Cymatics, Shamanics, Harmonics

If the physical universe is a precipitate of a subtler, yet-more-real universe, can we see the nature of that subtle universe through our art and our science?  How do different media tap the same patterns and probabilities - the "morphogenic reasonances" - that suffuse our world?  Please join Poetry Science Talks - East NEXT Saturday, December 13th (6-10PM), for an evening with artist, adventurer, and philosopher, Mark Wilson.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.  It is the fundamental emotion that stands between true art and true science" 
-- Albert Einstein. 
 

Cymatics is the study of wave phenomena.  When audible sound excites matter, an unusual array of natural patterns occur.  This phenomena harks back to earlier philosophies of mathematical order and the relationship of sound, musical tones, numbers, and words.  

Through his ongoing investigations into ayahuasca and Peruvian shamanism, Mark Wilson has foregone his traditional methods of painting - with brushes and oil paint - to adopt an unorthodox method that uses pendulums.  The pendulum, which reflects the earth's rotation around the sun, has long been used as a device for divining water and minerals (being sensitive to electromagnetic fluctuations).  These simple yet curious tracings take us deeper into our consciousness, like the tantric art of the ancient Hindus, these mandala-like forms offer the potential for self healing through meditation. 

We will peer into these mysteries through the visual and the audible (with friend and associate Steve Eaton).

PRODUCER:  Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson studied at the Sydney College of the Arts.  He is a world traveler, shaman's apprentice, and psychonaut, as well as a long-time practitioner of yoga and a world music aficionado.

Steve Eaton studied music and composition at Princeton University and recently returned from India where he received first-hand experience in ancient vocalizing techniques.

"The End of America (USA, 2008; 71 minutes)"

Now that Barack Obama has become President Elect, what can we hope for?  The Bush/Cheney administration set into motion a process of closing down our society that will be difficult for our new president to reverse.  Yet, the success of this brave new administration will be determined by the actions of each of us.  Please join Poetry Science Talks - East NEXT SATURDAY, November 15th, 7PM, for a national "horror story" - unfortunately non-fiction - in a documentary based on The New York Times best seller, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf.  (This special PST-E will be comprised of a documentary DVD screening followed by our usual open discussion - none of the authors or producers will be presenting or attending.)

In The End of America, best-selling author Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth) offers a stunning indictment of the sweeping policy changes enacted during the Bush/Cheney regime, making a chilling case that American democracy is under grave threat.  Wolf uncovers ten dangerous and deeply unsettling parallels between our current situation and the rise of dictators and fascism in other once-free societies (most-notably pointing to Germany - NOT during World War II, but in 1932, when the Nazis came to power legally and then proceeded to systematically shut down their society).  According to Wolf, all closing societies...

1) Invoke an external and internal threat
2) Establish secret prisons
3) Develop a paramilitary force
4) Surveil ordinary citizens
5) Infiltrate citizens' groups
6) Arbitrarily detain and release citizens
7) Target key individuals
8) Restrict the press
9) Cast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason
10) Subvert the rule of law

Closing with galvanizing call to arms, Wolf urges regular citizens to take back our legacy of freedom and justice.  This may turn out to have been our most important challenge as citizens in the Obama era.

End of America official trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrhFc2kIsP4

AUTHOR:  Naomi Wolf

Naomi Wolf is the author of eight books, including the New York Times' bestselling The End of America. She is the cofounder and president of the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership and cofounder of the American Freedom Campaign, an American movement for democracy and the rule of law.

http://naomiwolf.org/

THE FILM TEAM:

Annie Sundberg, Co-Director
Annie Sundberg is a director, producer, and writer of film and television. She recently co-directed and co-produced The Devil Came on Horseback with partner Ricki Stern, a production of Break Thru Films (Sundance 2007, Gotham Award nominee), theatrically released by International Film Circuit and airing on National Geographic (February 2008). The film has won seven festival awards and counting, including Best International Film at Brit Docs. Annie and Ricki Stern have been recognized with the Best Female Filmmakers Award at the San Diego Film Festival, the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award at the Nantucket Film Festival, and the Lena Sharpe/Women in Cinema Persistence of Vision Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Ricki Stern, Co-Director
Ricki Stern is a director, producer, and writer whose films have shown on HBO and PBS. She is the co-director with Annie Sundberg and a producer of The Devil Came on Horseback, a production of Break Thru Films (Sundance 2007, Gotham Award nominee), theatrically released by International Film Circuit and airing on National Geographic (February 2008). The film has won seven festival awards and counting, including Best International Film at Brit Docs. Ricki and Annie have been recognized with the Best Female Filmmakers Award at the San Diego Film Festival, the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award at the Nantucket Film Festival, and the Lena Sharpe/Women in Cinema Persistence of Vision Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

PRODUCERS
Avram Ludwig
Michelle Ngo
Laura Dawn
Michael Mailer
John Buffalo Mailer

INDIEPIX FILMS, DISTRIBUTORS
www.indiepixfilms.com

"Democracy: Are Human Beings Actually Capable of Governing Themselves?"

"The current presidential election in the United states has far-reaching implications for this country and our planet.  In Carlton Shade's recent presentation for PST-E, "Collapse: The Mind and Matter of the 21st Century Dieback," he showed us how we are over-taxing our planet to the point of a dieback.   It is my belief that if Barack Obama does not become the President of the United States, our democracy will die back and the "coming collapse" of which Carlton spoke will be dramatically hastened.  In this evening of ideas and discussion, we will explore the concept of democracy and whether the self-regulation democracy requires of each human being can prevail over the inherent human qualities of corruption, greed, and hubris."

PRODUCER:  Susan Moyer

"Susan Moyer grew up in Washington D.C. in a highly political environment both at home and at school.  She has an unusual perspective on government and politics for while her family religious background is Quaker, her father was the CIA Director of Intelligence for the West Coast, Pacific and Southeast Asia, stationed in Vietnam before serving under six presidents.  After attending NYU and spending seven years in New York City, Susan moved to the East End to re-invent herself.  She is now a landscape designer by trade.  She is active in her local government and has been working on the Obama campaign in earnest for the past eight months.  Susan is also a mother of two boys, who cares passionately about the future of our country, the world, and her children - all of which have never been more interconnected." 

Collapse: The Mind and Matter of the 21st Century Dieback

"Collapse” refers to four separate and interrelated phenomena: (1) a human population crash, and a collapse of, (2) various societies, (3) our global Civilization and (4) the biosphere that serves as our life-support system – these four possible events being successively less probable this century.  The 'Matter' in the title – the science, or evidence for our collapse - comes from the various trends (of land, water, oil, global warming, etc.) that together reflect an undoing of the fine weave of diverse life in the material fabric of our being.  In the coming decades, these trends will overwhelm our ability to feed ourselves.  

This discussion is intended less to frighten than, as Thomas Berry put it, 'to fix our minds on the magnitude of the task before us.'  The 'Mind' in the title refers to the level of our awareness, consciousness, maturity - individually and collectively - that has brought us to this threshold moment and will likely determine our future path."

PRODUCER:  Carleton Schade

Carleton Schade trained as a geologist and has worked for years as an educator.  The four pillars of his life are (1) family and friends, (2) meditation and yoga, (3) right livelihood, and (4) research and writing.  Some years ago, his eclectic interests were serendipitously fused – in a calling, of sorts – to a project entitled Dieback: The Science and Soul of the Coming Collapse.  This production at Poetry Science Talks will be an overview of the Dieback project - focusing on: 

• The evolution of humanity’s predicament, 
• The evidence for the likelihood of a population crash in the coming decades, 
• The arguments against the (material) solutions proposed by analysts, and
• A discussion of the transformations necessary for humanity to live sustainably with the rest of life." 

PRESENTATION: Land Use in America, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Car

"This Talk will focus on the development of the post-WW II United States - the suburbanization of the country through the introduction of key governmental initiatives, and the social myth making that was derived for and from it.  My interest is in the myths that were created during this time and which now govern our lives more then we acknowledge.  In a country as anti-intellectual as this, the 'myth' or 'story line' effects our decision-making process at all levels.  I will endeavor to expose and dissect 'The Story,' enabling a new reality to arise.

• The GI Bill and the demobilization of the female work force.
• The US Highway Act and the supremacy of GM.  
• The love affair with the car and the creation of the throwaway economy.
• The urban fight of the white middle class and the growth of the suburbs.
• The new suburban value system. Green grass. Uniformity. More is more.
• The supremacy of materialism as a consequence of keeping up with the neighbors.
• The development of industry geared to the new home owner.
• The consequences of the 20th Century US economic growth come home to roost in the 21st Century.
• Shortages on a large scale: capital, energy, water, food (not in any specific order)."

PRODUCER:  Làszlo Kiss

Làszlo Kiss was born in Nagyvàrad (Oradea) Rumania.  His father, an architect, was the son of a mathematician and Làszlo's interest in art and the built environment - and the family legacy of architectural expression - led him to Cornell to study architecture.  There he met Simon Ungers (son of world-famous architect, O.M. Ungers), with whom he established a partnership that lasted over fifteen years.

The common thread that unifies Làszlo's work is his interest in sustainable design and the great attention he pays to how architecture and buildings fit into the larger intellectual continuum.  Throughout his career, Làszlo has been simultaneously involved in both the production of architecture and teaching at institutions such as Columbia, Parsons and Ohio State.

Làszlo is a partner in the firm of Kiss+Zwigard architects and the founder of the modern modular net-zero energy company ASAP•house Inc. He may be reached at asaphouse@mac.com.

Change

"The title of this talk itself has gone through several changes in recent months in our 'Back and Coming Talks' listing.  It started as 'Maturity, In Theory.'  Then it was 'How I Completed My Childhood at Burning Man.'  More recently, it became 'Catharsis, Transcendence, and Change.'  This talk will be all those, but I've settled on the broader 'Change' for the title, as I plan to explore the underlying concept of change - in physics and philosophy - in addition to personality change and personal development."

 

PRODUCER:  Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D.

I'm a psychologist specializing in psychospiritual development.  I treat 'neurosis' as the natural unfolding of human maturation, the trigger and the key to completing one's childhood.  My psychotherapy influences include yoga psychology, Psychosynthesis, Imago Relationship Therapy, regressive psychotherapy, Rogerian client-centered counseling, and other humanistic, transpersonal, and Eastern traditions.  In recent years, I've had the honor to assist a number of clients facing psychedelic emergencies - crises of spiritual emergence - helping to integrate the benefit of these difficult growth opportunities.

A Conversation on conversations: Introducing Poetry Science Talks-East

On Sunday, June 8th from 5-9PM, brothers-in-law Carleton Schade and Neal Goldsmith will produce the first Poetry Science Talks - East (PST-E) presentation, talking about the history and nature of conversation, salons, and communications. We'll also talk about the nature of the PST experience since 2001; and we'll all talk about the future of PST-E, and where we wish it to go. 

Salons have a rich and complex history and a special place in the development of ideas.  Fostering conversation outside of the 17th- and 18th-century French court was considered, in its day, extremely risky, adventurous, even dangerous.

The salon has always been a place for special types of conversations.  When several of us from PST visited the 2005 exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York City: "The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and their Salons," we were reminded of the depth of the salon lineage.

Salons have variously been:

• Labs for social, intellectual and artistic innovation;
• On the margins of society: 'bohemian and elegant, rather than correct and boring;'
• Known for progressive interests, 'feminine' values, and playful, allusive conversation;
• Grand in style and hospitality;
• Associated with publication, fictional characterizations, and publicity;
• Supportive to new artists and the emergence of modernism.

The Poetry Science Talks in Manhattan, over the years, has shown many of these characteristics and (we hope) will grow in unexpected ways over time.  We look forward to discussing these topics with you, to thinking and talking about what we want PST-E to be -- and to having a conversation on conversations.

THIS MONTH'S PRODUCERS: Neal Goldsmith and Carleton Schade

Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D.

I'm a psychologist specializing in psychospiritual development.  I treat 'neurosis' as the natural unfolding of human maturation, the trigger and the key to completing one's childhood.  My psychotherapy influences include yoga psychology, Psychosynthesis, Imago Relationship Therapy, regressive psychotherapy, Rogerian client-centered counseling, and other humanistic, transpersonal, and Eastern traditions.  In recent years, I've had the honor to assist a number of clients facing psychedelic emergencies - crises of spiritual emergence - helping to integrate the benefit of these difficult growth opportunities. 

Carleton Schade

I was trained as a geologist and have worked for years as an educator.  I found passion in traveling, politics and writing fiction, comfort and love as a householder and peace through meditation and yoga.  I am now involved in a futurist project entitled Dieback: The Science and Soul of the Coming Collapse.  Through experience and research, I am finding that we develop (mature) along numerous lines—the physical, intellectual, psychological, spiritual, ecological, social, etc.  We mature as individuals and collectively as a society.  In the West, for example, we have grown intellectually through the millennia, yet have remained spiritual adolescents and ecological infants. If the Ecological Crisis proves to be the gateway for our transformation, let us all mature so that we can serve as midwives in this momentous event.