IU-Art Fall 2003: Dairy Center

the sky is bright. the haze had subsided in the west. i can now see the mountains. it's a beautiful day.

i just woke up and the center of my head is pounding. yesterday was a blast. we spent the whole day at the Dairy Center workshopping our guts out. i tried contact improv--dancing with awareness. it was cool, i've learned some stuff but it's not my cup of tea.

after a short break, conversations about philosophy, politics, arts, personal life and babe-watching at Wholefoods, we're back again at the Dairy. artists--singers, musicians, dancers, standup actors, poets, and electronic djs--took turns in showing off their artifacts in front of a critical but compassionate audience. the sculptors, photographers, and painters exhibited their artifacts on the side.

in the afternoon, KW performed a one-man show. he entertained questions from young inquisitive artistic minds, as usual, with patience and compassionate humor. of course, i seized the opportunity and asked about my favorite topic--mind machines. he had good things to say about them and even recommended using them (over chemicals). but he said that traditional meditation exercises a "muscle" mind machines do not. i tend to agree with this, at the moment. i still believe that science will catch up and learn more about this "muscle", and in the future, mind machines will be as effective as traditional meditation--but in hyperspeed.

most of the artists got a chance to perform--except me. it was my fault. i didn't come forward. maybe i was not ready for my art to be criticized, even with compassion. but it's okay. i got to jam with cool musicians at the Highland house last night until my fingers bled. we played blues, rock, funk, slow rock--all improvised--while other artists painted on the side, played percussion, and talked about the nondual. i don't have that opportunity where i came from.

there was a lunar eclipse yesterday. i witnessed the moon disappear from the vast empty sky only to reappear again a few minutes later. my awareness is like the moon.

here are some of the pics for Day 2.