The Old House in San Francisco circa 2001

This is the view overlooking my house in San Francisco from 1996-2001 with tons of my art hanging outside on the walls.

I remember thinking I should have painted something for the roof, but in reality, I had nothing that big to put up there. That took 'til moving to Oakland when I moved into the breathingSpace and made Claming Space from the 2003 gallery.

The Painting "Pascal"

All this time, I thought he was "Pascal". With an "S", not Pacal. I was wrong.

I named this painting after the Mayan emperor Pacal whose tomb inscription read to me like layers in my artwork. Turns out, somewhere along the line, I dropped in an "S".

When Eric and Andy got the painting "Pascal" they asked if I would send them a little something about the piece; an artist's interpretation, or comment on the work.

Now that they have returned from a year trip around the world, and are about to have a baby, ahem.... yes it has been years, I thought it might be time to finally deliver the goods.

The first thing to report is that the painting was meant to be called Pacal. Now that it's been years, I suppose the purple figure with his arms outstretched (who's namesake is the painting) will continue to be called "Pascal", as will the painting:
************The Painting Pascal******************

The painting Pascal was one of the first I did using the concept of pouring plastic resins, most commonly used for making sculpture, onto canvases into shapes outlined by caulking. The technique of using caulking to shape an image in plastic on canvas, to my knowledge, is still original.

The first layers of Pascal were lots of my own glyphs done in pen. Each layer of the painting is building up to the creation of Pascal, the figure. Each layer of abstraction is "striving for identity of self" as we all are when we are in the process of attaining consciousness.

Pascal is on a journey; a journey into new worlds of the unexpected where he will encounter new beings and new experiences. Some will challenge him and he will grow, others will validate his passion for his existence.

In the painting, his full sense of intuition, seems to extend out like a cone from his third eye. His intuitive center is clear and beaming. That lighter shade of purple inside his head that looks like a reflection is made of pearlescent pigment powder that I sprinkled onto the plastic resin as it was drying. The pearlescent powder extends down his spinal column. At his root chakra, again we find clarity and light.

The figure's arms are outstretched, almost as if he is using his hands to control his direction. With eyes wide open to experience, and with a firm sense of being held by fate, Pascal has his hands on the controls of his choices. He is going to other worlds, other paradigms of existence where his intuition, root and power of choice will guide him.

My intention with this painting was to represent and honor the Mayan Emperor Pacal's powerful disposition towards his actively changing reality.
******************

And now that it's been years and Eric and Andy have returned and are embarking on a new journey. Transformation abounds.

Blessings to new life.

Pacal: The Mayan Emperor

I came came to grips with the image of Pacal's tomb when I arrived at my guesthouse on my stay at Tikal in Guatemala. The rooms were white clay pods and an American Vietnam veteran lived in the back spending his nights staring out through his telescope at the stars. Someone had drawn with a black pen, a perfect representation of Pacal's tomb on to the white clay wall of the pod I slept in.

As I fell asleep I would see the outline of Emperor Pacal, reclining but with his head forward, moving his arms, surrounded by magical forms and dancing symbology.

Tikal is one of the greatest jungle-pyramid worlds that one can visit. While I prefer the vastness of Angkor Wat, I was enraptured by the detail of information and glyphs that depicted the Mayan's deep understanding of life, science, and spirituality. Mayan astrology is interpretted here.

Pacal's tomb was discovered in Palenque (in Chiapas, Mexico) in 1952. The Emperor Pacal died on August 31, AD 683 at eighty years of age after ruling for 63 years. detail picture of Pacal's Tomb

Interpretations of what the figure of Pacal on his tomb meant have been helpful, for instance:

• In the Maya dialects, "bone" and "seed" are synonymous.
• The bone piercing Pacal's nose as the symbol of rebirth.
• The object depicted above Pacal is the Tree of Life from which he is said to be falling.

However, he is not falling.

He is no more moving than the universe around him is. The object below him that gets interpreted as the setting sun is escorting him. He embraces his fate. His arms navigate the changing complexity of his surroundings.

Falling asleep with the glyph of Pacal painted on the wall, I found the that the inscription on his tomb was not so much about death, but about the process of transformation, any transformation.

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.

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.

The Poet and The Painter

Poetry Painting, the movie that Jamey Austin and I made in 2003 is now online. Search video.google.com for "poet painter".

At left is the piece from session six. The only one that he and I actually both went hands on with a painting. Note our signatures in the bottom left.

(BTW, I never put any words in his poetry. Though I did catch some great shots of his mad skills at writing straight without stopping).

For more details on "The Poet and The Painter".
http://funkyenough.com/classic_funk/poetpainter.htm

To watch The Poet and The Painter:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=poet+painter&page=1&lv=1

R.I.P. breathingSPACE

Oaklandish, the grassroots organization in downtown Oakland has lost it's building and is transforming itself into a solid internet community builder. I just posted a link to the warehouse which I left exactly one year ago.

RIP breathingSPACE: props to
Matome, Roib, Krissy, Gideon, Aubry, Colin, Thilivhali, Shaka, Adimu, Saran, Kelly, Gillian, Nicko Blue, Ethan and some G's...


The forum on Oaklandish is great, check it out.