jeff hogue/ bluelab art org: 12/14/06

Finish what you've started here
You make your move
just once a year
In the city
in the town
Your happy home
is never found
Second hand
was never planned
The birth was over,
the baby banned
She fled the place
at such a pace
She never even saw your face
So go with me
Inside
Believe
You have so much to give

Switch the light off,
have a go
Force the only one you know
To leave this place
without a trace
A pity
I had seen your face
Where do you think
I will find
This party girl
who was so kind?
Raven hair
and skin so fair
Sadness
never visits there
So go with me
Inside
Believe
You have so much to give

the Delgados
Make Your Move

We didn't sleep too late.
There was a fire in the yard.
All of the tress were in light.
They had no faces to show.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven swans,
seven swans,
seven swans.
I heard a voice in my mind:
I will try, I will try, I will try. I will try, I will try, I will try.
We saw the dragon move down.
My father burned into coal.
My mother saw it from far.
She took her purse to the bed.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven horns, seven horns, seven horns.
I heard a voice in my mind:
I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord.
He said: I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord.
He said: I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord.
He will take you.
If you run,
He will chase you.
He will take you.
If you run,
He will chase you
'cause He is the Lord.
'Cause He is the Lord...
Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans...

Sufjan Stevens Seven Swans

“The question is no longer how did we get here, and why? But, where can we possibly go, and how? We live in a society that has drastically narrowed our sensitivity to moral and spiritual issues; the problem we face is how to deal with a belief structure that has blocked both psychological and spiritual development. If there is a new agenda, a new vision now emerging within our society, how might one help put it into practice?”
Suzi Gablik

...bluelab is being developed upon the issue first posed by Einstein, "a problem cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness in which it was created.” It has become evident to many that in order to meet the problems we face as a species we must embrace a radical revision of our beliefs and our behaviors.

bluelab functions upon the strong presumption that artists likely figure significantly into the revisioning of a new world—and the invention of ways to communicate our discoveries. As we all learn more and more about our essential interconnectedness it also becomes increasingly evident that artists can’t function in a social vacuum. The label of “artist” is a problematic one and only used as a signifier of persons with specific media skills and training who are fluent in creative processes and who have some professional link to art. We are working to deconstruct as much as possible the binary--"us vs. them" mentality that still pervades the high art world. It seems to us that consistent with new paradigmatic shifts taking placethroughout all fields--there is a need to reconsider our accepted definitions of "artist" and "audience" all together. bluelab is constructed to offer pathways into higher levels of inclusivity. It is only through true inclusion that we can hope to make work that is deeply inviting and that offers an atmosphere of true love and trust and safety to all.

In terms of the way bluelab will in fact function, we are working to develop a sound and effective approach to community building which relies heavily upon time tested processes that are well understood and are seeking the help of people who are expert in these processes. On practical levels, the sharing and cross fertilization of specific areas of expertise allows for rich and complex works which through communal process are fused unselfconsiously and intuitively making of an organic whole.

Why all the talk of “community”?It is our firm belief that by building works in a heightened communal space we will in fact be building works potent with transformational energies. Jung talked about the distinctions between “liminal”or
transformative space and “liminoid”, or works that are simply entertaining. With a hard look at where we are at as a species and planet—it seems like simple math that we must link art making to the real task at hand—that of saving the earth.

Jesus pushes it back to the edge. Can you even see the image of Christ in the least of the brothers and sisters? He uses that as his only description of the final judgement. Nothing about commandments, nothing about church attendance, nothing about papal infallibility: simply a matter of our ability to see. Can we see Christ in the people, the nobodies who can't play our game of success? They smell. They're a nuisance. They're on welfare. They are a drain on our tax money. If we can, then we are really seeing.

He pushes it even further than that. He says we have to love and recognize the divine image even in our enemies. He teaches what they thought a religious leader could never demand of his followers: love of the enemy. Logically that makes no sense. Soulfully it makes absolute sense, because in terms of the soul, it really is all or nothing. Either we see the divine image in all created things or we don't see it at all. Once we see it, we're trapped. We see it once and the circle keeps moving out. If we still try to exclude some: sick people, blacks, people on welfare, gays (or whomever we've decided to hate), we're not there. We don't understand. If the world is a temple, then our enemies are sacred, too. The ability to respect the outsider is probably the litmus test of true seeing. ...

Everything becomes enchanting...

Richard Rohr Everything Belongs

“[Suzi] Gablik speaks of the previous paradigm of the Enlightenment period and what it has meant to artists: ‘Individualism, freedom and self-expression are the great modernist buzz words.’ The notion that art could serve collective cultural needs rather than a personal quest for self-expression seems almost ‘presumptuous’ in that worldview. Yet this assumption lies at the base of a paradigm shift in art, a shift ‘from objects to relationships.’ Gablik challenges her coworkers not to settle for abstract theorizing in making this paradigm shift. She personalizes and therefore grounds the transformations that must be undergone when she insists that ‘the way to prepare the ground for a new paradigm shift is to make changes in one’s own life.’ Spirituality is about praxis, she is saying, not just theory.”
Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work

Is it possible to create new spiritual structures for collaborative art making and to implement such toward community building with a depth of conviction, courage and inspiration that might move participants beyond self-interest toward truly new possibilities? Is it possible that with rigorous and focused processes artists could joyously make work engaging meaningfully with the specter of our global challenges while together exploring the uncharted territory of their souls? Can community building processes readily pour into art making wherein something meaningful and healing might evolve? Is it possible that these discoveries might be transmitted to the public at large through various new media shedding fresh light upon human potentials? Is it possible that all of this could dovetail with the efforts of important organizations such as The Global Justice Movement, Environmental Defense and Amnesty International toward a healthier and happier planet?

We say hopefully, yes.

What if artists were offered stipends, room and board allowing them to come together and to work intensively and without distraction for substantial blocks of time on film, music and real time performance collaborations? What if artists and thinkers could explore important issues in depth leading to transformational theater, installation, film and music? What if these artists were guided by experts through a structured community building process prior to beginning to create their projects? What if artists were given opportunity to work with and interact with some of the leaders of our time in the fields of art, science, and philosophy? What if these artists were given all the production equipment and technical assistance they might need to produce global quality shows? What if supporters and friends of our organization were given intimate amphitheater access to segments of our artists’ processes as well as early rehearsals, scheduled meals, activities and fellowship? What if the productions could be built and performed with some eventually touring the US and the world?

bluelab has been founded and created out of a perceived need to reconsider art making and professional collaborative art practice proceeding boldly from visionary prerogatives. We don’t find fault with the many artists who will not be drawn to what we are doing—for spiritual practice and its interface with collaborative art making are not for everyone.

In light of our present global endgame scenario it seems frivolous at best to argue over rhetorical issues. bluelab is intended for the “Great Work”--that of joining leaders of many fields worldwide who are engaged in the work of saving the earth. We believe that perhaps the only way to meet our present challenges is to deeply transform ourselves which implies the support of a real community and structured spiritual practice to be determined by each member for her or himself.

When serious professional artists are willing to embrace the rigors of authentic spiritual practice, the work of community building and heightened artistic collaboration will undoubtedly fall quickly into place.

The abundance of quotes from Sufi teachers have been included simply because they are part of my daily practice and do not infer a direct link between bluelab and Sufism. In point of fact, any serious spiritual practitioner must see that there can be no schism between the teachings of true Sufism and any sincere humanitarian interest. In the interest of those who may fear some sort of covert Islamic link, Sufism as it’s practiced and defined by and large in the West is Universalist in its orientation and in fact many Sufi’s roots are Christian and Jewish.

"Emptiness feels empty not because there is nothing present, but because whatever it is we're doing has no egotistic interference. The subtle arteries have no ego plaque in them, nothing to resist the smooth flow of the soul. Without our getting in the way, the life of the soul is rich and full, though unpredictable. But it isn't easy to trust strong desire and the life that keeps pouring into us. We always think we know better what should be and how it should all turn out. That is why the death principle --avoiding, worrying, being moralistic--is so popular." Thomas Moore The Soul's Religion

All through Erikson’s work is the implication that the creative adult (the generative adult) is precisely the person who can infuse his life with play;…the great cultural synthesizers—the religious, political and cultural geniuses such as Luther, Freud and Gandhi—were supreme in their playfulness, especially in their work. Their great words of synthesis were personal attempts to restore the active mastery of their egos in the context of the tensions and dichotomies of their personal and public historical situations. All great historical syntheses are as much play as they are work. They are work because they are indeed attentive to the real contradictions and tensions that most people of a given historical period both sense and suffer. They are a result of play because the creative genius does not simply conform to, adjust to, and accommodate to these tensions. Instead, he bends and reshapes these tensions until they submit to a new synthesis which not only enlivens and activates him but which also enlivens and activates a whole people and an entire era.

“Some renaissance theologians worked hard at reconciling paganism with Judaism and Christianity. We have yet to achieve this détente that is essential to the life of the soul. Fragments of our hearts and minds are located in the garden of Gethsemane and in the garden of Epicurus, on the zodiac of the Apostles and on the zodiac of the animals, in the wine of Dionysus and in the wine of the Eucharist, in the psalms of David and in the hymns of Homer.

It is not a matter of belonging to a religion or professing one’s faith, it is a matter of orientation in life and participation in its mysteries.

We can all be pagan in our affirmation of all of life, Christian in our affirmation of communal love, Jewish in our affirmation of the sacredness of family, [Islamic in our affirmation of self-sacrifice,] [Hindu in our affirmation of the multiplicity of God's expression], Buddhist in our affirmation of emptiness, and Taoist in our affirmation of paradox.

The new monk wears invisible robes. Thomas Merton travels across the globe, and in the home of Eastern monks, dies. Isn’t this a myth for our time and about the resurrection of the monastic spirit!”

“Vulnerability, then, is not only the ability to risk being wounded but is most often made manifest by revealing our woundedness: our brokenness, our crippledness, our weaknesses, our failures and inadequacies. I do not think that Jesus walked vulnerably among the outcasts and crippled of the world purely as a sacrificial act. To the contrary, I suspect he did so because he preferred their company. It is only among the overtly imperfect that we can find community and only among the overtly imperfect nations of the world that we can find peace. Our imperfections are among the few things we human beings have in common….Indeed, only honest people can play a healing role in the world.”
M.Scott Peck, M.D., A Different Drum

"In the very first chapter Thomas (Berry) lays before us 'The Great Work.' In each historical epoch, he says, people are given a “Great Work” to do—in one age, the settling of new lands, in another the building of great cathedrals, the creation of artistic, philosophical, religious or scientific works, or the shaping of political structures and ideas. The Great Works of prior periods are seen in such things as the movement of the first people out of Africa in the Paleolithic Period; the creation of language, rituals and social structures in hunter-gatherer communities; the establishment of agriculture communities in the Neolithic Period; the development of the great classical civilizations; and, in the modern period, advances in technology, urban civilization, new
ideals of government and human rights, the modern business enterprise and globalism.

Our Great Work is not something we choose, Thomas says. It is something we find ourselves thrown into by virtue only of being born in a certain time and place. The task may seem
overwhelming, one coming in response to some huge historical difficulty, but, he observes, just as we are given our historical task by some power beyond ourselves, we must also believe we are given the abilities to fulfill this task.
The Great Work into which we and our children are born, Thomas says, comes in response to
the devastation of the planet caused by human activity. We are facing a breakdown in the life
systems that can only be understood by comparison with events that marked the great transitions in the geo-biological eras of Earth’s history, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs and countless other species when the Mesozoic Era ended and our present Cenozoic Era began. Our task is to move from our modern industrial civilization with its devastating impact to that of benign presence. It is an arduous and overwhelming task, one exceeding in its complexity that ever offered to humans, for it is not simply one of adjustment to disturbance of human life patterns, as, for example, that occasioned by the Great Depression or the recent World Wars, but one of dealing with the disruption and termination of the geo-biological system that has governed the functioning of the planet in the 67 million year reign of the Cenozoic Era in the history of the planet Earth."

Ten Sufi Thoughts

from The Way of Illumination by Hazrat Inayat Khan

There are ten principal Sufi thoughts which comprise all the important subjects with which the inner life of man is concerned:
1) There is one God, the Eternal, the Only Being; none else exists save God.
2) There is one Master, the Guiding Spirit of all souls, who constantly leads all followers towards the light.
3) There is one Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, which truly enlightens all readers.
4) There is one Religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction towards the ideal, which fulfils the life's purpose of every soul.
5) There is one Law, the law of Reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience together with a sense of awakened justice.
6) There is one human Brotherhood, the Brotherhood and Sisterhood which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the Fatherhood (/Motherhood) of God.
7) There is one Moral Principle, the love which springs forth from self-denial, and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
8) There is one Object of Praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshipper through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
9) There is one Truth, the true knowledge of our being within and without which is the essence of all wisdom.
10) There is one Path, the annihilation of the false ego in the real, which raises the mortal to immortality and in which resides all perfection.

The following are shared objectives for bluelab and were first articulated as such by Hazrat Inayat Khan who is credited as the first to bring Sufism to the West--in the early 20th century.

The objectives of the Sufi path:

1) To realize and spread the knowledge of unity, the religion of love and wisdom, so that the bias of faiths and beliefs may of itself fall away, the human heart may overflow with love, and all hatred caused by distinctions and differences may be rooted out.

2) To discover the light and power latent in man, the secret of all religion, the power of mysticism, and the essence of philosophy, without interfering with customs or belief.

3) To help to bring the world's two opposite poles, East and West, closer together by the interchange of thought and ideals that the Universal Brotherhood may form of itself and man may see with man beyond the narrow national and racial boundaries.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

"Our" Story: Awakening in Community
by David Goff, Ph.D.,
A Foundation for Interdependence,
Palo Alto, CA

As a psychotherapist I occupy a unique position in our culture. Daily I sit with ordinary people who are struggling to make their lives meaningful and healthy. I experience the heroism of everyday people working hard to be whole, to love and be loved, to make a place for themselves in life. They tell me their stories and show me their pain and self-doubt. As I listen, hour by hour, I have come to realize I am not just hearing isolated, individual stories but "our" story — a story of humanity's shared suffering.
This realization hit hard. I was trained to believe that my clients' problems were theirs alone. My job was to help them change themselves so that they could participate in the "good life" that our culture offers. For many years I was content to believe that the sad, painful and often tragic stories I heard were the result of broken families, disastrous relationships, careless parenting and addictive substances. Today, I know differently. Now I know that much of the pain and unhappiness I hear is a direct result of the kind of society we have become.
To illustrate how my understanding changed I offer you "The Parable of the Downstreamers." This story describes the way I once saw things, a way that kept me from hearing the larger story that my clients were telling.
It was many years ago that villagers of Downstream recall spotting the first body in the river. Some old timers remember how spartan were the facilities and procedures for managing that sort of thing. Sometimes, they say, it would take hours to pull 10 people from the river, and even then only a few would recover.
Though the number of victims in the river has increased greatly in recent years, the folks of Downstream have responded admirably to the challenge. Their rescue system is clearly second to none: most people discovered in the swirling waters are reached within 20 minutes — many less than 10. Only a small number drown each day before help arrives — a big improvement from the way it used to be.
Talk to the people of Downstream and they'll speak with pride about the new hospital by the edge of the waters, the flotilla of rescue boats ready for service at a moment's notice, the comprehensive health plans for coordinating all the manpower involved, and the large numbers of highly trained and dedicated swimmers already to risk their lives to save victims from the raging currents. Sure it costs a lot but, say the Downstreamers, what else can decent people do except to provide whatever is necessary when human lives are at stake.
Oh, a few people in Downstream have raised the question now and again — "What's going on Upstream? Why are these bodies in the river at all?" But most folks show little interest in what's happening Upstream. It seems there's so much to do to help those in the river that nobody's got time to check how all those bodies are getting there in the first place. That's the way things are sometimes.*
That's the way things were for me too. Like most other helping professionals, I had been trained to be a good downstreamer. I worked hard to salvage people's lives. I was proud; after all, I was helping people turn their lives around. I did so without really questioning what was going on upstream — without really wondering if there were other causes for this suffering and pain.
It wasn't until I began to sit with circles of people that I began realizing that there was something going on upstream that I should pay attention to. About ten years ago I started acting on a lifelong interest in community. I sought out people who were interested in a shared sense of belonging. We began to meet on a regular basis to get to know each other, explore our differences and seek for common ground upon which we could create a sense of connection. In the process we told each other our stories — the stories of our pasts and the stories we were currently living.
As we began to trust each other, we started sharing the places where our stories made no sense to us, where we didn't know what to do, where we were feeling hopeless and lost. We recognized how we had isolated ourselves by hiding these aspects of our experience. And we recognized how close we felt to each other when we began to let these parts of our lives become known. We literally stumbled onto common ground when we saw that our personal uncertainties reflected the vulnerability of human existence. Our great discovery was that when we shared this vulnerability we felt a sense of communion — not only more connected to each other, but also more connected with ourselves and with the world we lived in.
It was at this point that I began to experience a change in my outlook. My new awareness — that what my clients and I suffered was utterly human — had a profound impact upon me. I began to look more deeply at what was going on in my office. What I discovered was troubling. I began to see how much I was operating like a Downstreamer. I saw that much of my clients' suffering was caused by social isolation, the pretense of wholeness, and the secrecy of self-doubt and uncertainty.
I saw that a lot of suffering was generated Upstream, by the cultural values we hold and the social conditions within which we abide. I realized that the way I practiced had a tendency to reinforce my clients' shame and isolation. I began to see how my Downstream approach was ineffective at relieving some forms of suffering. It perpetuated the very conditions which were causing that suffering. I knew I had to consider what was going on Upstream.
Looking at the way we as a species treat each other and our planet is not easy. In fact it is intensely uncomfortable. I found that opening myself and really paying attention to what is going on around me — the homelessness, violence, crime, poverty, bigotry and unemployment — is very frightening. Even more frightening is the degredation of our environment — the dumping of toxic chemicals, the pollution of our watersheds and the stripping of the forests. Viewing these facts of modern life is painful and overwhelming. When I tried to talk with others about what I perceived I had the most frightening experience of all. No one wanted to talk about it. This evoked powerful feelings of loneliness, despair and hopelessness. I knew I would collapse under the weight of this awareness if I did not find a new way of responding to what I saw.
I began to search for a response to what I saw going on upstream. To adequately respond I needed to know more information and I needed allies. Having learned so much in my community circle I turned toward this group. I began by sharing with them this latest turn in my story. I shared what I was seeing, the feelings that were aroused and my anxiety about the future. I asked them how they thought and felt about what was going on. This began a process of opening up our hearts and minds to what was going on around us as well as what was going on within us. We extended our concerns to include the homeless, the dispossessed and those without voices, such as the animals, rivers, trees and future generations. Looking upstream together, our sense of community expanded.
And so did a new degree of painful self-awareness and responsibility. We saw that the stream was like the circle we sat in: we were not only Downstreamers, we were also those caught in the stream and we were the Upstreamers. We began to face the reality that our choices and actions were contributing to the social and environmental problems we saw. This realization brought on a new stage in the development of our community. We became activists. We began to look at how we could change our own behavior and how we could support the call for change that was coming from those who were environmentally ill, impoverished, and un-cared for. Knowing more and doing things differently led us to begin to feel more alive and hopeful. By becoming more responsive to the despair and outrage we felt as we looked Upstream, we discovered new parts of ourselves and our capacity to make a difference Downstream.
This experience changed the way I live and the way I work. Now when I sit with clients I ask them questions about their feelings about environmental degradation, their sensitivities to chemicals, their patterns of consumption, how they participate in the economy. I encourage them to look at how they feel about what is going on around them and how they are responding to what they perceive.
In addition to working with individuals, couples and families, I now offer what I call learning communities. These are groups for people who want to learn how to create a sense of community. In these groups we share our sense of personal vulnerability and we share our concerns about what is going on in the world. We look at how to protect ourselves and our families from the cultural pressures that impact upon our lives. We also examine our lifestyle choices for ways to improve the quality of the impact we have upon others. We support each other in awakening to the dangers Upstream. We begin to discover our responsibilities as Upstreamers.
Learning together has had many advantages. That makes the effort to create learning communities worth it. It is easy to get overwhelmed when you first begin to recognize the social and economic forces that are abusing our environment and driving us away from each other. This awareness arouses strong emotional responses. It is easier to bear this painful awareness when it is shared. It is easier to stay open to reality when you are not isolated by these disturbing truths Upstream awareness also begs for a response: our hearts and minds cry out "something must be done!"
The forces operating upstream however, are enormous. Just being a good Downstreamer isn't enough. To really make a difference we have to act in concert. We need each other to learn how to make a difference, to support each other as we act, to sustain an effort that will take time, to celebrate our successes, to console each other over our failures, to love each other for caring enough to continue trying.
Today, thanks to those who have shared their vulnerability, doubt, courage, love and wisdom with me, I am aware, as I listen to my clients' stories, that I am hearing "our" story unfold. It is the story of our participation as a species in the stream of life. It reveals our efforts to avoid feeling the vulnerability that is part of the natural fragility and interdependence of our existence. It reminds us how we have cut ourselves off from our selves, each other and nature. It is a sometimes painful and tragic story, that is still unfolding, that can change.
How can this change occur? I changed because I extended my circle of caring. I did this by sharing my story and listening deeply to the stories of others. By entering into community I found a place where I could learn more about my self, humankind and our relationship to this living breathing planet. I found a place where I could share the struggle for a meaningful and hospitable future. And, perhaps most importantly, I found that with these others, I could make a difference.
You can have this same experience. Find or create a group of people who would like to feel a sense of community in their lives. Listen to their stories. Tell them yours. Share the unfinished, uncertain, lost and confused parts of your stories, as well as the happier parts. Show each other your vulnerability. Sit together and feel the preciousness and fragility of your time on this planet. Feel the delicacy of life itself. Tell each other about what matters to you, about your emotional responses to what is going on around you. Look at what you know and what you don't know. Pay attention to your impact upon the others in your community as well as your impact upon our environment. Make choices about how you live. Act on behalf of all life. As you do, you will be transforming our story and giving our children's children a chance to tell their stories.

* The Parable of the Downstreamers is by Donald Ardell, from High Level Wellness: An Alternative to Doctors, Drugs and Disease)

David Goff, Ph.D., is co-founder, with Cynthia McReynolds, M.A., of A Foundation for Interdependence. They offer learning communities to support personal development and cultural transformation. They also consult with businesses, schools and non-profit organizations. For further information about the foundations programs and resource materials send a self addressed, self-stamped envelope to A Foundation for Interdependence, 470 San Antonio Road, Suite M, Palo Alto, CA. 94306. You can also reach them at (415) 856-7853 or by email at dg@interdependence.edu.
Other resources that support the development of community and cultural awareness include;

The Foundation for Community Encouragement (founded by Dr. Scott Peck), 109 Danbury Road,
Suite 8, Ridgefield, CT 06887, (203) 431-9484.
International Society for Ecology and Culture, P.O. Box 9475, Berkeley, CA. 94709

The following books and periodicals are also recommended;

The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace, by M. Scott Peck, (1987) by Simon & Schuster.

The Shelter of Each Other, by Mary Pipher, (1996) published by Grosset/Putnam.

In The Company of Others: Making Community in the Modern World, ed. by Claude Whitmyer, (1994) published by Jeremy Tarcher.

Sitting In The Fire, by Arnold Mindell, (1996) published by Lao Tse Press.

The Responsive Community (quarterly journal) write or call
714 Gelman Library
George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052 800/245-7460

Mark,

I am so happy you're taking the time to entertain all this. You may or may not have an idea of how helpful it is to me. I will take the same format of addressing the issues--because I found yours so clear and therefore accessible.

Mark Bloch wrote:
see below thanks for your mail tool check alsotonerworks.blogspot.com

From: Jeff Hogue Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:13:13 -0800 (PST)

To: Mark Bloch Subject: thanks for this email Mark, I haven't read your other two emails yet.

I wasn't trying to shame you--although I do understand that it could easily be taken as such. I am not trying to ride the waves of your approval--although again I know it helps. We are all social animals. While it's true that what we think of one another is none of the business of the other--it seems appropriate to share experience, strength and hope with one another--this is one way that we help one another fulfill our capacities and actualize our dreams.

(some parts excluded from this forum)

You may or may not know it but Scott Peck's illustrious career was devoted to community building and many of his foundational ideas came from the "12 Traditions" of AA. In 1984 or 1985 I was fortunate to get to meet, hear and eventually work with a man named "Don C" who led a workshop on the 12 Traditions while living in Colorado Springs. He took what had been for me stale and arcane writings and breathed life into them showing how they could be approached as dynamic technologies for building deep and transformative consensus among committed people.

He was (is) a visionary--a haloed medicine man--was the senior Manager for Digital Corp in Colorado Springs handling "NORAD" technical support and what not--a former NASA engineer--and a recovering drunken Mohawk Indian. He was the first person to link what I had already discovered through my time in Menningers in 1980-1982 which was this phenomenal and miraculous--if mysterious atmosphere called "community" to its functional underpinnings.

When I was an inpatient (at Menningers) in 1980-'82 battling bi-polar illness and what not we used to have these weekly community meetings that as it turned out were really transformative. It's hard to isolate exactly what made those meetings so powerful and nurturing--but I have some ideas.

First, they were held in a highly focused and structured environment. The staff had regular schedules, as did the patients. These were consistent and dependable and created for me a sort of infrastructure for the wild and misguided energies I was often subject to. Two, there were several people in those meetings who were spiritually awake. Some of these men and women were what we would call "geniuses" or "spiritual masters" meaning that regardless of what sort of pandemonium might have erupted with one or more of the 23 patients (I keep wanting to write "students" in place of "patients") these men and women remained poised, transcendent, yet engaged and compassionate. They had that rare character which I have come to recognize as "sage like." Three, all were allowed to speak whatever they wished and were encouraged to be spontaneous--even if that meant risking saying something "inappropriate" or stupid. This tolerance--this real and loving and consistently accepting tolerance of all of us set the tone for "unconditional love." This meant that I gradually learned that I was in fact lovable--even when I was arrogant--pretentious--cowardly--mean spirited--or whatever...I do mean fully whatever. Four, the treators were humane enough and evolved enough to create a level playing field. Rarely did I feel condescended to. The section chief, Dr. Dean Collins--a world class Psychiatrist with Buddha presence on several occasions would walk up to me as I sat alone in the cafeteria eating my lunch and ask to join me. We never exchanged a lot in words--it was more our sense of one another. He loved me (and I adored him)--and everyone there with a profound and unwavering kindness, cheer, and playfulness that can only be associated with enlightenment. So I guess Five is that we had "wise elders" present who were able to hold the energy of the community in a gentle yet masterfully firm way--which gave people like me who were raised by raging fathers and doting childish mothers (though well intentioned) a sense of clarity and safety. I began to learn that I could let go.

It was in this sublime atmosphere--combined with my time with another master--my main doctor and guru, Becquer Benalcazar that allowed me to break free of the disease that had been killing me for some time--the disease of this destructive and raging and disembodied false self.
When I first got out of Menninger's after 2 years and 2 weeks of in- hospital treatment--I dove into AA and NA meetings. They were my refuge and my support. I craved the energy of community--that transcendent loving space where time slows, voices become softer, clearer, and more audible, where deep thoughts and subtle connections seem to flow without too much ado, where acquaintances feel familial--and where trusted friends feel even more intimate than the day before-- where the darkness--the wolf at the door is turned away--at least for a few minutes or hours.

I used to go to these lunch AA meetings in Topeka, Kansas where Menningers used to be located--and there were 4 or 5 extraordinary "old timers" in the group. They rarely said a lot, but they glowed, transmitting an atmosphere of peace and good will. They were natural and real and consistently kind to me. Occasionally one would say something to me in passing or in private that would ring my bell--like a Zen master offering a koan that I immediately understood. These were important experiences.

Over the next 15- 18 years I became disenchanted. A lot of my problem was of course "me" and my attitudes and behaviors--which remained self-defeating and problematic. I came into AA through a world class hospital, believed I was a true genius, had met a number of famous people--becoming friends with some and was a tragic romantic with feelings of supreme uniqueness.

7 years out of treatment I decided to go to art school. There I had a hard time locating "community" though early on I talked a lot about it. In art school I became a stand out--winning top awards, being asked by the President to holiday meals, and having famous New York artists to my house.

We got to do an experimental work with the sculptor, James Surls who shows in galleries like Marlborough and what not. We created a collaborative performance called "Beyond Time" which became a platform for a number of my notions. After the performance in his studio north of Houston--a 15000 sq foot redwood structrue surrounded by pines with a kitchen, clean room for his 8 foot wood block prints, showers, a stage, a 30 foot ceiling, and various relics, paintings and sculptures from friends and colleagues...he made a b-line to me after the performance--gave me a big hug--and told me it was the best thing he'd ever seen.

I created a piece in San Antonio called "I Wanna Be A Hero" in which a woman came up to me afterward and told me that she'd recently seen the Tibetan Lamas perform and that she'd had the same experience at my show. This felt like an enormous endorsement.

When I was at the Vermont Studio Center in '93 I was working with Jane Dickson--a woman with work in the Museum of Modern Art and the Met who used to come by my studio and often linger. I knew that I was in that exalted and inspired space that I had been in and out of for years since my initial awakening. One day she told me that I reminded her of her friend Kiki Smith and that though I was a good painter--she believed I was here to do something else...I took this to mean creating collaborations as a new and socially engaged art form.

There have been many other experiences. I have met some Tibetans who have indicated that I am some sort of rimpoche--a reincarnated master. I don't think this is unusual--and suspect that lots of people who are good artists are--like you and Bob probably.

Anyway, here we are. It's 2006 almost 2007 and I am still fumbling around trying to put the pieces together. I am a visionary--but am not a very grounded or talented business man or corporate strategist. I am a very good team player and having met men over the years who'd worked in important think tanks (I met one older gentleman in the 80's who'd been one of the handful in the Manhattan project) tell me that they could see that I'd be good at that sort of thing...I have tried to build bluelab's ideas up enough that they would catch hold of people like you and that your imagination would be fired sufficiently that you'd want to dive in and roll up your sleeves and work.

It took me a while to get over my sense of unworthiness with you and Bob because you've been on the front lines making original work for decades--and I have very little in the way of packaged credentials. I am a mysterious and intriguing figure to a number of well known people--but everyone's waiting for me to do something...

I am so grateful that you took the time to write all this. bluelab is about community. Let me recap:

most art work (including all media and forms) is, according to Carl Jung and some of his living proteges--"liminoid" or simply entertaining--and not transformative.

I am not familiar with that term tho i love Jung. Duchamp called it retinal art

It came from Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette's books "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover" series...I think.

The bluelab model proceeds upon the working assumption that "true community" is an udeal conduit by which to design and build works that are "limenal" or truly transformative. I created a piece some time ago called blue glass projects in which I went out and found 15-20 artists who were willing to meet regularly and to draw, to paint, to write, to brainstorm, and to make videos and performances.

There were a couple problems. 1. there was not enough structure and we lapsed too often into chaos--2. we had little of no money--so we were all stressed out trying to make work without proper resources. 3. we lacked some of the artistic skill sets to make polished collaborative presentations--that might turn heads--I don't know what else. The point is that the thing was successful on some levels--but it flew under the radar of the public eye--and consequently made no real impact.

if a tree falls in the forest it makes a sound but so what

This all goes back to what I was saying about "transformative space" A true community according to Peck is a "mystical body." This to me means that the community becomes a conduit--a channel for the miraculous. Because of the content of some of what I saw in my visionary moments in '81 I believe I am called to this work. I don't have all the technical answers or supports for my argument that this thing can in fact work and change lives--I am like Noah who was told to build a ridiculously large boat in the middle of dry land and to wait...

Through the ganglia if you will of the net especially I see a way to make work that can readily transmit empowered ideas to people in substantive enough ways to change hearts and minds. I am not the Power, I am not the Idea. I am not the Language. I am not the Inspiration. I am only the builder of the boat. I don't know how subtly correlative this analogy actually is, but in my mind--I am the founder--a founder-- in what can only be made fruitful by the concerted efforts of several very talented and skilled participants.

Peck who was for my money the man who picked up where Bill Wilson left off in terms of applying these principles of community to the world at large--said more than once that "in community lies the hope of the world." I've ran accross others saying things like that "if and when the Buddha returns he will return via community. "

Don't you think I know how hard all this is to swallow? I have carried the weight of being viscerally committed to something I can neither fully understand or seemingly shoulder for 25 plus years now.

All I can say is that it is my work. I want to make it clear enough and compelling enough that it will attract unto itself those who are called to be active participants--fellow leaders--as true community implies. It's not about me being the heavy--that will never work. There are plenty of instances in recent history to turn me away from the idea of being The Leader. Jim Jones, David Kuresh, Jim Backer, Jimmy Swaggert (hey, what's with the "Jims") are all examples of the corruption of inordinate power.

Community offers technologies similar to a nuclear reactor that allows enormous energy to be contained and distributed in healthy and affirming ways. Artists in subtler ways have been examples of abuse of power too. I have long called this (after Robert Moore, the Jungian professor from the U of Chicago coined it) the "Elvis Complex." This is rampant in today's culture. bluelab if it is to be successful will have to be safeguarded by principles (again from AA) such as anonymity.

Enough for now...I am so grateful to get to interact with you Mark. The vastness of your curiosity, your diligent and courageous body of work, and the quality of your tenacious independence have inspired me.

Jeff

My dream is to get artists who are technical wizards and who have the maturity to embark on an arduous and risky psychological journey, to get spiritual teachers and community building experts in to work with us, to have the funding to afford good food and reasonable tools and resources, and with all this some time--maybe a couple weeks or more--and build works that will turn heads--that can change hearts.I felt that you were attacking me when you said simply, "cowardice is the enemy." no-- fear is what i fight these days. I find that it is an inside job. No one is out to get me,. No one is falling down in their appreciation of my art. It is all about my unwillingness to step up to the plate. so i was encouraging you to fight your cowardice if you have some.

Look Mark, I know you're a crackerjack artist--and incredibly driven and hard working creative--and that you've been out on your own investigations for decades. All I ask for is your wisdom and your expertise in the form of an occasional phone conversation and/or email like the above. I don't mean to offend you. In truth you owe me nothing--other than (in my mind at least) to fulfill the implied and mutually defined task of being a board of advisers member---an adviser. When I first approached you and Bob I didn't really know what a Board was or how it might be defined. Now I feel I have a better understanding--bluelab will soon be getting 501C-3 status and begin asking for money from donors--then the "board of advisers" will be asked to change hats to become the "board of directors." When this happens, there will be bi-laws and structures and agreements and you will have voting rights and responsibilities.

that sounds like words. actions are different. Of course writing down words is an action. Some words you mentioned that sound like trees in the forest:
mutually defined taskboard of advisers"board of directors."change hatsbi-laws and structures and agreementsvoting rightsresponsibilitiesI know what tasks and responsibilities are. what sort of tasks and what responsibilities? Which part did I define? I guess you can use my name for now if you like but i still don't get what you want me to actually do. if it is write an email yes I can do that. I will keep you informed of my activities.I appreciate your interest in my work.

Mark

I appreciate your long and thoughtful email. Warmly, Jeff

Mark Bloch wrote:

jeff I am not sure what you want me to do

Be my friend and mentor--like you already are. be yourself--just keep doing what you feel inclined to and give me occaisional feedback on what you hear me saying--or what you see me doing. “The question is no longer how did we get here, and why? But, where can we possibly go, and how? We live in a society that has drastically narrowed our sensitivity to moral and spiritual issues; the problem we face is how to deal with a belief structure that has blocked both psychological and spiritual development.

"If there is a new agenda, a new vision now emerging within our society, how might one help put it into practice?” Suzi Gablik

I feel I addressed this above you seem to have the right idea but if you have to shame me into participating, WHAT GOOD IS THAT? i am busy trying to figure out what I need to do on this sick planet to help. if you have it figured out, do it, But i would urge you to embark on a path that does not require the participation of others in order to validate it. today I have been thinking about a name for an idea i have had for years which is OMNICASTING in other words, everyone has their own little broadcasting station and is busy transmitting to the rest of the world. this has been coming for a long time and now it is here. its a miracle. who knows what form it will take? but yes i agree with you that the world is ailing and we need to put out positive messages. put yours out. our job is to take actions. we are not in the results business. we take the actions, the results we cannot control.if you require something from me to complete your happiness, then you will remain unhappy because you cannot guarantee what I will do.techniques like shame are like rumsfeld torture. it is unethical and more importantly it doesn't work. well maybe it does... you got me to write back!I like this image I found on your site http://www.flickr.com/photos/64522811@N00/252090997/today i have been thinking about the followinglook them up on wikipedia if you need further elaboration about their definitions- i think wikipedia is wonderful, don't you.false consciousnesscommodity fetishismpropaganda modelflakmass mediacommunicationbioinformaticsinformation theoryinformation entropyentropydiffusionmeme are you hip to the "Turqoise Meme"crossing the chasmbass diffusion modeldiffusion of innovations-----> this is where I started. It is a clumsy word. I prefer PANMODERNISM. I am developing my theoriesi found this particularly enlighteninghttp://www.utdallas.edu/~mzjb/bass.ppt I am interested in using capitalistic principals to achieve my ends at the moment. Not because i think it is the best plan but because everybody else does. Until it is not here any more, we have to fit into the money world. that means putting butts into seats is the criteria for goodness. it is not always accurate but it is a good indication. on some level, you have to ATTRACT OTHERS or you are preaching to the choir or screaming into the void. forgive me if i sound harsh. i am busy trying to make a living- off my art and in other ways to try and support my art habit.I like what you are doing keep it up.tell me specifically what you want me to do and I will tell you if I can do it.

mark
From: Jeff Hogue Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:52:13 -0800 (PST)To: Mark Bloch Subject:

Re: How are you?
are platitudes to be equated with substantive support from you? is your time so valuable that you can't take more than 3.5 seconds to offer support, compassionate direction, meaningful and cogent and specific feedback?

...Mark Bloch wrote:
cowardice is the enemy!

From: Jeff Hogue Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 07:56:18 -0800 (PST)To: Mark Bloch Subject: How are you?
Mark, I just wrote Bob and I am writing you imploring you to interact meaningfully with me and to offer a bit of your time and enormous experience to bluelab and to me to try to get things moving. I have refrained from asking again--perhaps out of cowardice--but I am feeling more and more focused and believe (in spite of perhaps a lack of external evidence other than ongoing blog entries www.communalart.blogspot.com ) that I have become more deeply committed. I have made real sacrifices. This much I know. I value your talent and brains and history. I could use your help. If you don't want to be affiliated with me I will understand. I just can't keep your name and history on my blog as a member of the Board of Advisers (and eventually Directors) if you are uninterested. Hope you understand and will help.

Jeff

Dear J,

As a fellow lawyer, you are particularly sensitive to the power of words. Attached is a writing by Jim Guirard, an old friend who was Senator Long's AA when Kelso and I persuaded the Senator to become the champion of employee ownership 30 years ago. Jim makes a powerful case that America is losing the global "War of Words" against the forces of al Qaeda. Jim offers some Truth-in-Language suggestions to the State Department's public diplomacy program that would reverse that course. I strongly suggest that you bring Jim's practical insights to Secretary Rice and Under Secretary Karen Hughes for their consideration.As you know from our earlier exchange, my focus has been on the "War of Ideas" -- especially ideas and strategies that advance economic and social justice in America's development policies around the world (with a specific cost-free application that would unite every Iraqi man, woman and child as permanent and equal shareowners of a demonopolized national Iraq conglomerate covering all the nation's oil resources). (http://www.cesj.org/thirdway/paradigmpapers/iraq-nationbuilding.htm) Nevertheless, I agree with Jim that good ideas rest on clear and easily understood words. Jim's paper thus beautifully complements America's pressing need for better ideas for "winning the hearts and minds" of the growing number around the world who see America as their enemy.Please do whatever you can to pass Jim's outside-the-box paper up the line in the State Department. And please check on my earlier request for a meeting on our Iraqi oil proposal as part of an enhanced private sector jobs and development strategy now being developed within the Administration.

Best personal regards,

Norm

Gordon, Patrick and all,

I can understand and appreciate the ambivalence that you are expressing about building a virtual community. I feel it too! Still here is where it is happening. For that I am grateful.

I am reminded of what one of my mentors on community, the cultural anthropologist Victor Turner, had to say about how community, he said it tended to spring up in three general ways; in liminality, inferiority and marginality. I took him to mean that community rose up in the cracks of a culture, in the elements at the bottom, or at the periphery.

As Gordon points out, this bodiless form seems to be as peripheral as it can get. I am amazed and grateful that community is hearty and wild enough to even appear here. I, for one, intend to try even harder to honor what seems to be growing amongst us. I will listen intently and try, despite the limitations of the medium I imagine, to open my heart to all of you.

lucky/david

He who keeps no secrets has no depth in his heart.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

He who keeps no secret has no depth; his heart is like a vessel turned upside down.
from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/gayan_boulas.htm

The secret of all attainment is centered in reserve. Spiritual or material, when a person has told his plans to others, he has let out the energy that he should have kept as a reservoir of power for the accomplishment of his object. ... The teaching, 'Be wise as a serpent,' may be interpreted, 'Be quiet as a serpent.' It is quietude that gives wisdom and power. The thought held in mind speaks to the mind of another, but the thought spoken out most often only reaches the ears of a person. Every plan has a period of development; and if man has power over his impulse, by retaining the thought silently in mind, he allows the plan to develop and to take all necessary changes that it may take for its culmination. But when the impulse expresses the thought, it so to speak 'puts out the flame,' thus hindering the development of the plan. The wise speak with their mind many times before they speak about it to anybody.

~~~ "Githa I, Sadhana 7, The Path of Attainnment", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

I say, "Without the control over your lips you will not be able to develop inspiration." As a poet has said, "When the shell closes its lips, then the pearl develops in it." ... the more you are able to keep your secret in your heart, the greater you become. You have more weight, your personality becomes more reliable, more dependable. As it is said in Vadan that it is best to say something without saying.

~~~ "Sangatha II, Secrecy on the Path of Truth", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

The more one knows the secret of the world the more one feels inclined to keep it secret. And the more one keeps secret what one knows the more life unfolds its secrets to one. ... it must be remembered that the power of the body is nothing in comparison with the power of the mind. And the power of the one who keeps a secret is greater than the power of the giant who lifts a mountain. All that one holds is preserved, all that one lets go is dispersed.

http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_20.htm

Hazrat Samuel Lewis
The tongue brings all life to the surface and keeps life on the surface. When one is silent, particularly in Darood, the life force touches the deepest parts of one's being. When one has something to say and does not say it except to whisper it (so to speak) to God, that thing is endowed with life and blessing, and if it is a wish, verily will it be fulfilled. If it is a danger to another, verily another will be protected when one keeps the secret in silence, whispering only to God.

http://www.rosanna.com/saki/

~~~ He who keeps no secrets has no depth in his heart.