Sociotree

Things We Like // The Red Book

matt o. — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:17:19 +0000

I had heard of Carl Jung’s Red Book before unintentionally receiving it at the library of my town. They left a message on my answering machine saying “Mr. Ortega, we would really appreciate if you would come pick up the book that you have on hold, frankly, one of the biggests books that we have ever seen. Thank you.” I was confused because I didn’t remember ordering one of the biggests books of all time. But it was true. When I got the library I could see from a good distance what they were about to hand over and I had the pleasure of carrying home what seemed like a sarcastically oversized book. I did not wait to sit down and start flipping through, enthused with the luck of having received this recently published gem. Though I did not get to have it for long, I was able to get good looks at Jung’s hand-painted images and Gothic-styled text in the book. He illustrated with great detail the characters and fiery images of his spiritual journey, one that lasted for many years. We see recurring characters that correspond with the theories he formulated afterward, spiraling mandalas (the symbol that he believes signifies the holistic Self). Although Jung himself did not consider any part of the Red Book to be a work of Art, I can’t help but pay attention to its artfulness. The complicated geometry of the mandalas, a good use of color, mixed with well rendered comic-like figures. You do not have to be a master of Jung to appreciate this book, but knowing some of the history and the story behind it will only make it shimmer with life.

-Matt O.

7 dreams dreamt by 7 dreamers and illustrated by Judith Rocabert

pilar r. — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:34:19 +0000

This week I would like to show the work of my friend Judith Rocabert, a many-sided artist from Valencia currently living in Barcelona. Judith’s work invites us to enter in the personal dream world of seven of her friends who she asked to mail her letters about their dreams. The result is an edition of 3 delicate books called “Sueños a la carta. 7 sueños soñados por 7 soñadores e ilustrados por Judith Rocabert” (“Dreams à la carte. 7 dreams dreamt by 7 dreamers and illustrated by Judith Rocabert”) containing prints of the original letters mailed to her, followed by her illustrations interpreting those dreams. The magic of illustration is depicted in these images through mixed techniques such us water colors, ink and collage. Images that underline the importance of the subconscious and invite us to understand art as a way of dreaming that turns those personal and unique experiences into eternal images for the joy of others. A world of symbolism, ghosts, virtual and real objects as seen by Judith and that I hope you will enjoy.

Things We Like // WAFA Collective

matt o. — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:24:27 +0000

This week I wanted to post about the WAFA (We Are Fucking Awesome), a collective of artists I learned about from my favorite collage blog, NOTPAPER.NET. Consisting of members from around the world, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, North Carolina, St. Paul, Sydney, Brighton, and Norwich, all of the work posted on their website is a collaborative effort of two or more of their members. I think this way of working has resulted in a vast number of works and an inherent eclecticism. Mail art, collage books, magazines, framed works and installation are some of the categories their projects fit into. And as I will probably continue following their progress, I thought it would be best to focus on one project at time instead of a summation. Firstly, I would like to show their collage books.

Collage Books

Mixed media on children’s storybooks. Collaborative work. Seattle, WA. USA

A series of 9 collage books, passed back and forth between artists. As an experiment in disassociation, an effort was made to add to and tear away at eachother’s work, eliminating personal stake and attachment to the final outcome. (from wearefuckingawsome.org)

Cristian Subirà // Dysfunctional Tour

matt o. — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:15:42 +0000

Working along with the past couple of weeks, Cristian Subirà finishes off this round with a story of his recent tour in the US. I probably should have put this up when it was fresh off of the press, but I perhaps jumped the gun with excitement over the mix and the collages that he submitted around the same time. Perhaps his story will further enrich what he has shared with us so far, as stories always do. Thanks again Cristian.

CS: Matt ask me to write some lines about my first tour around the US. I accepted because I thought it would be a good way of finishing the trip, an html apendix. I’ve never had a diary so trying to give a chronological order of the events is something I’m not used to. I’m a dispersed person that moves back and forth in conversations. It takes a while until I arrive to the point I was shooting for. Like I’m doing right now.

The thing is that a while before I decided that if I was touring as a solo act, I would not to book as many as shows I could on the days I was on the road. It would be a trip that I would fill with shows to help to pay the expenses. The places I’d visit and the locals I’d interact would be the important part, not the venue or the money. That sounds hippie as f**k. Yeah ! I know. Whatever.

So, on the human side you end up having really amazing experiences and meeting awesome people, but most of the time you end up playing in front of a crowd that dosen’t give a shit about how drony-new age-doo wop you are. Usually with the worst sound possible, and a lot of times not even being payed. At least always, after the performance, there’s the dude that comes and says “the visuals where great!”, or “your sound is super organic” or even better “how do you do this loop things?”. Maybe one of every 3 shows someone buys one of your tapes and theres some nice words for your self-steem.

But I don’t do this for my ego. That’s why it’s a dysfunctional tour. It’s a tour because I(try) to play music, but it is dysfunctional because most of the issues on the musical side go wrong. So knowing all that is how this travel starts. Well, its starts in NY playing a really bad show at Union Pool because all the pedals go weirdo to electric randomness. At least Manhattan is still one of the best places to walk around. And for the first time I was able to explore the suburds. I stayed in some friends house at Union, New Jersey where I did a lot of things I always wanted to do in a US suburb. Walk a dog, go to watch a movie in an enormous mall and, especially, bowling.

So, Union was awesome, and my hosts were better than that. The thing that i didnt enjoy that much from Union was its train station. It was like being in an apocaliptic future. Smoke of industry, abandoned platforms and just a dude in the station. That was ok until the moment that dude sitting 2 metres from me starts reading the (holy) Bible quite loud. I thought the sky was going to open or something like that.

My next stop was Baltimore. Sounds pretty topic but this city has an amazing music scene and everyone I met (or knew) there is great. To be honest I think its kind of ugly but it has something appealing. I still haven’t found what it is. Ah! and i I was able to walk more dogs but now with a profesionality. What else can you ask.

So a chinatown bus takes me from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Due to special circumstances I’ve been almost 72 hours wearing the same clothes and just before getting in the bus a banana melts in my pocket with my camera on it. The first person that talks to me when I get off is a 50 year old guy that wants some money because he has only got out of prison that morning. Welcome to Philly! Its there where i start the tour with the band Ryat. A nice couple.

I walk around and to see some historical buildings. Feels like being in Europe. Im not a skyscraper fan.

As happened in New Jersey and Baltimore, I have the best hosts possible. And by the way. If you ever got to Philly go to eat at Honey’s, in Northern Liberties. Awesome food and great service.

In the house I’m staying I’m able to jam with Chuck (and play a keyboard that belonged to Sun Ra ). He’s a classic of the Philly improv scene and plays music on the street, so if you’re around the center you’ll surely see him with his violin. A mystical experience where past, present and future get together.

The next sounds were taking place in Richmond. Not much to say about Virginia. Well, a funny thing happened. The cops show up at the space we were playing because the teens that performed after us where ROCKIN’ da place. They where behaving like badasses on stage but they immediately transformed their attitute to boy scout catholic kids when the police came: “We are really sorry officer” “Yes sir”, … “Do you want some cookies?”. (No, they didnt say that but almost). When the patrol left they continue trying to impress the girls in the first row. It was like being in some college b-movie. I even think I saw Seth Green around.

After crossing the Carolina’s we arrive to Atlanta. I was there 15 years ago, but everything seem quite similar to what I remember. Just another big town. We head south, down to Savannah. A humid Saint Patrick’s day was waiting for us. The hours there were an ode to the white trash culture. Sweaty and decadent. Green wigs and tones of plastic jewelry. The venue had confederate flags on the monitors: I think thats a pretty good summary of the show.

That was another night sleeping on the van. The travel centers were starting to become the closest thing to a home. We drove a bunch of hours to arrive to New Orleans. It’s a shame what happened with Katrina. Seems like the city won’t be the same again. Its really sucks cause as far as I’ve seen, its one of the most different places in the whole country.

Another long day on the highway after reaching Houston. That’s where my reclusion into Super Happy Fun Land starts. It’s also there where I met The Shining Path. The Shining Path are a really young band from Montgomery (Alabama). Everything you see on them is totally honest, and it was not only refreshing, but also inspiring, to hang around with them. They have a chaotic live performance, an enormous stage charisma and among everything, great songs. Shineyo!

So after 2 days as a monk, 3 days in the music-burrito Austin convention also known as SXSW. A bunch of people told me how cool it was and all that. Its ok. In my humble opinion there’s too many bands and a lot of “I wanna sign for a label” attitude business thing that gets me a bit on my nerves. At least the mexican food is deliciuous. And what really makes Austin awesome is hanging around with probably 2 of my favorite persons in US: A.A. and S.S. 72 hours were enough cause there was some party involved and I’m not in shape anymore (Well, never really have been).

A brief sumary of the next days: In Dallas a Vietnam Veteran says I’m a mad scientist. The grand Canyon is impresive, no, sorry, spectacular. Again in Flagstaff we are hosted by the nicest people. A weird show in Tucson in a plane hangar. Van gets fixed in Albuquerque and we arrive to LA. I say bye to Ryat.

I didn’t expect I would like Los Angeles so much and it’s a pity you need a car to get everywhere. I’m invited to record a sprout session at Dublab with my new tour buddie Garrick (Stag Hare). For those who dont know it, Dublab is an amazing non-profit radio collective run by the most generous people you’ll ever meet. Go to their website NOW!

We hang around LA and we sleep in a mansion. The third dude involved in the west coast tour cancels so we wont be able to arrive to North California, Oregon, and Washington. He was the car guy. No time for negative thoughts, we have to focus and look for options to arrive to the shows in San Francisco and Berkeley. Garrick finds a drive onCraigslist but we get dropped in Oakland, not in SF as promised. A train and then another car and we finally arrive to the house show in San Francisco after 10 hours of not knowing if we’ll make it. Another performance in Berkeley and the tour is over. The tour, not the trip because I’d be able to stay several days around the bay area with once again the best hosts ever.

Due to some problems with my standby ticket I had to stay more than planned, but that gave me the chance to ride some miles with my friend’s bike, explore an amazing second-hand shop, and eat some good mexican food.

San Francisco-Atlanta-Barcelona and back home.

This was not my first trip to the USA. I’ve been there several times in the past, but I was pretty young, so this 6 weeks traveling (as an adult) across the country gave me a wider vision of the people and the land. An experience I will surely repeat someday soon.

Thanks again to everyone that helped and Matt for letting me share my thoughts.

PEACE!

Cristian Subirà // Leaflets (on the Basement)

matt o. — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:00:24 +0000

So for this week I wanted to show some paper scraps and collages that Cristian Subirà sent me last week. While looking for a different zine that he wanted to submit that was based on ‘the novel art of whiskers’, he came across a folder full of leaflets from his trip to Japan two years ago. Scraps and residue from his travelling through the country, a good way to manifest physically the thoughts of that type of experience. He explains ” I don’t keep all this kind of stuff for any given reason. The fact is that I thought I could use it to make some collages that work together as a whole. So, this is the result.” I am always excited to see trees peaking out of Japanese styled houses and floating temples. Thanks alot Cristian.

Found // Carlos

matt o. — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:47:21 +0000

Cristian Subirà // Eternal Sunrise Mix

matt o. — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:03:51 +0000

Cristian Subirà of Summer Recreation Camp sent me away from Barcelona with an awesome mix to post for this week. This will be followed next week by stories and photos of his recent 2 month tour in the US. Enjoy!

Eternal Sunrise Mixtape
Sun Ra – Of Heavenly Things
Ghédelia Tazartès – Mourir Un Peu
Pearls Before Swine – I Saw The World
Faust – Jennifer
Tangerine Dream – Movements Of A Visionary
7th Temple – Under the Burning Sun
David Bowie – Moss Garden
Velvet Underground – Pale Blue Eyes
Astray Navigations – Haight-ashbury Legal pt.1
Cheb Zergui – Ana Dellali
Astray Navigations – Haight-ashbury Legal pt.2
Fuck Buttons – Sweet Love For Planet Earth
Atlas Sound – Winter Vacation
The Deviants – Child of the Sky

Lea LSF // The Dacha Project

matt o. — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:38:13 +0000

My friend Lea Elleseff and five other bandits have been huddling up in Ithaca, New York working on what they have named, The Dacha Project, an experiment in alternative housing and farming. There they are conspiring against standard ways of living by exploring the possibilities of sustainable alternatives, a house insulated with bales of hay, layered clay walls, and passive solar heat. What had started out as a mere proposition has resulted in a humble, yet gloriously successful effort. Thanks Lea!

MO: When did the Dacha Project begin?

LE: The project began in early 2007, though there is evidence of it going back much further than that.I was a recent college grad seriously cheaping it in West Philadelphia. I had this idea that it would be really great to end up doing something(s) somewhere I couldn’t even think of yet.

Back then the project was all ideas, different from the current reality. Or it might be the exact manifestation of those ideas. In any case, it was loose. The people involved were scattered around the country, so we formed an online group on which we rambled deep into the possibilities of creating a sustainability-minded space for ourselves and the community. This went on for about a year.

We talked about it enough that some rudimentary infrastructure developed almost without us knowing it. The need for something material to happen resulted in an actual search for land. After we found the spot, some had to traverse the ocean from Hawaii, road trip across the nation, say goodbye to wherever we were and arrive at the destination. Most of us made it to Ithaca before we even closed on the land in July 2008, that’s how excited we were.I’d say the Dacha Project began in those times, because the people, the times, the places all started swirling together then.

MO: Are you currently staying in house on the plot of land?

LE: By the time I finish this interview everything will have changed.

Up until now everyone has been living in the town of Ithaca, 12 miles away from the Dacha Project. We are all unanimously in love with the place, because it’s like a never-ending journey of interesting and useful things to be involved in. I don’t know how we’ve made the time to build what we have with everything else going on. However, we can’t stay in town forever. We’re at an exciting transition point, because some are about to move to the dacha. We also have friends coming to stay awhile.

There’s no hot water or cooking stove yet, but there is a flushing toilet, icy-delicious well water coming through a sink, and a camping stove. We also hooked up one solar panel and an inverter, which allows for having some lights glow without running noisy generators. And it’ll be no time before the solar hot water collectors arrive and heat up water for showers that will most likely be taken in wash basins until we build the bathtub of our dreams. It’s like sleep away camp, except you have to build the camp, direct the camp, be the camper, and dig the pond.

MO: What kind of expertise does each person in the group provide? Is everyone just figuring things out together as you go along?

LE: There are six of us, so this could get long, but let’s just say that while each one of us has different strengths and skills, it is our friend Joe who brought the building, design and mechanical skills. Two years down the line he has transferred a lot of those skills to the rest of us, and now we don’t just follow him around like little baby deeries.

Despite our general naivety, I’d say that almost everything we do we figure out together, sometimes in teams, on super important decisions all together. It has been like this from the very beginning. Each Dachette is involved and up-to-date on what is going on.

Besides the core building skills, we each bring our own flavor-power into the super-stew. We have backgrounds in literature/writing poetry, business/marketing, conflict resolution, international relations, map making, grant writing, mechanics, teaching, web building, etc., multiplied by our tangent interests in puppet making, prank playing, basement tinkering, vegan baking, stand-up comedy, acting, woodworking, event planning, wilderness living, drawing, digital media, filmmaking, herbalogy, permaculture, timelines, DIY education, environmental conservation, plus more. Then there are all of our friends and their skills too.

MO: Many (or at least a few) of you are from the urban northeast, how is your experiencing living in the country side?

LE: Fantastic on most accounts including neighbors, having space, and biodiversity. Our neighbors include homesteaders, an artist who paints life size animals, the neighbor kid into construction and hunting, evangelical Christians who also fly the Israeli flag (rapturists?), and a retired professor of oceanography. Oh, and there is this one guy we haven’t met yet that keeps kangaroos as pets.

One of the big draws for me is that when neighbors come to visit they appear from different directions. The neighbor kid from the southeast, through his back yard and past the upper orchard, the homesteaders from the north through the path in the woods or the path through the wetlands, and our Ithaca friends up the 700 foot long drive way that curves. If the hunter who wears a Spirit Wolf t-shirt ever comes again, I hope he just crosses through his field and enters from the north instead of being polite and walking down the road and up our driveway like he did that one time. Every time someone visits, it’s as if they appeared through a wormhole that deposited them just out of sight.

Being in the fields, woods and wetland, closely observing the seasons turn and harvesting wild edibles is a big part of the experience as well. Spring for us means wild leeks, dandelion greens, garlic mustard and maybe if we are lucky morels. Early summer means young cattail shoots, the beginning of berry season and swimming. The warblers are about in May, the tadpoles in early summer, and eventually everything turns yellow and explodes. It feels a bit like living out the life of a firecracker in slow motion.

MO: Why was Ithaca, New York the best choice for this project? What type of space were you guys looking for?

LE: We ended up in the Ithaca area by accident. Originally we had settled on the Adirondacks, which turned out to be a terrible place for us. If we got land there, someone might be dead, several would definitely be missing, we’d all be broke, and the land abandoned. Luckily that didn’t have to happen, because one night during the land search Lily and Joe CouchSurfed in Ithaca, where their hosts talked them into looking for land around the area. The next day they found the only piece of land that even came close to meeting our criteria.

Criteria
1. Southern facing clearing
2. At least a partial woodlot
3. Access to community/ cool town
4. Ability to get cell/internet
5. A growing season longer than three measly months
6. Within 5 hours of the NYC/NJ area

MO: Do you have any tips for those looking to build their own eco-friendly home?

LE: Some advice/encouragement that is I feel is important is about building a sustainability-minded homestead with a group of people. Two people can go it mostly alone, but I recommend considering working with a group, especially if the workload and the funding seem to be overwhelming your determination to do so. This might mean building with a group of people or creating alliances between your project and another in your vicinity. The point is that given a diverse combination of people and energies there is much more that can be accomplished.

Putting and keeping the group together is also the most challenging part, and it is well known that a great challenge is good for great rewards. And it just so happens to be that those rewards tend to be the exact tools you’ll need for engaging with the current needs and ambitions of your small group and the larger community. I’d even say that the rewards of learning to co-create with like and unlike minds deliver us to the feet of opportunities that we cannot yet imagine. Meaning that they not only help us get through initial challenges, but create space where there didn’t seem to be any before. For me this is exciting.

MO: I have been reading (on the blog) about some side projects, solar passive energy, mushroom log cultivation, sculpting straw bales with chain saws, which has been your favorite?

LE: My favorite extracurricular has been the wild weed walk Andy Firk gave at the dacha last summer. This consisted of a group of twelve walking around learning about the plants on our land with Andy, steward of Ithaca Forest Farm and Bamboo Grove Organic Farm in Sarasota/Arcadia.

It was the same day the trusses for the common house arrived, and some of the wild plant group helped get the trusses off of the semi and close to the house whose roof they are currently holding up.

On the walk itself it turned out that there were other wild edible enthusiasts in the group, and that is how the rest of us were treated to a workshop with three experts. Andy called the place a “veritable pharmacy,” and pointed out a black birch that smells of spearmint, medicinally excited perennials, and flora features that were just plain cool.

And I was introduced to the autumn olive trees that grow wild in our back field. The rest of that summer and fall I’d sneak away from work to feed myself directly off their branches. I think this would make a good footage for Wildlife Channel special on modern people and their new natural habitats- in the Dacha Project’s case a reclaimed old farm field in various stages of ecological succession.

Cache // Swole

matt o. — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:32:41 +0000

from website of Cache

This week we post a selection of tracks from Swole, a new album by Brooklyn-based musician Cache. Swole guides us deep into the earth’s caverns where we hear the echoing sounds of pattering drips. Reflective, oscillating, crystalline, in the darkness of the Swole cave there is no direction, only colors, textures, and whispering voices. For me, each track on this album seems to represent a change in depth. “Under dance” being encounters with unknown forms of life, “Thanks for trying” being a final ascent. Forgive my cave metaphor because this album can bring many other images to mind. The use of toy instruments and playful piano lines force us to recall whatever lies in our memories. Thanks Cache. [ complete album ]

Hollow Night/Sleep Heart

Under Dance

Honey or nothing

Thanks for trying

No Raving by Human St.

matt o. — Wed, 26 May 2010 21:00:07 +0000

I would like to share the digital adaptation of a zine that I created a few months ago in an edition of 50 copies. Frustrated by the distribution obstacles with such a no-budget project, I thought digitizing it would make things easier and more interesting. Also, I have been wanting to work more on interactive projects of this kind. Remember, if you are somehow anti mouse clicking, I still have some paper versions for those interested. And if you get stuck, keep clicking.

-Matt O.