The artist explores Victorian decorative design, clichéd notions of “Main Street USA,” small business and immigration (“The Meat Shop”), and vaudeville shows with a dark and complex sentimentality. Integrating the Christ figure and Abraham Lincoln with his wide-eyed, petticoat clad ingénues, Ryden presents the viewer with an unreal and very oddly camp version of American history.
His is an exploration of what becomes cliché, what becomes kitsch and what becomes forgotten.
Yet through it all Ryden makes some of the most richly rendered, beautifully glazed, idealized yet disturbing works of contemporary art. Like his contemporaries John Currin, Lisa Yuskavage and Neo Rauch, Mark Ryden uses a skillfully honed technique to render his polished and emotionally charged works.
His work has been shown internationally in cinemas, film festivals, galleries and museums.
Domonkos’ surreal GIFs are created using archival photos and vintage film footage, effectively smacking reality in the face, leaving us with a sense of the impossible made surreal.
Human life throughout history has developed in alternating waves of migration and settlement. Navigating this duality between exploration and settlement, movement and stillness is a fundamental essence of what it means to be human.
In the aftermath of global wars and natural disasters, the world has witnessed the displacement of millions of people across continents. Refugees seeking shelter from disasters carry from their homes what they can and resettle in unknown lands, often starting with nothing but a tent to call home.
Designed by Abeer Seikaly, “Weaving a home” reexamines the traditional architectural concept of refugee shelters by creating a technical, structural fabric that expands to enclose and contracts for mobility while providing the comforts of contemporary life (heat, running water, electricity, storage, etc.)
Design is supposed to give form to a gap in people’s needs.
This lightweight, mobile, structural fabric could potentially close the gap between need and desire as people metaphorically weave their lives back together, physically weaving their built environment into a place both new and familiar, transient and rooted, private and connected.
Structural Fabric Weaves Refugee Shelters into Communities
In this space, the refugees find a place to pause from their turbulent worlds, a place to weave the tapestry of their new lives.
It can be tough to take the psychedelic plunge and still remember to bring a bit of that often indescribable essence back with you, to the real world. Fortunately, Nisvan’s ability to recall his Ayahuasca visions is in full display.
Enjoy Nisvan’s incredible visionary art inspired by his psychedelic shamanic ayahuasca ceremonies.
Nisvan’s Ayahuasca Visions
Inner vision
Letting go of physical restrictions, shifting into a multi-layered consciousness of sound/light vibrations.
El Rey Leon
Power animal, giving strength and protection on the inner levels.
Flight of the Eagle
Travelling with lightspeed to the outer realms.
We are star-princes
Two elders appear, offering healing to the soul.
Spectral bat-insect
Trying to hide in the folds of my memory.
Galactic knights assembling
Entering the inner-space dome
Palace of light
Dark Chrissalis bird of habit disintegrated at the treshold of the palace of light.
Healing Buddhas
Appearing in caleidoscopic mandala vision, beaming their love directly from the source
What we need is a massive coming out of people who have done psychedelics and accomplished a lot. – Rick Doblin, Founder of MAPS
Dorian Yates Comes Out of the Psychedelic Closet, Talks Ayahuasca and Smoking DMT
One of the most important issues we strive for is our collective freedom of consciousness, we dearly need a psychedelic renaissance.
This is only to come about if we reach a level of social acceptance where reason thwarts taboo. Therefore, it is imperative that more and more people like Dorian step up — we may find our consciousness revolution materialize faster than expected.
The educational value of entheogens and psychedelics may be their capacity to reliably evoke experiences of wonder and awe, to stimulate transcendental or mystical experiences, and to catalyze a sense of life meaning or purpose. – Kenneth W. Tupper, Ph.D.
Debra Silverman is a psychotherapist and she’s keen on astrology.
Silverman explores each sun sign’s characteristics through five minute skits.
Not intended to touch on the entirety of a sign, the highlighted characteristics definitely ring true. I know it did when I saw her rendition of my sign.
Sun Sign Characteristics by Debra Silverman
Aries (March 20 – April 20)
Taurus (April 21 – May 21)
Gemini (May 22 – June 21)
Cancer (June 22 – July 22)
Leo (July 23 – August 22)
Virgo (August 23 – September 22)
Libra (Septemer 23 – October 23)
Scorpio (October 24 – November 21)
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
Capricorn (December 22 – January 20)
Aquarius (January 21 – February 21)
Pisces (February 22 – March 21)
What do you think, did Debra nail your sign? Hit up the comments section!
Pejacis a brilliant Spanish artist whose witty street art shines a light on social norms and inflexible societal constructs. His work is minimally intervening, but offers a maximum effect.
Much like Banksy or Dran, Pejac’s street art questions our absurd reality and its promised permanence.
‘Imagine’ speaks from the heart evoking powerful emotions of unity and love; this comic strip joyfully animates this feeling perfectly.
Pablo Stanley masterfully captures the intent and love behind John Lennon’s now iconic song.
The loving thoughts that led to this song’s creation are beginning to take shape in today’s society. As technology and communication expand and unify our consciousness, connections we make pave the way for massive changes in the way we live and interact together.
John Lennon Imagine Comic Strip
John Lennon Imagine Live
Enjoy this live version of Imagine and check out the work of Pablo Stanley
Igor Piačka’shighly detailed slightly erotic illustrations are stunning.
They straddle the thin line between life and death, simultaneously capturing the struggle, clarity, and joy of dualistic thinking and it’s ever widening perception that carries us all towards higher connectivity and shared love.
Tidy Monster by Tim Marchant is an animated descent into the insane mind of an unseen character.
A symphony of sound, visual effects, and mood where a room is all there is in his world, and we watch as he struggles to keep it tidy.
From the comments I’ve read some people are claiming the video is awesome to watch while tripping; others instead assure such an experience only leads to a bad trip.
I haven’t tried watching it on psychedelics, but if you do, be aware of the possibilities or consequences, depending on your perspective.
Remember, ultimately, what is happening to the room is up to you.
The benefits of sensory deprivation tanks are no secret: relaxation, deep meditation, soothing chronic muscle pain, increased athletic performance, and an overall sense of well being, but until now these benefits came at a hefty financial cost.
Zen Float has created an isolation tank that can be self assembled and is cheaper than its competition. Ideally it is paving the way for higher accessibility and lowered costs in the industry.
Much lighter than traditional models, the Zen Float Tent will weigh a little more than a water bed once you add the epsom salt and water.
Zen Float is running a Kickstarterto fund their idea, check it out for more details on the product. Whether you can afford to pre-order your own tank or not, it’s awesome to support a company that is hopefully going to make a huge difference for the collective conciousness.
Fritz the Cat is a 1972 American animated comedy film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, the film was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States.
It focuses on Fritz, an anthropomorphic feline in mid-1960s New York City who explores the ideals of hedonism and socio-political consciousness.
The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations, the free love movement, and left and right-wing politics.
Pink Floyd The Wall is a 1982 British live-action/animated musical film directed by Alan Parker based on the 1979 Pink Floyd album, The Wall. The film is highly metaphorical and is rich in symbolic imagery and sound.
It features very little dialogue and is mainly driven by Pink Floyd’s music.
It depicts the construction and ultimate demolition of a metaphorical wall, alienation.
One of the best trippy movies ever.
Enter the Void is a 2009 French film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, labeled by Noé as a “psychedelic melodrama”.
The story is set in Tokyo and focuses on Oscar, a young American drug dealer who gets shot by the police, but continues to watch over his sister Linda and the events which follow during an out-of-body experience, floating above Tokyo’s streets.
Noé had tried various hallucinogens in his youth and used those experiences as inspiration for the visual style.
Including one drug experience where he traveled to the Peruvian jungle to try Ayahuasca. The experience was very intense and Noé regarded it “almost like professional research.”
This is purely a visual experience, don’t expect a great narrative – just trip out on the global neon candy-scapes.
Altered States is a 1980 American science fiction film adaptation of a novel written by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. It was the only novel that he ever wrote, as well as his final film.
William Hurt plays Eddie Jessup, a scientist obsessed with discovering mankind’s true role in the universe. To this end, he submits himself to a series of mind-expanding experiments.
A dazzling film for its time.
A cult classic by any definition, Terry Gilliam’s epic sci-fi film is a true “dystopian satire“. Brazil challenges known societal constructs.
Focusing on “satirizing the bureaucratic, largely dysfunctional industrial world that had been driving Gilliam crazy all his life” as Jack Matthews puts it.
