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Integral Art Weekend (February 6-8, 2024)
Integral Naked and I-I hosted a gathering of
some of the finest and best-known artists—integral artists, of
course (all of whom have appeared on IN)—in order to further explore
the nature of an art that integrates body, mind, and spirit in self,
culture, and nature: an expression of wholeness, by wholeness, for wholeness.
Participants included (alphabetically): Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park),
Stuart Davis, Benjamin Depauw (TSO, Lotus Dog), Alex Gibson (Screaming
Witness), John Kesler, Tripp Lanier (Screaming Witness), Ottmar Liebert
(Nouveau Flamenco), Neil Osborne (54*40), Mark Palmer (ITP), Robert
Richards (contemplative art), Genpo Roshi, Frances Vaughan, Varshini,
Roger Walsh, Kenji Williams (ABA Structure), and Saul Williams (Slam,
Amethyst Rock Star).
The weekend included a series of artistic performances followed by discussions
of art and psychology, spirituality, and ordinary life. Sunday morning
was highlighted by a Zen intensive in Big Mind process, lead by Genpo
Roshi, so that participants could focus on spiritual awareness and its
relation to art. (Video clips of this surprisingly effective Big Mind
exercise will appear in its entirety on the IN site, so please stay
tuned.)
We asked Stuart Davis to create a video introduction to some of the
participants and their artwork, which we showed at the beginning of
the weekend. We have included the entire video below, with one change:
the original video contained lengthy clips of the various artists' performances,
which we have shortened considerably. However, many of those clips can
be found in their entirety on the IN site. If you would like to see
the full-length versions, simply go to Archives, look under the artist's
name, then select the clip.
In the meantime, please enjoy Stuart's hilarious introduction to what
is, all jokes aside, some incredibly distinguished artwork....
The weekend itself focused on the nature and meaning of Integral Art. We are pleased to share a video montage of this weekend, in three parts. Part 1 focuses on the meaning of being an integral artist, and features overviews by Ken, an excerpt from the Big Mind process led by Genpo Roshi, and several rather extraordinary performances by the participants. Part 2 continues these themes, with overviews, informed opinions, and artistic performances. Part 3 focuses on the psychological and spiritual aspects of Integral Art, and features a panel discussion (with Roger Walsh, Frances Vaughan, Mark Palmer, John Kesler, and Ken Wilber) on the nature of Integral Psychology and its relation to Art.
We hope you enjoy these glimpses into a lifestyle that all of us at Integral Naked—including you, we hope—are striving to embody, one that does not separate spirit, self, nature, and culture, but embraces them all in a big mind and generous heart....
Video Montage of the Weekend:
If you didn't think mere words could explode like novas, kiss like lovers, or fly at supersonic speed—you haven't experienced Saul Williams.
Saul reveals how reading Ken's work helped him to organize his metaphysical closet, revealing new space where there once was clutter.
Here's Saul performing the title piece of his most recent book.
Ottmar gave a spur-of-the-moment improvised guitar performance literally composed for us on the spot. Needless to say, we were astounded by the following:
Among the many astonishing moments was a completely spontaneous and impromptu musical composition by flamenco-guitar legend Ottmar Liebert and techno-music wizard Kenji Williams (who also trained in classical violin).
Ottmar had begun strumming a few guitar cords; Kenji picked up his violin; they both started playing off the other, watching for cues, listening to which way the music wanted to compose itself. For the next five or six minutes, an altogether extraordinary and beautiful composition emerged, on the fly, with both of them playing together in a way that looked like they had performed this song together many times, whereas it was being created for the first time as they played. An alert attendee grabbed a camera about half way into the presentation, and here is what was recorded. Believe us, you won't want to miss this one....
Also, check out the super-cool
redux version, edited by our own Emilio
Martinez:
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