Global Tribe: Technology, Spirituality and Psytrance #books #travellers #trance #geekgirl

From the author: Graham St. John

This book has been a long time in the making, written in many locations, with respect and thanks due to many, and with the months counting down to publication this year I thought I would hook you up with the new Facebook page for Global Tribe: Technology, Spirituality and Psytrance (Equinox 2012).

global-tribe-book-cover

Book Synopsis.

Trance events have an uncanny ability to capture an era, and captivate an audience of travellers occupying the eternal theatre of the dance floor. As this book shows, the tendency within psytrance is to thwart the passage of time, to prolong the night, for those who adopt a liminal lifestyle. Amid the hustle and hubris of the psytrance carnival there is a peaceful repose that you sometimes catch when you’ve drifted into a sea of outstretched limbs, bodies swaying like a field of sunflowers in a light breeze. And you feel intense joy in this fleeting moment. You are the moment. You are inside the flow. You are all. Embodying the poetry of dance, you are living evidence that nothing lasts. And this is a deep revelation of the mystical function of trance. It is difficult to emerge from this little death, because one does not want the party to end. But it must end, even so that it can recommence-so that one can return to repeat the cycle.

The result of fifteen years of research in over a dozen countries, this book applies a sharp lens on a little understood global dance culture that has mushroomed all over the world since its beginnings in the diverse psychedelic music scenes flourishing in Goa, India, in the 1970s and 1980s. The paramount expression of this movement has been the festival, from small parties to major international events such as Portugal’s Boom Festival, which promotes itself as a world-summit of visionary arts and trance, a “united tribe of the world”. Via first-hand accounts of the scenes, events and music of psychedelic trance in Australia, Israel, Italy, the UK, the US, Turkey and other places, the book thoroughly documents this transnational movement with its diverse aesthetic roots, multiple national translations and internal controversies. As a multi-sited ethnography and an examination of the digital, chemical, cyber and media assemblage constituting psytrance, the book explores the integrated role that technology and spirituality have played in the formation of this visionary arts movement and shows how these event-cultures accommodate rites of risk and consciousness, a complex circumstance demanding revision of existing approaches to ritual, music and culture.

Contents

Ch 1. Transnational Psyculture
Ch 2. Experience, the Orient and Goatrance
Ch 3. The Vibe at the End of the World
Ch 4. Spiritual Technology: Transition and its Prosthetics
Ch 5. Psychedelic Festivals, Visionary Arts and Cosmic Events
Ch 6. Freak Out: The Trance Carnival
Ch 7. Psyculture in Israel and Australia
Ch 8. Performing Risk and the Arts of Consciousness
Ch 9. Riot of Passage: Liminal Culture and the Logics of Sacrifice
Ch 10. Nothing Lasts

Preorder book from Equinox.

Prologue on Facebook.

#Melbourne #Art: Stay Home Sakoku: The #Hikikomori Project Exhibition at West Space #geekgirl

STAY HOME SAKOKU EXHIBITION AT WEST SPACE

eugenia_lim_sakoku

Stay Home Sakoku: The Hikikomori Project is an introverted performance/installation exploring the Japanese phenomenon of hikikomori or ‘shut in’ syndrome. Over one week, Lim lived in a bedroom-style installation within West Space. Although physically ‘on view’ to gallery goers, communication between herself and the outside world occured via a web portal or ‘hiki-site’ through which people can chat with her via smartphones or home computers.

Background

Hikikomori confine themselves to their rooms for months and, in extreme cases, years on end. Without physical contact, hikikomori exist in isolation. Yet, many survive on a diet of pop culture and live a networked existence through an online community of forums, games and chatrooms. Increasingly, through our daily engagement with Web 2.0, we are all becoming networked beings. Stay Home is a project for anyone whose life intersects with technology and the Internet.

Project collaborators are Dan West, Yumi Umiumare and David Wolf. Stay Home Sakoku: The Hikikomori Project is part of the Today Your Love program. Eugenia Lim inhabited the room for one week, however the installation will be on display until 14 April. Eugenia and her collaborators are supported by the Australia Council and City of Melbourne.

http://www.stayhomesakoku.com/

Exhibition runs
Fri 30 Mar –Sat 14 April 2012

EUGENIA LIM (SAKOKU HAS LEFT THE BUILDING)
Live-in performance and online conversation
Thur 22 Mar – Thur 29 Mar 2012

Hack the City Open Call #hack #cities #ireland #mashup #geekgirl

Hack the City Open Call :: Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Call closed 20 January 2012 :: Exhibition 22 June – 7 September 2012 :: Festival 11 – 15 July 2012
Science Gallery is seeking proposals for its 2012 flagship exhibition HACK THE CITY launching in June 2012. Currently more than half of the world’s population lives in towns and cities. This trend is expected to continue. Between 2025-2030 of the approximate 8 billion people who will live in the world 5 billion will live in cities. Yet the majority of our city infrastructures are based on inherited historical layouts and systems. Science Gallery’s 2012 flagship exhibition and festival HACK THE CITY will rethink our cities from the ground up through the spirit and philosophy of the hacker ethos – to bend, mash-up, tweak and cannibalise our city systems, to create possibilities, illustrate visionary thinking and demonstrate real-world examples for sustainable urban futures. The exhibition and events will explore hacking for good – the repurposing of useful resources, the innovators who customise existing tools for new uses and who purposefully challenge existing hierarchies.
http://www.sciencegallery.com/hackthecity

Maturity: PROJECT – Laith McGregor #masculinity #bogan #geekgirl

maturing_still6

Maturing is a satirical social commentary about masculinity and the absurdity of what popular culture perceives as the definition of masculinity. McGregor uses facial hair as a ‘signifier of male authenticity’ and proceeds to metamorphose into an ϋber male. Through this process he transforms into various male role models; sportsmen, movie stars and the family father figure. By contorting his face into various expressions, he satirises stereotypes that personify society’s ideals of masculinity, including that of the quintessential Australian bogan.

In filming a close-up of his face, McGregor evokes a sense of voyeurism. The intimacy is immediately uncomfortable as the viewer is privy to a personal moment of self exploration and reflection.  The artist examines his face; pouting and contorting, trying on different personnas, contemplating as if deciding what character he will become next. Using his face as a blank canvas, he starts to draw facial hair using a pen and begins his transformation into a myriad of male personalities. It is a mesmerising journey of self discovery and an in-your-face mockery of the male – a mockery that resulted in a rash that persisted for three days after the work was completed.

Exhibition and further info on at the Art Gallery of Ballarat

Runs until Sunday, 25 September 2011

Night Projection Window
Admission: Free
Street Address
40 Lydiard Street North
Ballarat VIC 3350

Mardi Grass Mind Candy #Nimbin #hippies #pot #maryjane #woohoo #geekgirl

Mardi Grass Mind Candy
Midday – 6pm Saturday 30 April
NIMBIN TOWN HALL

MCs: Miss Guidance, Neil Pike & JulianR
…
Join Pragmatic Visionaries & Solipsistic Psychonauts for an afternoon of Debate, Discussion & the Occasional Stoned Rave

Outrageous Truths & Believable Lies!

Mind candy? Afternoon distraction or hours of brain bending banter? You decide! This year the Nimbin Mardi Grass is playing host to a series of panel discussions to be held in the Town Hall from midday to 6pm on Saturday 30 April, focusing on the big issues: the legal, medical, spiritual, cultural & political aspects of plant life. For this reason we’ve assembled a cast of academics, intellectuals, professionals, politicians, public servants, activists, hippys, poets, career bullshit artists and just plain ol’ troublemakers to stir the pot (as it were).

Mardi Grass Mind Candy is excited to announce that Paul Cubitt, President of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition [LEAP] Australia will speak on our panel discussing policing choices. The panels will also feature international guest speaker, Dr Robert Melamede, CEO and President of Cannabis Science, Inc., as well as Australian drug law reform luminaries, Sandra Kanck, SA spokesperson for Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform, Prof Paul Wilson, Chair of Criminology, Bond University, and Dr Alex Wodak, President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. A full listing of our other magnificent speakers appear in the program below.

Whilst we recognise the ultimate futility of spending too much time trying to talk about what is essentially a non-verbal experience (getting high), there’s also quite a few pot-related topics that do need some discussion:

Midday – 1pm
THE GREEN GODDESS
Entheogenic cultures can increase benefits and reduce risks, offering a different approach to Western-style legal regulation
FACILITATOR: Dr Des Tramacchi
PANELISTS: Greg Kasarik [Community of Infinite Colour], Frank Kirk, Dr Bob Melamede [Cannabis Science, Inc.]

1 – 2pm
POLICE FORCE OR POLICE SERVICE?
What is good policing? What choices do police have?
FACILITATOR: Prof Paul Wilson, Bond University
PANELISTS: Steve Bolt, Paul Cubitt [Law Enforcement Against Prohibition], Dr John Jiggens, Sandra Kanck [Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform], Dr Alex Wodak [Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation]

2 – 3pm
BONG ON AUSSIE, BONG ON ~ DID CANNABIS CULTURE GET DUMBED DOWN?
Is anyone still getting high or are we just getting wasted?
FACILITATOR: JulianR
PANELISTS: David Hallett, Greg Kasarik [Community of Infinite Colour], Frank Kirk, Dr Bob Melamede [Cannabis Science, Inc.], Neil Pike [Pagan Love Cult], Alan Salt [HEMP Embassy]

3 – 4pm
LEGISLATING FOR LEGOLAND?
How do we react to drug policy?
FACILITATOR: Erik van Keulen
PANELISTS: Stephanie Clerc [Happy High Herbs], Mulga, Jake Potkonyak, [Students for Sensible Drug Policy], Torsten Wiedemann [Koda Phytorium]

5 – 6pm
HOW TO LEGALIZE DRUGS?
How can we proact in the drug policy discourse?
FACILITATOR: Erik van Keulen
PANELISTS: Tony Bower [Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd], Dr Graham Irvine, Sandra Kanck [Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform], Dr Andrew Katelaris, Joe King, Dr Alex Wodak [Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation]See More

Saturday, April 30 · 12:00pm – 6:00pm
(be there or be straight!)

Australia Post launches 100 Years of International Women’s Day stamp #purplepantsday #stampcollecting #IWD #geekgirl

iwd-stamp

Australia Post is commemorating the centenary of International Women’s Day (IWD) with the release of a special stamp issue.

The centenary of IWD is being celebrated around the world on 8 March 2011 and provides a unique and global opportunity to reignite, inspire and channel women’s equality for the future.

“I am delighted that Australia Post is supporting the centenary of IWD with a commemorative stamp. The stamp recognises the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future and is an indelible channel through which we can promote positive change and raise awareness of the issues women face in their everyday lives,” said the Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis.

The first IWD was launched by Clara Zetkin (Leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) on 19 March 1911 when more than a million European women and men united to call for an end to discrimination and for the right of women to vote, work and hold public office. The success of the first IWD exceeded all expectations.

The first Australian IWD rally took place on 25 March 1928 in the Sydney Domain, with marches in Sydney and Melbourne following in 1931 and involving hundreds of participants. The first official government-sponsored IWD in Australia was held in 1975, when the UN declared International Women’s Year, and was witnessed by one of the biggest street marches in Australia. Today IWD is characterised by a mixture of celebration of past achievements and looking ahead to the future challenges and opportunities for women.

The centenary of IWD stamp was designed by Stacey Zass, using a combination of images and graphic elements, including the symbol for women.

From Hello Kitty to The Ghost in the Shell #exhibitions #rmit #anime #melbourne #geekgirl

Do you remember Astro Boy? Have you ever owned anything emblazoned with Hello Kitty? Have you or any person you know become addicted to the iconic Pokemon?

Are you an anime (Japanese animation) fan? Did you know that manga inspired anime and that every year, about 670 million manga magazines and 480 million manga books are sold in Japan?

Welcome to the world of Japanese characters and take a look behind the scenes of constructing a successful anime film, in two playful summer exhibitions at RMIT Gallery.

Two exhibitions: JAPAN: Kingdom of Characters  and Revolutionising Anime: Production I.G’s pursuit of ultra-realistic fantasy, officially open at RMIT Gallery: Thursday 3 February, 2011 from 6-8 pm.

RMIT - Innocence_2

Exhibitions run to 19 March, 2011

JAPAN features figures, panels, film and character-related products will showcase representative animated characters from the 1950s until the present day.

The 60-year history of Japan since the end of World War II can be characterised through the history the Japanese fondness for characters, which have permeated Japanese life from manga to TV and computer games and especially character goods.

RMIT Gallery
344 Swanston Street Melbourne
GPO Box 2476V
Melbourne Vic 3001, Australia.
www.rmit.edu.au/rmitgallery
Admission Free – All Welcome

The Freedom Series Movie by Lee-Anne Raymond #sharia #law

The Freedom Series-by-Lee-Anne Raymond

 ”Passion For Freedom 2010″ is a selected art event, organised by One Law For All, and is one of many events combining to challenge the push to implement Sharia Law within the UK or any other secular democracy.

http://www.leeanneart.com/events.html

(the QT movie takes a few seconds to load)

Lee-Anne Raymond
www.leeanneart.com
Humanist Transhumanist Catalogue
www.phantastsurreal.com

Indonesian Film Festival – #ACMI #Melbourne #geekgirl

Explore the flow from Indonesia

At approximately 5am on May 29 2006, villagers living in the Sidoarjo district of East Java, Indonesia noticed plumes of gas and heavy liquid pouring from a crack in the earth. Experts believe the mud volcano was triggered by an unstable commercial drilling operation just 500 feet from the volcano epicentre, though the company denies responsibility. Four years on, the flow of mud and toxic gases continues. It is expected to continue for the next 30 years, in fact, spilling the equivalent of 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of mud onto the surrounding countryside every 24 hours. And while the Indonesian government and commercial interests haggle over liability, 30,000 people have been displaced, their homes literally drowned in the flood. This year, the Indonesian Film Festival includes a short film called Children of Mud, which takes us into the human heart of the Sidoarjo disaster. It follows Rafi, a boy whose district is slowly sinking, as he sets off on a quest to find medicine for his mother, who has been poisoned by the toxic fumes spilling from the volcano. Against the backdrop of a decimated land, Children of Mud is a story of love and survival. The festival also features survival stories of a different kind, such as Paul Agusta’s groundbreaking experimental film At the Very Bottom of Everything (Official Selection: 40th International Film Festival Rotterdam), which chronicles his battle with bi-polar personality disorder, and Shackled Woman (Best Film, 1980 Festival Film Indonesia), an Indonesian classic recounting a depressed woman’s imprisonment by her father and husband. These compelling stories screen alongside drama, romance, thriller and comedy, all fresh from Indonesian shores. Get along to the film festival and see a fascinating corner of Southeast Asia through the eyes of its most talented filmmakers. 20th – 26th August, 2010.

Source: ACMI

Desire of Codes – technology and art – Japan

Desire of Codes exhibition introduces a brand new installation piece by Seiko Mikami at the Yamaguchi Centre for Arts and Media. Seiko Mikami creates precise depictions of the gradually transforming relationship between information technology and sensory perception. 

until — 6 June, 2010
Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media
7-7 Nakazono-cho Yamaguchi-city 7530075 JAPAN

To find out more go to http://doc.ycam.jp/outline/index_en.html