Shorthand For The Process Of Connection

This video was originally shown in a different format during the Ascension in the Recession show at Arts Goggle. If you dig the work, please become a fan of Everzalez Ink on Facebook.

“The video of the eyes is about the process of meditation, and reaching for something beyond myself. The images seen in the pupils of the eye are a type of shorthand for the process of connecting to something beyond the self. Some people refer to this as God, others call it the Source.

The symbols in the eye began to appear in my work about one year ago, and because up to that point I had only done abstract work with no recognizable symbols; I began to feel that I was channeling something through these images.”

- Jim Everton

Credits:
Jim Everton came up with the concept of the shifting symbols in the eyes. Adam Scott shot the video and made it come to life. The original creation was a loop of the eyes with rhythmic symbols. The video was displayed in a 5″ x 11″ closet with no lights on. Mirrors lined the walls along side the television. The installation of the mirrors was thought of and put up by Pedro Gonzalez.

An audio piece was also created for the show. Tim Derrington voiced written thoughts on time travel (sources found below), while Stephanie Marie created a 3-hour playlist. Anna Gonzalez spliced in Tim’s voice throughout the 3 hours of music Marie provided.

After the show was over, Anna and Jim sat down and edited a five-minute sample from the playlist using video Anna had shot over the last three months (since being in Austin).

LYRICS:

“JUST because we perceive time flowing in one direction, does that mean there “really is” a difference between the past and future?”

- Is Time An Illusion?

“Relax physically, emotionally, and mentally – accepting the suggestion to avoid thinking in rational, verbal, and/or evaluative terms – to a suitable frame of mind for focused imagistic thinking. Imagine that the strategy is actually being implemented at the present moment, and that you are going to explore what it leads to in the future.”

&

“Allow yourself to be carried along into the future as the strategy is implemented across time, simply watching and feeling things as they occur. Often it is useful to let yourself be surprised by what futurists call a “Wild Card”—some unanticipated event that is sure to bring strong impacts and effects.”

&

“After scanning to – or beyond – the desired time frame (or event sequence), record the impressions and questions that seem most relevant.”

- Mental Time Travel: A practical business and personal research tool for looking ahead

PAGE ONE
Musical Artist: Lemon Jelly
- Written by Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin

Imagine – if you can – what it is like to have no possessions at all
Nothing
Very few people can imagine such a thing, to have nothing at all
Well let us, you and I
Try to imagine something a hundred times harder
Not just to have nothing at all, but when there was nothing at all

The very beginning of time
The dawn of history
Page one
Nothing at all

The earth itself without form and void
Only an emptiness, formless, a dark endless waste of water
No living thing. No plant or tree. No bird or animal
Nothing

This is before people
Before anything at all
A void
Sitting silent
Still

And then…

NOTHING

Art Or Not: The Ramen Experiment

@Everzalez and I are getting ready to showcase a great deal of art work at Fort Worth’s Arts Goggle.

We have a whole loft to display artwork, and we’ve worked with multiple people to put the show together.

Recently, fellow Uphill Snowballa’ Adam Scott suggested we use Ramen to create an art installation. We loved this idea, considering the theme of the show: Ascension in the Recession.

A new friend of ours, Blair McKay (as seen in the picture to the right), suggested we burn the Ramen to add visual interest.

With those ideas, @Everzalez figured he would rebuild a Mayan city using Ramen as the building blocks. He sent me outside with 24 Ramen Noodle packets. As @Everzalez worked on a mis-aligned chakra mirror, I set about trying to burn Ramen.

As it turns out, Ramen noodles are the opposite of flammable. I held a lighter to it for as long as my fingers could hold a flame, an a small brown spot appeared. I also dropped a match on it, but that didn’t leave any visibly damage. This was going to take a blow torch.

I thought about throwing something flammable on it, like a touch of gasoline, and then setting it on fire, but I was at my parents house and didn’t want to cause any worry. And knowing my luck, I’d accidentally burn down the house, leading to the cancellation of the show. I couldn’t cause a fire in the name of art if it potentially meant sacrificing the show.

I conversed with @Everzalez and he suggested we paint them. “I want something colorful,” he said.

So I laid them all out on a table, spray painted them will all the colors of the rainbow, added glitter and called him back over. “This was not what I was thinking… it looks like a bad Christmas project,” he said. He was thinking each Ramen block would be a solid-color building block.

I tried to show him that if we cut the Ramen, not all sides were spray painted. I tried to explain I was thinking it would be sparse color throughout… or maybe just on the top layer of the pyramid or the bottom layer.

But he had already begun packing them in a box to throw away. I loved my Ramen squares, so I saved the best four. Here’s one of my favorites:

So what do you think? Is it art? Or a failed experiment? You can be honest. You won’t hurt my feelings!

Inspiration

As we approach our Oct. 2 deadline for Arts Goggle, we’re continuing to search for inspiration to help push our creativity. Here are a few items from our growing list:

ARTSGOGGLE: A Celebration of Art & Artists in Fort Worth’s Southside

Come to the Near Southside on Saturday, October 3 to experience Fort Worth’s indie art & music festival in a walkable urban setting. Named Best Gallery Art Show by the readers of Fort Worth Weekly, Arts Goggle encompasses over 70 venues in Fort Worth’s Near Southside district just south of Downtown. Come view the work of independent artists, photographers, and sculptors while enjoying multiple live music set-ups.

ArtsGoggle, the twice-yearly, FREE celebration of art and artists in Fort Worth, Texas’ Near Southside, is expecting another tremendous turnout on Saturday from 3 to 10 p.m.

Everzalez Ink presents Ascension in the Recession, a multimedia, spiritual art collaboration produced with recession proof materials such as electrical tape, asphalt paper and ramen noodles. This installation addresses a turn to spirituality in response to adverse political and economic conditions. The exhibition asks the question, “How do we achieve the change we all need?” Can political change be the answer, or do we have all the tools we need within ourselves? Are we a species on the verge of a new awakening? The works include video and fiber based pieces as well as paintings and drawings.

The collaborative showing can be seen at the newly-renovated Miller Lofts. The work will encompass an entire loft space. Just look for the red doors. Food and drinks will also be provided!

Click here for the full program (.pdf file).

ArtsGoggle is presented by Fort Worth South, Inc., the non-profit redevelopment organization working to revitalize this important urban neighborhood. Each year record ArtsGoggle attendance attests to the success of Fort Worth South, Inc. and the Near Southside community.

Everzalez Ink would like to thank Rene Gonzalez, Dafne Torres, Krista Pugh, Shuan McKinney, Blanca Gonzalez, Adam Scott, Tim Derrington, Anna M. Gonzalez, James Everton, and Stephanie Fridae  for contributing to the collection.

For more information on ArtsGoggle, First Friday on the Green, and Fort Worth South, Inc., please call Michel Stebbins at 817-923-1343.
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GETTING AROUND/ TRANSPORTATION/ PARKING/ BIKING
Getting around Arts Goggle is easy. If you’re driving, park your car in one of several free locations – the parking garage at Magnolia Green, along Alston between Magnolia & Rosedale; the Cook Children’s lot at 8th Avenue & Allen; the Signs, etc. lot west of Old Neighborhood Grill on Park Place. Or a space on-street. Get out and walk – no need to use the car! A trolley circulator will be running to let you get to the various venues. For the first time, narrated tours of the Near Southside will accompany the trolley. Tour guides will give you a sense of the district’s history and current progress. Your tour guides: Kevin Buchanan, author of the popular architecture blog FortWorthology.com, and Paul Paine, President of Fort Worth South, Inc.

In addition, pedicabs will allow you to get around the Near Southside comfortably while being pedaled by professional pedicab drivers.

Also new: we’ve come up with an Arts Goggle bike route map! Get on your bike and enjoy the sights and sounds of Arts Goggle while being car-free! Enjoy the new bicycle-only lanes on Magnolia Avenue! Ride along marked bike routes elsewhere. Bikes are a great way to enjoy everything that is going on during Arts Goggle.