I'll head to one of my favorite beaches out in La Perouse Bay for a day of quiet. I'll bring my tent and sleeping bag and attempt to camp.
The beach I'm headed to is serene. Maybe I'll get lucky and call in some dolphins.

All water. I'll pack some Inca Berries and maybe some apples and nuts for Thursday morning.
I'm looking forward to a latte in a couple of days.

Cleanse and Rejuvenate: Day 17 (something positive)

I don't mean to be a grouch about it. I feel great. I just don't feel like totally amazing and uber clear and like super man.

So what have I learned that you might find useful?

1. Yams. Sweet Potatoes man. Super good for you. In fact, they contain protein, vitamins, minerals, tons of good stuff-- they contain enough to live on alone. Not that you would, but if you are not into yams, get into em. AND they are tasty.
   
2. Olive oil is AMAZING for you-- but I knew that-- BUT DON'T ALWAYS HEAT OLIVE OIL. Heating oils makes oils bad-- artery clogging bad, free radical bad. And the solution is easy, heat your veggies in a pan with water or bake them and then pour the olive oil onto it. Olive oil is the only oil that actually reduces the bad fat in your body.
   
3. Soak your nuts. (insert Beavis and Butthead chuckle here). When you soak almonds in water overnight they turn out pretty good. And they have turned slightly into a sprout. Sprouts are good for you. This one I have heard over and over and it resonates with my intuition-- sprouting food is like eating a little spark of life energy. In the morning, just drain them and add them to cereal, snack em...
   
4. Best Sweetener: Maple Syrup. It's got lots of minerals and stuff. Just don't use processed sugar. Processed sugar strips the goods out of you.
   
5. Salt and sodium do not cause heart disease. OK, this one, I bet is well contested by the medical community. According to my raw food class, table salt is responsible for high blood pressure. Sea Salt and Himalayan salt are healthy alternatives. Clearly there is something right here-- we need salt to live.
   
6. Recipe for Healthy Tasty Salsa: throw into a food processor-- 4 tomatoes, small onion, garlic clove, small jalepeno, dash of apple cider vinegar, bunch of cilantro... blend for a couple of seconds. Add some avocado up in that mix. Mmmmmm. Yum.
   
7. Wheat is kind of bad, sprouted wheat is WAY better. Sprouted grain breads are available at any food store. Ezekial 4:9 is my favorite and they make a good cereal too that is sprouted.

I've tried to convince my roommate Jessica, who is the Teacher Assistant, that Malik needs to have a blog. I'm sure his info would be much better.

Cleanse and Rejuvenate: Day 17

No alcohol, no coffee, no heated oils, no dairy, no meat, no wheat, no smoke.

The gist of the cleanse our house is on through Chinese herbalist Malik of the Dragon's Den in Makawao, HI is a lot of "no's".

The first week focused on cleansing the liver, followed by the kidneys and we have just entered the lungs. We've also had a number of days of just raw-- nothing cooked.

The benefit of a raw diet is explained as such: raw foods generally contain enzymes in their natural state that aid in their digestion.

I've been cheating on the no tobacco, but otherwise have been hardcore. At this point, I am completing the cleanse for the same reason I climbed to the top of Mt. Whitney-- The satisfaction of completion, to get to the finish line. To say I did it, I did it fully, so I don't have to do it again.

Do you sense a little edge? Perhaps I'm edgy.

Day 23 is all water. The last day is integration-- fruits, veggies.

I'm appreciating that I like balance, I like meat, I like a drink...

Smart People, Motivation, Inspiration... TED

I've been to this site a few times in the last year. I've always thought of Tony Robbins as the sort of annoying guy in late night infomercials. I now realize my impression is far out of date.

Original Black Box (2003)

This is the original version of the Black Box that Hope Pritikin and I made 4 years ago and brought to Burning Man and played on the playa. It's about race relations in the United States and begins with the question, "Why aren't that many African Americans at Burning Man". The quality is a bit rough and we would make numerous changes if we were to re-edit, and we actually are re-editing. I am posting it here in it's original entirety.

Original Black Box (2003) from G and Vimeo.

Transformation

here's a saying by ursula k. leguin shared by Amy Halvatzes:

only in silence, the word

only in darkness, the light

only in dying, life

Bright the hawk's flight

on the empty sky

Poem provided by Jamey Austin

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired
The world is tired also

When your vision has gone
No part of the world can find you.
Time to go into the dark
Where the night has eyes
To recognize its own.

There you can be sure
You are not beyond love.
The dark will be your womb
Tonight.
The night will give you a horizon
Further than you can see.

You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
Except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
Confinement of your aloneness

To learn

Anything or anyone
That does not bring you alive

Is too small for you.

-David Whyte

War and Peace Art Show

The Maui Artists for Peace present Maui's War and Peace Art Show . It is thus far exceeding most people's expectations. With over 200 works of art and 80 artists, it's phenomenal that the call for art went out less than a week before the show opened. The website is mauistopthewar.com

What I am working on: The Black Box @ Burning Man

This is what I am working on right now. I'm taking the Black Box, the movie that we showed on the playa at Burning Man a few years ago, and putting it in a more current context.

Burning Man was happening while Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. The conclusion we reached after interviewing African Americans about the lack of diversity at a festival like Burning Man, was that, for the most part, black people and white people don't really hang out that much. There are certainly the cross-over points, where groups intermingle regardless of race, but they are rare and special.

I think it's important to look at race in America. Especially considering how Hurricane Katrina ripped away a veil that had tried to hide impoverished blacks from the world. The reaction of the American people revealed our heart while our government revealed our lack of courage

Burning Man is a very American place and the lack of racial diversity at the festival is really just a reflection of our country.

The new version opens with Hurricane Katrina and then zooms in on Hope and me on the playa with the original version of the black box playing on a TV in the background.

Peace

"...others cannot bring us peace. No leader is going to give us peace, no government, no army, no country. What will bring peace is inward transformation which will lead to outward action. Inward transformation is not isolation, is not a withdrawal from outward action."
--Krishnamurti

The time of looking for a leader, a Dr. King, a Gandhi or a Barrack Obama to bring us peace is past. Change will come with hundreds, thousands perhaps millions of leaders. Obama has called for grassroots, for involvement among likeminded people to get involved on a community basis. Helping ourselves and our communities is the best thing we can do for our country and for the world. It is the inner transformation that will bring us peace.

Peace is not just an absence of war, peace is an act of sensitivity. We do not just get along, we act from a place of compassion for ourselves and those around us. By respecting the space of our former enemies, we honor ourselves.

Peace is not just getting out of Iraq. It is having a personal recognition of everyones humanity. Peace comes from the peaceful journey of each person.

Starbucks, Race and Basketball

Sherman Alexie is one of the greatest writers in the United States, in fact, he's possibly the 78th greatest writer in the United States. Luke Ridnour, according to ESPN, is the 78th greatest player in the NBA.

This article by Alexie is one of the five best articles I have read in the last year.

If you are a fan of sports, you will love this. If you aren't, you will learn something: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=101518

The background:
Seattle might be losing it's NBA team after 40 years in the city. Howard Shultz is the number one coffee maker in the world and he recently sold the team.

The Sonics have lost their last four games by 4, 6, 3, and 1 respectively.

Is this what it looked like when Wynn elbows his 139 million dollar Picasso?

After agreeing to sell Picasso's famous "Le Rêve" painting for a record 139 million dollars, Steve Wynn punctured the canvas while showing it to some friends.

There was a distinct ripping sound. We all just stopped. I said, ‘I can’t believe I just did that. Oh, shit. Oh, man.’”

To his credit: Wynn said: "This has nothing to do with money. The money means nothing to me. It's that I had this painting in my care and I've damaged it."

I just thought it would be fun to see what it might have looked like with a tear. Fortunately, the pros out there can do pretty amazing restoration work on these kinds of things...

Beatboxen Bush

You must have volume on if you want to appreciate George W. lipsynching some dope beats in this original video. GWB is back with another amazing performance. Surprisingly he is actually very good.

Enigma of the Mill

If you have visited Maui, at some point, when you were crossing from the Kihei side to the Hana side, you probably cut through the sugar mill on Pu'unene Rd. Or should I say Poo Poo Nay Nay. Anyone who lives here in Maui knows the awful stench of sewage that the cane fields around the Sugar Mill sometimes reek of. Beyond the smell, the entire operation is strange. The second engima to me is this: How can this land can still afford to grow cane when the real estate market all around is skyrocketing property values? Every season the cane fields are burnt down sending smoke and ash snow across the island. The mill itself stands in almost the geographical center of Maui, alone among cane fields, the rusted factory looms with its smoke tower exhaust as a relic of a bygone era . Today we often forget that our own cars' engines are machines of gears, cranks, hoses and pistons. In the movie "Enigma of the Mill" now showing at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Tom Sewell takes us inside the mill. The movie has the feel of Blade Runner and Mad Max. The machinery is awesome. What I think is so powerful about this work is this: there truly is so much that is going on under the hood. There are people here, putting together metal in ways that don't require I know computer science to understand. Its a kid's dream of big trucks and things that go. The Enigma of the Mill never explains why the cane stinks so much, or how they get away with the awful burning, in fact it doesn't explain much, it just opens the hood and we get to see a powerful and beautiful display that reveals: there is no magic happening here, it's just big cranks and gears kept running by men. And that is what is magic about it.

Aloha Art Update #4 : July 2006

Aloha,

It's the summer here in Maui, which, surprisingly makes a difference. The sun sets at 7:30, earlier than for most of you in the mainland, but still, we had our longest day by almost 2 hours on the solstice. The whales are long gone. The nights on the beach are warmer. I spent my first sunset ever at Baldwin Beach last Saturday, drinking a beer with a friend and jumping in the soft golden transluscent-blue water as the sun went down (where I took this picture). Sometimes, it's the most simple things that reconnect us to the paradise we live in.

Maui offers so much magic, it is sometimes ironic how much of a challenge it can be to crack the surface.

Many who arrive in Maui hardly leave their hotel. And why not? It's perfectly unwinding. Why get beyond the pure medicine of just being in Maui? But others are drawn to a deeper experience, something to move them into a greater sense of the magic. This issue is dedicated to those who want to learn some skills and get beyond the normal tourist experience.

Mahalo (Thank you),
Gabriel Mott

Flowers in Maui?
Botanical Gardens
The Flower Series is my own expression of flowering on Maui. For those of you that haven't had a chance to see the new paintings, this is some of my best work, and my first released since moving to Maui.

This island is home to some of the most beautiful gardens in the world, for those who want to stroll among the beauty of actual flowers, try one of these botanical gardens: National Tropical Botanical Garden, Enchanting Floral Gardens, Maui Nui Botanical Gardens
# The Flower Series Gallery


Little Beach, Makena
Gettin' Tribal on a Sunday Afternoon
Every Sunday as the sun goes down, a collective holler goes out from Little Beach in Makena. Sometimes as many as one hundred people from all walks of life gather to play drums and dance. Once it's dark, fire dancers light up their poi, staffs and any other contraptions that can be lit on fire and spun around. The effect is at once, simple, exotic and beautiful. To get there, just be prepared to hike over a lava rock wall (the path isn't so bad) on the north end of Big Beach.

Fire Dancing Classes
Learn Improvisational and Traditional Body Movement With Poi
When my new roommate Greg who moved here from North Carolina exclaimed that he was seeing fire dancing for the first time, it reminded me that for many it is still a new artform. Maui is a hotbed for firedancers and one of the best on the island is Krissy Kopp who was featured in my movie Mystical Street Art. She offers classes for all levels twice a week through her company, Groovement Productions.
# Groovement Productions: Fire Dancing Classes
# Mystical Street Art Show: The Movie

Flower Four
Extracting Layers from The Flower Series
Each painting from The Flower Series was created with the same process, some of which was documented. I started with pen outlines, poured on acrylic and sprinkled color resin. With Flower Number Four, I've dropped the first seven layers into a flash document on my blog so you can click through the progression.
# Blog: Click through Flower Four's progression
# The Flower Series Gallery

Capoeira on da Islands
Dance, sing, clap, play, stretch, strengthen... a martial art?
As the root of break dancing when it came to NY in the late 1970's, Capoeira is definitely funkyenough. A number of Capoeira centers have popped up all over the island, but I've been learning with professor Guga at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center (The MACC). The art form is rooted in the culture of Brazilian slaves and combines martial arts, music and dance. Capoeira is an art in the complete sense of the word, it is a tool for transformation. Professor Guga playing Capoeira is on the right in the photo. Class is held every Monday and Thursday, beginners are welcome.

African Drumming at Paia Bay
Exhaust Your Hands While You Enrich Your Soul
Nestled in between Paia Bay and Baldwin Beach, Master dundun and djembe player, Rickyshy, leads a drum circle that practices African Drums. The dunduns are big drums played with sticks, the bass is close to 3 feet high creating such a deep tone it vibrates your body. All are welcome, but the first lesson in the drum circle is "don't stop til it's over" so be ready to gain some endurance.



As always, I thank you for your support. Let me know what you think of the Flower Series. Previous work is available in the gallery section of the website and I encourage you to consider acquiring a painting. I'll include more about the local art galleries and the art world in general in future Aloha Art Updates. I welcome your feedback.

Coming Soon, "The Box Set" a new series of dimensional paintings.

email: g(at)funkyenough.com
phone: 808-250-4825
web: http://funkyenough.com

Aloha Art Update #3 : August 2005

Aloha!

Gabe here-- in Maui, surrounded by artwork, just giving a big Aloha shout out. I just pulled together a few tidbits from island life here at the gallery that I wanted to share with you . I hope you enjoy it.

A KID COULD DO THAT
This aloha update is dedicated to the folly of age. Inevitably, guests of our gallery come across an artist they don't understand and exclaim a disregard for the perceived lack of talent. While I would never try to convince you to like an artist, I am convinced that these so called "child-like artists" are immensely deserving of the credit they receive. In a phrase, the emperor has clothes.

(1)."HE'S JUST DRAWING PUFFY STICK FIGURES!"
That's a reaction before the breadth, quality and energy of Keith Haring's output is experienced. Haring would start a mural as big as a building, complete it in hours, rarely stepping back to look--and upon completion, the mural would have perfect composition. I first found his work in NYC in 1984. I love it first for his intention to make art accessible to the masses. Haring created a complex and consistent visual language and influenced the way our culture uses and perceives imagery.
http://www.haringkids.com/master_b_randb.htm

(2). WINE TASTING ON MAUI?
What goes better with fine art than fine wine? I had my first experience with "Old World vs. New World", "Full bodied" vs. "Fruity" and flights just recently in the budding art town of old Wailuku in Maui. Cafe Marc Aurel has over 90 wines all available by the glass, that's my painting on the wall on the right.

(3).OUR FIRST BASQUAIT
You could be the proud owner of this painting by Jean-Michel Basquait for $975,000. With its combination of music, dynamic wordplay, performance, and graffiti writing, Basquiat's art embodied the hip-hop movement during its infancy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Basquiat not only contributed to the visual language invented by some of the century's first great artists, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and others but also transcended it. That is, he understood not only the African-influenced work of his predecessors from the beginning of the century, but also the state of contemporary art as his own generation had found it: austere, cerebral, exclusive, and detached from everyday life. In short, while his imagery befuddles some, this cat was very very smart and very very talented.

(4). THIS PICTURE IS NOT FOR SALE
One of the most common questions we get is, "How much for the picture of Picasso and Chagall?"— The two titans of art in the 20th century rarely met and when they did it was often tense. Very few photos of the two of them together exist. In 1955, Chagall was having a photo shoot and the wife of the photographer, Philippe Halsman, recalls: "Suddenly Picasso arrived in a taxi and saw that Philippe was photographing Chagall. He said, 'Oh let me be there too.' Picasso embraced Chagall for the photograph and then disappeared." The image here was taken in 1952, in Chagall's ceramic studio in Vallauris in the south of France.

(5). DRIPS ARE YOU KIDDING?
If it's not "a kid could do that" it's "I could do that". I think of Sam Francis as the "happy " Jackson Pollock. That is simplifying to be sure, but Francis was not the tortured soul that Pollock seemed to be. All I can say is if you get the chance—take a Francis into the viewing room and spend some time with it. If that doesn't do anything for you—walk the talk. Seriously, get some paint and give it a shot. Then again, someart is just not digestible for some people. But that's part of the joy of art.

(6). ALMOST PARADISE?
Last week I was swimming at Twin Falls with my girlfriend in deep pools of water surrounded by jungle with not a soul in sight—"We live in paradise," I sighed. As soon as we got out we were mobbed by a swarm of hungry mosquitoes. Even in paradise. The Mosquito first came to Maui in 1826 on a trade ship coming into Lahaina.

(7). TECHNOLOGY TIP: STREET LEVEL PHOTOS
Google provided a satellite picture with their mapping tool, well how about street level pictures? This is a view from across the street from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where the owner of our gallery helped authentic paintings for the Marc Chagall exhibit a few years ago. Take a visit to your favorite spot—it's sti Ll in beta so your home might not be in here…. Yet. http://maps.a9.com/

Stay tuned for more feng shui tips, more funky art, and whatever else is popping in Maui and the Arts. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this! Let me know how I can help you.

Mahalo,
Gabe