digitaldeities

corporate logos as occult symbols

Today I was searching the internet for corporate symbols that are popular, easily recognizable and people have some sort of familiarity, association or reaction to them.  The corporate meme** is some how felt by viewing the symbol.  I will use these to lead a discussion on how mandalas, circles and yantras create a feeling and hold a space of consciousness.  This is an easier angle to share about then my previous presentation were I bumbled in trying to discuss the types of deities that are used and felt in Vedic and Tantric Yantra ritual. 

examples below of popular symbols from screen shots off the internet.

**meme |mēm|   noun
an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation

            
    
  
     
    

  

row 1(left to right)
Trojan condoms, Nike, BMW,

Chanel Fashion
row 2
Louie Vuitton, BP - British Petroleum,  McDonalds,

the musician Prince
row 3
Olympic games, swastika, deputy sheriff belt buckle,

deer crossing
row 4
6 pointed star, NA - Narcotics Anonymous, celtic cross,

Yin Yang Symbol

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tonight I also came across this awesome post below from this blog: http://illuminatusobservor.blogspot.com
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Corporate Logos as Occult Symbols, The Vesica Piscis

The Vesica Piscis, two interlinked circles, is also known as "the Yoni". The name "yoni" refers to the middle portion of the interlocking circles, is derived from the Sanskrit meaning, "divine passage". That the yoni is the feminine, the yoni should be viewed such that the divine passage becomes a correlation to sex, or male/female union. It is this correlation, and its relation to rebirth and regeneration that remains a basic truth at the very core of Occult structural foundations.

And seeing how "vice" is used as a means to advance and preserve the philosophy, what better vice than that of "materialism", and what better symbol of "materialism" than that of "the MasterCard", which enables materialism beyond many a person's economic means?

However, this symbol is found in many a corporate logo. How about Chanel?

The famed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California?

And of course, KOOL Cigarettes

It is all very cool when you begin to see that things are not as they appear, and the reality of the Construct begins to burst open like a bud before your eyes.

Imagine a clever code for G-d hidden here, in the corporate symbol for Gucci? And some would only see the Vesica Piscis!

Posted by Dennis Fetcho

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a comment from this blog also mentioned:
Other names for it include the mandorla and the marriage symbol, and other advertising examples include double tree hotels, the band "double o," yoga booty ballet, DC shoes, dolce and gabbanna, candlewood sweets, and too many more to list. 

.............in order, I looked them up below

   
         

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and of course.... VANDANA JAIN mandalas ... mandalas made entirely from corporate logos

from  artcodex.org

swing swing swing SPACE

words for my Swing Space application that is going out tomorrow via FED EX after final revisions from my helpful teacher, chris prentice.  definitely getting easier to talk about my stuff...
This is one of the the questions below that I am answering and then attaching my 10 images along side for a 3 month work space grant... it will be their first intro to my work. 249 words

Swing Space is a space grant program that connects artists and arts organizations with vacant commercial space downtown. Studio, rehearsal, office, installation, and exhibition space awards are typically for two to four months and are accompanied by a project stipend of $300-$3,000.

WORK SAMPLE DESCRIPTION
Please provide a brief description of the images, introducing the works and providing context for the panel.
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My work is made with found objects, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. My recurrent themes and explorations ask the question - What brings a feeling of safety or protection?  I first began exploring the physical side of boundaries with a miniature suit of armor inspired by the agave plant.  This desert plant survives under extreme circumstances and protects itself with radial pointed leaves.  The shape of the agave inspired me to begin making mandalas, circular forms, with the dried leaves.  The circle signifies perfection and the cyclical forces in nature and many Yantras, geometrical diagrams used in meditation, are made with a combination of circles.  My meditation practice has profoundly changed me, giving me the ability to heal and to focus on the notion of protection on a much larger than personal scale.  I now am working with recycled, confiscated scissors from airport excess and building ancient meditation symbols of them to place into modern airports.  My vision is to place these large-scale installations behind security checkpoints to give a moment of reflection to traveling passengers.  This offers the audience an opportunity to contemplate upon what makes them feel safe, the security measures at airports or spiritual support.  The blending together of scissors and symbols offers a playful and provoking visual cue that brings awareness to modern rituals and rules, while offering a centering solution and harmony to a busy public space.  These images show my past work and a few beginning explorations of my work with scissors. 

notes from colleen

I just found the email from colleen about our reviews.. she took good notes. Here they are...

Carrie Mae 

Colleen: Very clear and interesting concept! Focus on the site. Instead or before going phys/comp, really go for and investigate the site, how to make a proposal for an airport or respond to an RFP, and make many many mandalas to really work with the material and mounting. (studio time, yay!) 

Eric: Art making background -- is user surveys/design process all new to you? How has it influenced your work? (a project that could relate to more people, larger scale). Large-scale public installations are on the border between design and art. Need to think about a commission of people who are not artists, look at how to make a big commission to work. Not one to undermine the security apparatus. Need to think about the viewers and the people with the $. Christo, ephemera, to be in galleries. Maquettes, prototypes, sketches. Better when the scissors carry the aesthetic weight of the piece. Choose your battles. 

Bobby: on board with the physical manifestation of protection in the yantra with the confiscated objects, think it is smart and very clear. Use of technology feels like a veneer. Like there's expectation of this here. How does tech relate to your idea? Number of scissors in a work could relate to the amount of scissors confiscated in a year, etc... use statistics. Terrorism is the anomaly. Don't do it in a gallery. Do it in the hyper-protected airport space. To put sacredness in a non-place is a really nice move. Christopher Janney.  

Zach: Agree with reviewers about technology. Not to think about tech in the final output, but in the in-between point. Coding, interaction, etc. to produce the visual output. Interested in the context. the interaction is asking the question of the person in the airport. What are you asking the person in the airport to do? Meditate? Specific meaning to the interaction and installation. What is it that you ask of people?

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

I am sitting here contemplating how to dig a bit deeper and REALLY have a project and artistic idea that I believe in wholeheartedly and that the world finds interesting and valuable.  As I write and continue to collect precedents, things are fluidly morphing and pushing me to go deeper.  It is hard for me to take an assignment like writing about all my precedents lightly and so I push myself to re-evaluate on every level what excites me, what I like, why I like it.  THESE ARE BIG and not so easy questions.  I LOVE asking them, really.  But it challenges me... I am plugging away at it here.  I had hoped to have my precedent paper done before class today .. but it will take me a few more days..

An article that I read yesterday about the poor/low-income women in Troy, NY really affected me and so my creative process right now is contemplating the advantages of education and wealth.  I posted a link to it yesterday and then remembered another article my friend sent me about items a crazy woman swallowed.. plus I heard a speaker on Saturday where the man talked about being in prison. 

My writing and research instructor, Chris Prentice, gave me a link to her friend, Jeff Eisenberg, who is an artist showing at SF gallery.  A great video with himtalking about his work here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0WU8j6Gqj4  and his site: http://www.jeffeisenberg.net . He is influenced by architecture and reverse engineers his paintings.  I really appreciated him speaking about his work..  interiority and exteriority ...  the free writing practice he mentions sounds helpful .. the imagery from the list of what he writes (and sounds)!!  old books & magazines... I love his process.. quite similar to me in someways.

I feel this area of speaking professionally about my work is what I need the most help with.  Being able to clearly and eloquently speak about my work.. why I do it, why it is important, CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT.  I guess for years now I am learning how to be less emotional and more intellectual about my work -((and believe in the value of such work in the world)) .. but as I write about the precedents.. I can feel how my story has value and maybe it is important to include personal experience and other peoples similar personal experiences .. why the weapons and sharp objects.  Do I include my struggle with boundaries and how I am drawn to physical 'weapons' to strengthen my weak emotional/sexual boundaries.  My art has always been connected to my more intimate process and that is why I am drawn to even make it ... it has always been less intellectual more emotional.. but I came to grad school to shift this.  I struggle with it a bit today .. but I will get there.. it is just taking awhile to express and be clear about these most vulnerable parts of me.

Part all this contemplating is b/c I was not accepted to speak at the ESC (electronic social club) mixer for all NYC grad students this Friday at Hunter College.

I am bummed but I realize .. the way I presented myself in my proposal was maybe not professional or descriptive enough AND I am also not really very electronic with my work... so maybe that had something to do with it.

Colleen Macklin wants everyone to have somewhere they speak or share their work with the public this semester.. not sure yet where I should present or write an article for... besides galleries and stuff .. but that might be later... but I have to make the pieces first.. get good images... any suggestions for where I am at now are welcome.. where to share my work/ideas?  what journals, websites or venues do I promote myself to?  ...or do I just wait until things are more developed?

Time for me to get to work!

my survey monkey

tonight I made a 10 question survey and mailed it out to email lists of people

if anyone did not get it .. you can go here to take survey

10 question SURVEY FOR MY THESIS (please help) meditation + airport confiscation

exchange //compensation //award //recognition //money

Here is a list of a few of those who would give me an exchange or compensation, an award, recognition or money to do my work?

LAND views

Our mission is to strengthen connections within the eco-creative community by building awareness of ongoing projects, events, educational resources, and collaborative opportunities.

www.landviews.org

We encourage submissions to our online journal. Please submit a brief abstract for our review. We will contact you with our comments and/or decision based on your abstract. If we accept your proposal, please conform to our submission guidelines.

Submit an abstract

Submission Guidelines

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Contact Information

from article Planting Seeds of Inspiration
What is community wildlife habitat?
To spread this message, Elaine turned to the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Community Wildlife Habitat (CWH) program. I’m a big fan of creating backyard wildlife habitat. It’s a great way to rebuild the damaged web of life while healing ourselves through the company of birds, butterflies, and other critters. A CWH project embraces backyard habitats, schoolyards, businesses, community gardens, and parks. It literally helps whole towns create space for birds, butterflies, and other critters by establishing broad areas and migration corridors that welcome wildlife to feed, drink, set up housekeeping, and raise their young.

NWF guidelines for developing and certifying a community project use a point system based on the community’s size. In Forestville, this means certifying 100 gardens as backyard wildlife habitats. In addition, a town must accumulate points in several categories, including education and community projects such as stream cleanup, invasive plant removal, and plant and wildlife rescue. The NWF website provides step-by-step instructions at NWF.org/BackyardWildlifeHabitat.

ASCI

Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI) was one of the first art-sci-tech member organizations in the USA.  Established primarily as a network for artists who either use or are inspired by science and technology, ASCI has become a magnet for some of the best examples of this type of contemporary art and for scientists and technologists wishing to collaborate.

www.asci.org


OntheCommons.org

OntheCommons.org is dedicated to exploring ideas and action about the commons—which encompasses natural assets such as oceans and clean air as well as cultural endowments like the Internet, scientific research and the arts.

The aim of OntheCommons.org is to advance public understanding of the commons and uncover new strategies for protecting and expanding it. Through stories, blogs, news, profiles of movers and shakers, accounts of local commons projects and—most importantly—your participation on the site, we provide an expansive look at what’s happening on the commons all over the world.

The first OntheCommons.org website was launched in March 2004 by Tomales Bay Institute, recently renamed On the Commons. The site has become a showcase of ideas and commentary from a wide range of thinkers, activists and citizens interested in the potential of the commons to reshape society. All that material—more than 1000 articles, blogs and resources—can be easily accessed on our new site. They are arranged by both topic and author.

 

Andrew Faust .phone interview.

Sunday August 17 - ended at 4:22 after speaking for 28 minutes (checked my cell phone)

I had a very energizing and helpful conversation with Andrew Faust who is offers Permaculture Consultation and Ecological Design Services in NYC and currently is teaching a Permaculture Design Certification through the Open Center.  He lives in Brooklyn and is passionate about biodiversity and urban environments and sharing his knowledge with a wide variety of urbanites.  I found him via the internet and made a previous posting about his website www.homebiome.com This feels like just the beginning of collaboration and communication.
 
Here are my revised and short notes/ fragmented synopsis of what we talked about and the questions I asked .. that will soon be turned into part of my first writing assignment on Sept 1 .. that documents and describes my summer thesis research.

 Can you tell me more about the lecture you offer Regenerating Urban Centers:  Bringing in Nature
and the course that you cover – zone 5 wilderness & wildlife corridors?  
in urban areas he looks for the path of least resistance and less layers of complication - meaning where is the land that is not being used or public land 
there are currently 4000 acres of brown fields in NYC area – 60% is in proximity of water
rooftop gardens, ground street treas
wants to create riparian buffer zone, reclamation of shore edges …
guanas canal ?
new town creek ?
inspired by John Todd –living machine project- anchored floating garden
old Clorox bottles anchored and floating in stream to begin bringing back pollinators
into low-tech more ecological systems.
Engineers begin to think about pumps and electricity when you can use gravity and gray water systems
Rain / plants / cisterns
pollution cleaners increase biodiversity

What do you think about the idea of Vertical Farming?
doesn’t like ‘flash in the pan’ architectural development or proposals
believes in retrofitting
embodied energy in buildings needs to be re-used not more toxins used up from travel, materials and labor
eco-design
has been taking pictures of buildings and wants before//after amended photos
he is looking for or to create visual compelling representations!!  (**this is the area we can collaborate in)
Before and after shots of retrofitting abandoned factories.. reworked digitally

Have any local NYC businesses/ institutions been especially receptive to your work?
NYC botanical gardens
Brooklyn Children's Museum
Open Center
...he freelances around NYC and Brooklyn area

I mention Arboretum America and he said it was a great book.  I told him about the current art exhibits happening around the city and we decided to  met up and continue our discussions.  I feel he is a wealth of knowledge about  NY ecosystems and has done plenty of research and has many many books and magazines and helpful articles.   I look forward to meeting up in person when I return to NYC.

On his website he offers Workshops he offers this one which also resonates with me.
I feel it is a delicate balance to not talk and share with a certain dogma that might not be accepted or understood my a broad range of people.  So I believe my role to to educate the masses or market and promote through slick or provocative images that with surprise people.  I am TOTALLY all about making compelling visual images ..  this is my forte.   

Ecological Consciousness:  Exploring Our Sense of the Sacred, Learning to Live Well with the Earth
We will explore the spiritual, ethical and moral aspects of a deep appreciation for the Earth, and the spiritual relationship between human beings as biological organisms and their ecological environment, the Gaia organism.  The ecological crisis is interrelated with our spiritual crisis and comes from an absence of a sense of the sacred and from a lack of awareness of the fact that our own well being is intrinsically inseparably interwoven with the well being of the Earth.
Becoming responsible stewards of the Earth can begin to heal human communities, spiritually and ecologically. We can create ways to live with vitality and abundance that cooperate with the health of the Earth and her ecosystems, ecologically sound, locally adapted, biologically and community powered infrastructures, and educational models that enhance the evolution of ecological consciousness.

VERTICALFARM.COM

ALL THIS INFORMATION IS TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM www.verticalfarm.com

        The Problem
   

   

        By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban         centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends,         the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim.         An estimated 10⁹ hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is         represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed         them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At         present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising         crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been         laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this         impending disaster?    

   

        A Potential Solution: Farm Vertically

   

        The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes,         a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What         is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3         billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented,         employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap         to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be         situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented,         they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and         varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of         ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

   

        It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take         for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often         turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time         frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population         now lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans are         protected against the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the         rigors of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather         year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate         regime, that is not what follows. Massive floods, protracted droughts, class 4-5         hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions         of tons of valuable crops. Don't our harvestable plants deserve the same level         of comfort and protection that we now enjoy? The time is at hand for us to learn         how to safely grow our food inside environmentally controlled multistory         buildings within urban centers. If we do not, then in just another 50 years, the         next 3 billion people will surely go hungry, and the world will become a much         more unpleasant place in which to live.

Contact

                                                

Dr. Dickson Despommier, Ph.D.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Email ddd1@columbia.edu     Phone (212) 305-1494     Fax (212) 342-1952     Mail Attn: Dr. Dickson Despommier   Environmental Health Science            of Columbia University     60 Haven Ave. Room 100   New York, NY 10032

Feynman's Rainbow

Years ago my friend Roy Wasson Valle, who now owns fuzzyballsapparel.com, introduced me to Tuvan throat singing.  An album Back Tuva Future by Ondar who (is from Tuva, Mongolia) and was discovered and corresponded with the physicist Richard Feyman.  Since I am also interested in the unexplainable mysteries of the universe, on both small and large scales, I have read a small amount of Feyman's work.  Six Easy Pieces was a book I owned for awhile.   When I was last at the Brooklyn Library  a month ago I was searching about circles and mandalas in the science, math, religion and spirituality sections.  I ran across this book and I found it to be an easy read and also helpful in my search for good questions and understanding how passionate and successful minds work.  The author asks his mentor, Feynman, relevant questions that indeed inspired me.

 

Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life
by Leonard Mlodinow

  a quote or two to come .. that are dog eared and too long for me to type in here right now -but clearly resonate with my quest

dZi foundation - letter to Jim Nowak

Today I wrote a short email to the http://www.dzifoundation.org director and founder, Jim Nowak.  I have been on their Newsletter for a few years and I felt like now is a good time to start seeing if this is really a clear direction for me to pursue this next year .. the Fulbright Grant tot Nepal in 2009/2010.

Here is dZi mission statement:

The dZi Foundation believes in empowering local visionaries —and communities—to reach their true potential through programs that are sustainable and serve within the existing social framework.                                            

We initiate programs, partner with other Non-Government Organizations with proven track records,  and fund programs where financial restrictions are the only barriers to positive change.

Our work is focused in the Himalayan region of Nepal, Ladakh and Sikkim, India.

my letter:

Hello Jim,

I am on your current dZi Newsletter mailing list and I am keeping up to date on your various projects in Nepal.

I am currently a MFA student in the Design and Technology Department at Parsons In New York City.  I am interested in applying for a Fulbright grant this September for next year 2009/2010 session for Nepal. 

I am an artist and my thesis project is asking - Where do the Sacred, fine art, ritual, nature and modern technology overlap?  I am interested in studying in Nepal because of the history and culture of Sacred arts - Mandalas, Thangka Painting and Sand Painting rituals.  I realize my topic is rather broad right now and I will be narrowing down tings the next few weeks/months.

Do you have any interesting contacts from your involvement with the Mira and Taksundu Monasteries or through one of the schools dZi has worked with in rural Nepal?  I am looking for an in country contact person who can guide me in some of my research and write a letter for the Fulbright grant. I could see either working with a monastery or perhaps creating an art project/collaboration with the girls a risk or one of the rural schools.  Perhaps creating a internet presence and art exhibit that could raise more funding and publicity.  I have researched the Rangjung Yeshe Institute and it seems numerous previous fellows have connected with them.   I have also researched the Tibet House that now has houses around the world, started by the Dali Lama and heavily promoted by Robert Thurman. 

Do you have any contact people or any suggestions or local artists or art organizations that would be available in collaborating?  I would also enjoy brainstorming and discussing with you projects that you would find appropriate, helpful and interesting for this region? 

I am curious how much of influence you see from Tibet refugees and do Nepali people practice a ritual like sand painting or mandala making like Tibetan Monks or women in rural India?  I have read through Painted Prayers: Women's Art in Village India and The Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism.

Thanks for your time.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,
Carrie Mae Kreyche