Monday, December 21, 2015
Saturday, December 12, 2015
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT MATT DEGRADO
Matt Degrado is a visual artist who was born and educated in Chicago, and now resides in California. Matt studied and attained his BA from the American Academy of Art. He then furthered his study and mastery of visionary art in Venice in 2012. Learning the art of miche and well as studying next to some visionary arts heavyweights such as Amanda Sage, Daniel Mirante, and Maura Holden.
Matts paintings are generally very dimensional and fluid. They express contemplation as well as a very zen approach in how he paints. Each painting is swirling, deep and vibrant with color and texture. You can really see how he applies the classic italian techniques to these thoughtful compositions.
Degrado frequents art and transformational festivals during the festival season. He also has shown at the famed Knew Concsious Gallery in Colorado. Matt also holds seminars in NY at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Degrado also has art featured in a book "Modern Concsiousness Research & The Understanding of Art, Including the Visionary World of HR Giger" by Stanislav Graf. Matt also has a line of clothes and blankets inspired by his works that are sold online.
Matt Degrado's works are inspired by healing and transformation. He sees art as a "vehicle of a vehicle of transformation", and uses art as tool for healing and unity. Please check out his works and wares at MattDegrado.com.
Matts paintings are generally very dimensional and fluid. They express contemplation as well as a very zen approach in how he paints. Each painting is swirling, deep and vibrant with color and texture. You can really see how he applies the classic italian techniques to these thoughtful compositions.
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| Art by Matt Degrado |
Matt Degrado's works are inspired by healing and transformation. He sees art as a "vehicle of a vehicle of transformation", and uses art as tool for healing and unity. Please check out his works and wares at MattDegrado.com.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
ENTHEO ZINE MOVIE REVIEW: KRAMPUS (SPOILERS)
Every once in a while a movie comes along and revives your hope for a whole genre or niche genre. Krampus is one such film, in that it has revived and breathed life BACK in to the "creature feature" style horror film. Back in the eighties and early nineties, creature feature horror films were very popular, as was dancing the line between horror and comedy in such films.
Films such as Chucky, Gremlins, Spawn and Dream Master are examples of films that relied heavily on animatronic creatures, heavy make up and what is now considered "old school" effects to create the main creature or little creatures that made these movies so great. Krampus showed so much care and details in its creatures, and used an innovative blend of animatronics, digital art, and puppetry to create the creatures that made the film. Kudos to the artists who created these creatures!
Krampus opens with a black Friday montage of people tackling each other over material things in a mall. While comical, it also makes a great commentary about the season losing its meaning to material things and selfish intentions. The movie then goes on to introduce the family, where Toni Collete of "The United States of Tara" is the perfectionist mother of two kids, one a teen, and another a young child of about 10 or so. The family is of German descent, and has the German grandmother residing with them. This story is based upon the German fairy tales of Christmas, and the creatures have a heavy Kinder style to them.
Every year, the family hosts their cousins. The cousins include two girls and a boy. The father of that family is a typical red neck, and of course, there is disagreements and conflict. In the midst of the holiday madness, the young boy who is the main character wishes for his family to disappear.
Soon, an impossibly treacherous winter storm blows in. Power goes out. The town grows silent and white. People start disappearing. During this time you see glimpses of the creatures. Cell phones don't work, regular phones don't work. One by one, everyone in the family disappears, due the creatures.
These creatures, while being cute and Christmasy, are also horrific. Imagine, evil gingerbread men and Germanic porcelain dolls coming to life, and wielding weapons. Visualize a giant jack in the box, that eats people. All of this in a menacing confer forest, while dark Christmas carols drone in background.
In my opinion, the best part of the movie was the pagan ritual. You get to see all the creatures in their twisted glory. The blank faced elves, the wicked cookies, and the one and only Krampus. The movie depicted Krampus more like the Germanic Santa decorations than the pagan fairy tale depictions.
In the end, the film finalizes itself somewhat stereotypically. Everyone wakes up from a dream. It's Christmas morning. It's snowing, and merry, and bright. Everyone is opening gifts, drinking cocoa and is happy.
The thing that I enjoyed the most about this movie, aside from the great animatronics and creature art, was the switch of formats almost halfway through. In the middle of the movie there is a great 3D animated short that illustrates one of the characters stories. It is cute, imaginative, and a great way to divide the story up.
In conclusion, Krampus will become a camp classic. There is just so much greatness to the art and acting that you could see people waiting for it to come on as a Christmas special on a horror channel or something. It really is a great film. Go check it out!
Films such as Chucky, Gremlins, Spawn and Dream Master are examples of films that relied heavily on animatronic creatures, heavy make up and what is now considered "old school" effects to create the main creature or little creatures that made these movies so great. Krampus showed so much care and details in its creatures, and used an innovative blend of animatronics, digital art, and puppetry to create the creatures that made the film. Kudos to the artists who created these creatures!
Krampus opens with a black Friday montage of people tackling each other over material things in a mall. While comical, it also makes a great commentary about the season losing its meaning to material things and selfish intentions. The movie then goes on to introduce the family, where Toni Collete of "The United States of Tara" is the perfectionist mother of two kids, one a teen, and another a young child of about 10 or so. The family is of German descent, and has the German grandmother residing with them. This story is based upon the German fairy tales of Christmas, and the creatures have a heavy Kinder style to them.
Every year, the family hosts their cousins. The cousins include two girls and a boy. The father of that family is a typical red neck, and of course, there is disagreements and conflict. In the midst of the holiday madness, the young boy who is the main character wishes for his family to disappear.
Soon, an impossibly treacherous winter storm blows in. Power goes out. The town grows silent and white. People start disappearing. During this time you see glimpses of the creatures. Cell phones don't work, regular phones don't work. One by one, everyone in the family disappears, due the creatures.
These creatures, while being cute and Christmasy, are also horrific. Imagine, evil gingerbread men and Germanic porcelain dolls coming to life, and wielding weapons. Visualize a giant jack in the box, that eats people. All of this in a menacing confer forest, while dark Christmas carols drone in background.
In my opinion, the best part of the movie was the pagan ritual. You get to see all the creatures in their twisted glory. The blank faced elves, the wicked cookies, and the one and only Krampus. The movie depicted Krampus more like the Germanic Santa decorations than the pagan fairy tale depictions.
In the end, the film finalizes itself somewhat stereotypically. Everyone wakes up from a dream. It's Christmas morning. It's snowing, and merry, and bright. Everyone is opening gifts, drinking cocoa and is happy.
The thing that I enjoyed the most about this movie, aside from the great animatronics and creature art, was the switch of formats almost halfway through. In the middle of the movie there is a great 3D animated short that illustrates one of the characters stories. It is cute, imaginative, and a great way to divide the story up.
In conclusion, Krampus will become a camp classic. There is just so much greatness to the art and acting that you could see people waiting for it to come on as a Christmas special on a horror channel or something. It really is a great film. Go check it out!
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
INDY SHOUT OUT: ONE TRU ARTIST (TRU)
Tru is a conscious hip hop artist that combines wavy beats, uplifting lyrics and a fresh point of view:
Thursday, September 17, 2015
THE ART OF THE BURN: BURNING MAN 2015
Every year Burning Man hosts some of the most progressive, bleeding edge artists and designers whose art and influence reach far beyond playa. The aesthetic of this years burn teetered on the edge of mystical and mischievous. The theme of this years festival was "The Carnival Mirrors". True to the theme, the art explored the range of human emotion and contemplation with childlike wonder, and deep reflection. Each art piece expressing impossible complexity and meaning, in deep contrast with the harsh otherwise empty desert. The Burning Man festival is held in Black Rock City, Nevada. It is within the heart of the desert and far away from any city or town, or signs of humanity in general. This year, Entheo Zine explores five of the most thought provoking pieces at the event.
"Temple of Confessions" By Unknown Photographer
HYBYCOZO-"DEEP THOUGHT"
Hybycozo's "Deep Thought" project was a beautiful, intracatley crafted 3D shape constructed of sixty gold laser cut filigreed panels. The artists of the complex and contemplative refuge of sacred geometry are Serge Beaulieu and Yelena Filipchuck. The couple had a design at Burning Man last year as well. This years design crowdfunded, and each donation had a promise of a COZO gift. Many patrons who donated got to get a piece of the COZO art in the form of jewelry, art prints and miniture sculptures.
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| "Deep Thought" photo by Sunny Strasburg |
ALEXANDER MILOV-"LOVE"
Milov's moving sculpture was one that depicted the struggle of communication beyond our limitations. The sculpture depicted two adults, constructed of metal cage structure, with their backs turned to each other in pained anguish. Within the cage person, a small child, constructed of glowing white. The two children within reached out to touch each other, and yearned to speak. Their fingers almost touching. Since the burn, this image has gone viral, and certainly will become yet another iconic art piece of Burning Man.
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| "Love" Unknown Photographer |
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| "Love" Unknown Photographer |
KEVIN CLARK- "MEDUSA MADNESS"
Clark's amazing and intricate sculpture was an enormous fire breathing spectacle that was simply breathtaking to behold. Playing with the themes of vanity, danger and mythos, Kevin Clark's sculpture was a grand point of interest on the playa.
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| "Medusa Maddness" by Unknown Photographer |
MARCOS COCHRANE-"R-EVOLUTION"
Cochrane's sculpture, named Deja Solis, was the final of a three part series that was displayed at prior burns. Deja Solis is a gargantuan figure emoting different themes. The sculpture triptych, which includes the iconic "Bliss Dance" (highlighted as last years viral image from Burning Man) and "Truth is Beauty". R-Evolution depicts a women, standing tall and grounded, eye's closed, palms open, feet firmly planted in the desert. The sculpture is constructed of metal cage, LED lights, wood, mesh and fabric. R-Evolution expresses presence, mindfulness, and awareness of the moment. Also, ever so subtley, the sculpture took long, deep breaths.
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| "R-Evolution" by Unknown Photographer |
THE DREAMERS GUILD-"THE TEMPLE OF PROMISE"
The Temple of Promise is the most sacred and reflective space at the burn. The Dreamers Guild Temple was beautifully constructed with a seventy foot archway, which winded within itself through the desert sandscape to a tapered seven foot tall end point. Within the temples shell like cavernous walls there were areas that created small private spaces and altars. From the heart of the space, opened a grand hall which contained three trees with barren branches, where participants were encouraged to affix ribbons with handwritten messages on them. At the end of the burn, the tree's were full of sentiment, blessings and humanities well wishes.
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| "The Temple of Promise" by Unknown Photographer |
MICHEAL GARLINGTON-"TEMPLE OF CONFESSIONS"
Garlingtons mystically grotesque temple stood fifty feet tall in stark contrast with the bleak desert that surrounded it. The construction of this temple was similar to ancient Thai and Indian temples. It was built of a mish mash of mixed media that included wood, pained panels, mirrors, paper and clay. The temple offered a dark space of reflection with small, hidden, shadowbox like area's that contained small trinkets and relics from the artists own collection. The space offered a large "confessional" area where festival goers could reflect or interact with each other and the art.
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| "Temple of Confession" by Unknown Photographer |
Burning Man is touted as the Festival of Festivals in the US. The art is always amazing, and usually the theme's and aesthetics carry over to "default world" after some time and adaption.
*Contact me if any of these photo's are your work so I CAN CREDIT YOU
Sunday, September 13, 2015
THE NEW PSYCHEDELIC RENNAISSANCE
"Part of the psychedelic thing, I think, is really about self empowerment.", that quote was by philosopher and entheogenic expert Terrance McKenna. McKenna was a highly influential author and ethnobotanist in the 90's. Much of McKenna's writings and ideas have come to life now, during this New Psychedelic Renaissance.
Shpongle (Simon Posford) By Dylan Thomas Brooks
The whole idea behind entheogenic experiences is to curate and facilitate subjective experiences. These experiences, on entheogenic substances can be used to heal and also to replace regular over the counter psychological drugs and common therapy. Since the 90's there have been numerous underground therapists and much research in to the field of natural and psychedelic healing. The studies have shown much headway, and have gained such ground that treatments such as mediated Ayahuasca therapy, Mushroom therapy, and LSD therapy have become mainstream.
With the dawn of entheogenic therapy, the culture surrounding etheogens has become more accepted as well. Visionary art, which is an art movement inspired by psychedelia, sacred themes, dimensions, space, and feelings was born of the New Psychedelic Renaissance. Artists such like Alex Grey have spearheaded and nurtured the Visionary Art culture, and also the entheogenic culture. Grey holds workshops and teach in's about art, healing, and alternative culture. Out of this new artistic enviroment, a whole new generation of masters has been born. Abstract artists such as Stephen Kruse and Kaliptus, Futurists like Adam Psybe, and activist artists such as Linzy Miggantz and Android Jones. Visionary art also has traditionalists in its movement as well, who practice medieval painting techniques such as michetechnique, as oils. Martin Stensaas is one such artist.
Alex and Allyson Grey at COSM
The Transformational festival scene is a large part of The New Psychedelic Renaissance, as festivals such as Burning Man, Coachella and SWSX popularized the culture throughout the 90's. Since that time, many smaller, more intimate festivals have grown out of the movement. Some of the more popular festivals that practice the entheogenic and transformational culture are Sonic Bloom in Colorado, Great North Festival in Maine, Lightning in a Bottle, and the Imagine Festival. There are even smaller festivals as well, such as Dancefestopia. These festivals are great local venues to see electronic music, flow arts and live painting. Many festivals also host workshops and build within the local community through service. Some festivals host permaculture days during and after the festival, where food gardens are planted. Others host live art and art in local schools. With the festival scene becoming such a large business, psychedelic harm reduction and testing has become normal. Zendo is a harm reduction service that typically goes to festivals to help patrons and educate people of symptoms of a bad trip and provide a safe space to have a bad trip or work through strong reactions.
Finally, a grand and diverse music culture has fostered the growth of the New Psychedelic Renaissance. EDM, electronic, and complex "intellectual" electronic music that blends many styles and genres have come out this movement. Much of the new electronic music evokes feelings and ideas. Trance, D&B, Glitch, Twitch, Ethnic, GOA, downtempo, chill have all been blended together to create an environment conducive to entheogenic experimentation as well as personal exploration. Artists such as Shpongle, Zebbler Encanti Experience, and Space Jesus typically make the festival rounds during the main Festival season, and then do club shows and international festivals as the season winds down in the US. EDM grew out of the 90's rave culture, and in to the new psychedelic culture.
MAPS, which stands for Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, has stood at the front of Psychedelic research. MAPS picks up where numerous studies left off in the 60's and 70's about the effects of etheogenic drugs as healing agents. After MAPS released their work, many other big name universities had studies as well. For example, Institutions such as MIT, John Hopkins, Yale, UCLA, and NYU have all conducted research on psychedelics, after a nearly 40 year hiatus. Psychedelic therapy has shown to useful in treating addictions, PTSD, depression and personality disorders.
Many have described the psychedelic experience as "life changing" and perspective altering. The MAPS study, as well as other studies have proven one thing, that psychedelics, while in a mediated environment, can lead to healing breakthroughs and new feelings of empathy and humanity. The New Psychedelic Renaissances embraces the entheogenic experience, and in as such, it is creating a whole world of art, music, science and culture.
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