Dear Guru Maharaj,
Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!
It was a lot of work, but the "Anatomy of Self" art show turned out quite well for a trial run. Everyone was impressed with what we were able to accomplish in such a short span of time. We had a great lineup of emerging artists, the space was perfect, we sold a few pieces, and everyone seemed happy.
In the course of about one week while I was preparing for the event I made some of the biggest sales of my life when I sold a handful of artworks for just about $1000, but at the same time my van got towed in California so I had to spend my last dime to get it out of impound :(. Krishna giveth and Krishna taketh away, but I'm just grateful that I didn't lose my van and now I feel sure that I can actually make a living like this!
The lady who bought my art was a chef, so she helped us with some simple vegetarian preparations that we could offer and serve as prasad. There is so much potential for more elaborate events, but mainly I feel like this was a great learning experience for me and I'm full of ideas for what I want to try next time.
We made disclaimer forms, press releases, flyers, social media advertisements, we set up a silent auction... I even learned how to make my own business cards practically for free. I established valuable connections with tons of artists in Charleston over the course of the event and we had some great discussions on art and philosophy. I feel like I grew tremendously from the experience and was able to pique some interest in Krishna consciousness along the way.
If I do this again, some things I would try to improve are that I need to get better at advertising. Even though we had ads in most local publications and I put up tons of flyers and facebook ads, still we didn't have anywhere near the number of people I was expecting. Probably I should've tapped the local artists for contacts of local influencers and tried to get the former owner to invite people. If we had started sooner we would've been more likely to get a news feature and I think that would have significantly helped to bring more new people outside of our personal circle of friends and family.
HpS - ASA --- One thing in our respect in doing these things is that there is no force like reputation and personal recomendation. If you d the same event again, people will know you.
Also it would've been great to have some kind of performance, or guest lecture or something. Instead of having an opening, brunch, and closing reception over the course of a week I think next time I would just focus on one reception and make it more epic.
I'm happy also that I'm starting to accumulate a good body of work with the kind of content I've been going for. At this point I feel like I'm about 90% ready for a solo exhibition, so now I feel confident to start approaching LA galleries and museums to find gallery representation.
I think the next steps for me will be to start traveling to art fairs, start seeking gallery representation, and start signing up to do live art at music festivals over the summer. My hope is that if they let me on board I can get book distributors into events for free. After some time, if I can save up a little, I hope to return to New York for maybe a few months to take courses at the Art Student's League. It's one of the best art schools in the country but its inexpensive since it's more of a conservatory which does not offer degrees. I think spending even just a little time there will help me refine my message and penetrate into the art world.
HpS - Are you getting in touch with the big, big community of professional ISKCON artists? In Canada there were some who were very rich and successful.
DAKOTA PIPELINE
Have you heard much about the events surrounding the construction of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline in North Dakota? The story has really captured my heart lately and I'm actually considering going up there for some time to participate and gather some inspiration after taking a week or two to catch up on some sadhana. Basically a massive oil conglomerate deceptively attained permits to construct a huge pipeline through the sacred grounds of a large indian reservation in North Dakota without consent from the tribes. Concerned that the water supply for millions of people will be contaminated, 1000's of "water-protectors" from around the world have been gathering there for months in peaceful protest while the Oil company is bringing in militarized police and armed mercenaries to assault the protesters with mace, rubber bullets, LRAD cannons, concussion grenades, attack dogs, and freezing water. So far hundreds of people have been injured (some critically) and hundreds more have been arrested. Despite a media blackout for months, social media has carried the story to the point where it can no longer be ignored and now its drawing international outrage.
This protest strikes me as different from others because although externally the demonstrations are about protecting mother earth, I'm seeing that there is an internal message that goes much deeper which has resonated with people all over the world. Basically I see the environmental concerns as merely a point of friction between two opposing worldviews about the direction of human civilization. On the one hand, you have a culture that values a simple, God-centered life in harmony with nature; and on the other side you have a culture that values a self-centered life of conquest and sense- gratification which lies at the root of modern industrial kali yuga civilization. Central to the ethos of the demonstration is that no one can have any intoxication on site and nobody can strike out in anger. Everyone is practicing meditation and self-restraint. At a time when people are probably more divided than ever, people from around the world are gatheringfor the sake of dharma. This incident is drawing young and old, democrats and republicans, celebrities and veterans, buddhists and politicians. If it's ok with you I would like to go there for a while myself to represent the Hare Krishna movement and do whatever I can in terms of prasad, kirtan, and book distribution, and also artistic social commentary. I think I've mentioned to you before that for years I've thought it would be an extremely valuable alliance to establish interfaith connections with the native american community, so it seems like now this is the perfect opportunity to do so since this incident seems to already be turning the course of history in our favor.
HpS - We just heard about it from Bh. Daniel, who is staying with us for a few days. Yes, it seems that it falls within the category of Vikarmis vs. Pantheists (SB 2.1) with a ready nature to consider God. I would say that you should just confirm any participation with the GBC for the place and then keep a Krsna conscious perspective on whatever you do. SB 2.1 calls Pantheism the first step in God realization, but. . . It says that unless there is a service attitude toward the Virat-rupa, rather than using and integrated perspective for cooler exploitation of Mother Nature, then there won't be much result.
Attached are some photos of my friends Blake and Chap who helped and the art show and the pieces I showed. Basically the series I completed for this event illustrates the interactions of body, mind, and soul. The first three are about different kinds of folly which result when people work to serve the body, when people work to serve the mind, and when people think to serve the body. The examples I chose to illustrate each are a chain gang, virtual reality, and the trans-humanism movement. To complete the series I want to make one that shows what happens when one thinks just to satisfy the mind. I was thinking of depicting a daydreamer builiding "castles in the sky" with a superimposed image of time flowing out of an hourglass. Some other possibilities were images showing when someone misplaces their heart or their devotion to serve the body or the mind but I'm still thinking about that. The rest of the series basically illustrates karma, jnana, and bhakti (using body, mind, and soul in the real interest of the soul) with interfaith examples. The first image shows a native american offering a sage flower, the next one is inspired by the greek philosopher Diogenes studying near a barrel where he was said to live. Then the "bhakti" image depicts a gospel choir glorifying God. This was inspired by the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson who was instrumental in the civil rights movement, and it was also a tribute to the Emmanuel Church, who set a tremendous example of grace and forgiveness in the face of a racial shooting that occurred some years ago there in Charleston. The culmination of the whole series shows samadhi or total spiritual apsorption in the example of Radha-Krishna at Kusum Sarovara. I hope you like it!
What are your thoughts about all this?
HpS - ASA -- That it is very good and you seem to have good guidance, and we cannot give much more than a general perspective, and this point, and PLEASE keep us Bloggers in the loop like this. How can we contact you? Web-page??? And please see what we are doing with NIOS and Peru etc!
Your servant,
Ekashma Das
