The Room that Ate the World

I thought I had no story to tell about this piece, no insight, but my initial reaction to this piece seems a plausible narrative.  I saw a room containing several people, all altered, in this opulent space.  One of the participants within the space has an insight that transforms their consciousness and those around them.  Their mind literally is blown by the change in point of view.  Visually it makes me think of las vegas a little.  Perhaps it is a religious ceremony.  There was also a flash of a court room.  Of course the room that ate the world would be a mystery.

From the Archives: Portfolio 2001 Back Cover

This is my favorite of the three 2001 portfolio pieces.  The aura of mystery alone sustains it.

The front cover initiates the portfolio.   It is very presentation oriented and uncomfortably intimate.  The table of contents, still presentational, is focused on organized content.  This is the end of the portfolio, or even further after the end.  The portfolio is finished and these are the last visual echoes of its passing.

The fire of inspiration has been extinguished and the plumes of smoke evaporate into the night sky.  Here the hand of the artist is retreating, fading into the night of clouds.  The portfolio has been presented and the hand now moves away, leaving you to think on what you have observed.  The image block of the moon has lost its glow and become transparent, its contrast and intensity diminished.  It is being absorbed now by the sky. 

This piece is best observed while listening to Cocteau Twins or Dead Can Dance.  I recommend Victorialand or Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, respectively.  I know this is all pretentious and silly, but once in awhile there are those images that move beyond mere representation and step into the mythic, the symbolic.  I am very grateful to have had this image move through me.  Pretentious or not, the mystery within this piece moves me.

Like the preceding pieces from my 2001 portfolio, this was scanned from a physical copy.  This one had many touches up as well and also was sadly lost to The Hunger of the Zip Disks.

{digital images manipulated in Photoshop}

When in Deep Water...

When I began working on this, it was going to be a more detailed interpretation of the sketch I did for The BlackSun, but as I continued, it became something more.

{Created in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign.}

UPDATE 091014:  A permutation of this piece is now available on a tshirt design or other cool paraphernalia at my Neatoshop!  Drop by and check it out!

THE JANUS EFFECT

The funny thing about Consciousness...it isn't box shaped at all.

 

{Digital Images Manipulated in Adobe Photoshop.}