"The artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of artist"
– Ananda Coomaraswamy
"It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations."
– Walter Bagehot
– Ananda Coomaraswamy
"It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations."
– Walter Bagehot
Looking at this bevy of announcements, it occurs to me that life is moving too fast for a biweekly newsletter, anymore. I'd rather send you something you can actually read in one sitting, so I hope you'll stay with me as I switch to more digestible weekly updates. But if you'd prefer, you can always follow me on twitter, or at my facebook music and art pages. Thanks again to everyone for your support!
Michael Garfield Joins Re:Evolution Media
As part of my "Take it to the next level AGAIN!" agenda, I am now on the roster at Re:Evolution Media – the same group that books Alex & Allyson Grey, The Nadis Warriors, Desert Dwellers, Govinda, Birds of Paradise, Kaminanda, & D.V.S*! These guys throw some of the best events I've ever seen, and after two years of collaborating with them on The Manifestation Celebration and other great shows, I'm honored and excited to join the family as a musician, live painter, and public speaker.
Stay tuned at my facebook music page for more news as things develop – these guys are blowing up all over the country and it's now considerably more likely I'll be back in your town soon to help raise some holy noise! (It's already getting silly, if you haven't checked my concert calendar recently.)
And speaking of holy noise, here is a clip from my improvised acoustic-electronic "cyberguitar" performance at Ruta Maya in Austin last month:
"Leave Your Face At The Gate"
This is track two on Rainbows At Night, a new and ongoing archive of free live recordings to tide everyone over while I'm working on my next studio album. I'll be posting a new track for the newsletter every couple weeks. There are some really juicy ones coming up...enjoy!
And now, to share the most ambitious and time-intensive live painting I have ever accomplished. Be sure to click the image to view it in full-size, with every rich detail:
Many Worlds
2011 09 01, 02 Burning Man Festival - Fractal Nation Village
(Left Coast, Heyoka, Mimosa, Dov, FreQ Nasty, Ill Gates, An-Ten-Nae)
2011 09 10 Red Rocks Amphitheatre (STS9, Savoy)
2011 10 25 Cervantes' Other Side (Bridging The Music Presents Electronic Tuesdays)
2011 11 12 Om Vibrations Experience (Nadis Warriors, Desert Dwellers, Rara Avis)
2011 12 30 The Parish (Nadis Warriors, Spoonfed Tribe, Hatch)
2012 01 07 Whomp (Polymyth & various other local DJs)
2012 01 30 Ruta Maya, Esoteric Monday Dubstep & Gypsy Bazaar
2012 01 31 Beauty Bar (Seven Circles, El Commode, Borrisokane)
2012 02 02 The Parish (An-Ten-Nae, Gladkill, Psymbionic)
2012 02 07 Club 606, Whompadelic Wednesdays (Polymyth, Soundshaman, DRRTYWULVZ)
original painting, 24"x36" – paint markers on stretched canvas – make a bid
signed and numbered full-size stretched canvas giclée fine art prints
(limited series of 100): $300 each – order
signed and numbered full-size stretched canvas giclée fine art prints
(limited series of 100): $300 each – order
signed 11"x17" poster prints: $20 + $5 s/h – order
Due to the terrific amount of work I put into this one, the original will be held on extended silent auction and I will make a very limited run of full-size fine art canvas prints so a top-quality version will be available to everyone at a reasonable price. The giclée prints will be made from a scan of the image, signed and numbered, and shipped for free to anywhere in the United States.
Click this image for an up-close walk-through of how I completed this, one improvised step at a time:
...of course, while working on a huge opus monster of a painting, it's good to blow some steam on smaller, less time-intensive works:
Subduction Zone
2012 01 18 Barcelona Austin (B. Lewis & Insightful, Maintain, Applied Pressure Collective)
2012 02 09 Beauty Ballroom (Gaslamp Killer, Bird Peterson, Grommit, Applied Pressure Collective)
original painting, 18"x24" – paint markers on stretched canvas
signed 11"x17" poster prints: $20 + $5 s/h – order
This piece is a return to the eightfold geometries that captivated me in the fall of 2009...a revisitation of some familiar patterns from a new perspective. Local beats collective Applied Pressure made it extremely easy for me to enjoy myself while painting; I know I'll be working with them more in the future...
Click for a close-up look at how this came together:
Two New Interview Videos!
The inevitable consequence of making as much mouth noise as I do.
On proposing over Skype, the threat of solar storms to our electrical grid, and full-body thinking...a conversation about intuition in the Age of Information and the ways that technology both connects and divides us, with host Alexis Neely of The Whole Truth Show:
On proposing over Skype, the threat of solar storms to our electrical grid, and full-body thinking...a conversation about intuition in the Age of Information and the ways that technology both connects and divides us, with host Alexis Neely of The Whole Truth Show:
Watch on Youtube
Custom Hats Galore!
On how to sidestep and overcome creative blocks, the inspiration behind "Many Worlds," and why "imagination is our greatest natural resource"...a conversation about seizing the dream of a fulfilling creative lifestyle, with host Jessie Elaban of Austin art and culture blog, Collective Perspectives:
Three of my latest designs for happy heads – plenty of hats still for sale in my gallery of available original art, and of course you can always email me with your budget, hat size, and color and style preferences if you'd like me to make you one that's especially yours.
Parting Thoughts
From my article "Godhood Is Boring: Thoughts on Radical Life Extension" – now online at the excellent blog, Spirit Of Spider:
Science is, in the final count, not about the increase of knowledge, but the increase of ignorance – if every question answered means two more questions asked, what we don’t know is growing faster than what we do. And so a mature science, grounded in the same wonder at mystery that impelled natural inquiry in the first place, welcomes this mystery. It is not a program of rapturous domination, or prideful power en route to ultimate mastery of the matter, but the cultivation of wisdom through the exploration of nature as macrocosm and the self as microcosm, of the ego embedded in a world defined by interbeing.
(Read the article...)
