Christmas 2012 ?

Zeitgeist 2011: Year in Review

2011 has been a year (not?) to remember, full of strange, dramatic and (very few) hopeful events. Let's see it condensed in 3 minutes here while we're waiting for what 2012 might bring....

The Poor Little Match Boy

London, Hyde Park, Christmas Eve, 1857.
A poor orphan tries to keep warm using his remaining lucifer matches.....A short, dark animation by David Lea


Christmas card no. 2: The Poor Little Match Boy from David Lea on Vimeo.

HAPPY HOLIDAYZ !

Acid Christ: Ken Kesey, LSD and the Politics of Ecstasy

If you're interested in the history of the 'psychedelic sixties' you can't miss ACID CHRIST: Ken Kesey, LSD and the Politics of Ecstasy, a 'participatory biography' by Mark Christensen which chronicles the adventurous life of a Merry Prankster.
Please read an interesting book review ( and see an historical interview with Ken Kesey and Jerry Garcia ) here
See a nice photo gallery ...and find out more about the book here

The Psychedelic Art of Yoko D'Holbachie

Yoko D'Holbachie (b. 1971) is an extremely interesting Japanese artist who  makes a perfect, colorful and psychedelic mix of Californian popsurrealism and Japanese kawaii style. In these days she exhibits at the Mondo Bizzarro Gallery in Rome ( Dec. 10, 2011 - Jan. 10, 2012 ).
Don't miss Yoko's mind-moving website and if interested also Mondo Bizzarro
(thanks Reggaepsyc)

MonkeyMoon !

MonkeyMoon!...a nice animation created by Emmanuel Gatera, Antoine Rouleaus and Eric Villeneuve

MonkeyMoon! from Emmanuel Gatera on Vimeo.

Rainbow Village of Taichung, Taiwan

Tucked away in one corner of the large city of Taichung, Taiwan lies a modest ‘military dependents’ village’ – a community built in the late 1940s and the 1950s to serve as provisional housing for Nationalist soldiers, but ended up becoming permanent settlements. Over the years, many military dependents' villages have suffered from urban problems such as housing dereliction, abandonment, urban decay, and urban slum. This drab place has now been transformed into a beautiful and vibrant tourist hotspot, thanks to the colorful paintings of Huang Yung-fu, an 86-year-old veteran from Taichung City.
With a simplistic style he has adorned his tiny his military dependents’ village with paintings of famous TV personalities, plants, animals and other items such as birds, buffaloes and aboriginal people...
( Read and see more on Amusing Planet )

The Magical Worlds of J.T. Burke

J.T. Burke (b. 1957) is an American artist who combines original photography with digital manipulation to create scenes of exhuberant life and utopian bliss. His compositions are influenced by a variety of artists, including Hokusai, Charles Burchfield, Kandisky, Hieronymus Bosch, modern pop-surrealists, medieval illuminations, Persian miniatures and even Dr. Seuss...
Give a look to J.T. Burke's website
(click on pix to see in larger format...)

Gary Moore - " Parisienne Walkways" - live

The great, stupendous Gary Moore ( 1952 - 2011 ). See this astounding live song, then read more about this extremely talented Irish rock/blues guitaist...
(see on wide screen...)

The Ayahuasca Project

Definitely watch and share this trailer for a gorgeous looking documentary about ayahuasca shamanism, science and it’s use in treating Westerners afflicted with addictions and severe emotional traumas, as pioneered by the work of two doctors; Dr. Jacques Mabit, who “runs a legendary detox centre deep in the Peruvian jungle”and Dr. Gabor Maté, a lionhearted addiction specialist valiantly trying to establish a similar program in Canada.  It is seeking completion funding on KickStarter so if you like the trailer please learn more by watching the kickstarter video
(via Teleomorph)


The jungle Prescription - Film Trailer from The Ayahuasca Project on Vimeo.

Blotter Art

Along with 'microdots' and 'windowpanes', Lsd began to be put on blotter paper sheets in the early 1970s. That gave rise to a particular art form of decorating with trippy pictures the blotter paper. Usually the blotter paper was decorated with very small 'icons' on each perforated square tab. By the 1990s this has progressed to complete four colors designs often involving the 'traditional' entire page of  900 tabs.
Nowadays many websites specialized in blotter art sell beautiful art prints of 'vanity blotter art', that is blotter paper sheets obviously without the acid...
I like to point out the website of Mark McCloud, probably the most important blotter art expert, but don't miss Ken Kesey's son Key-z
You can find nice blotter art also here and here and here