2016 Guests of Honor
The week is fixin’ to be something else. #understatment. We commence with Elsewhere and their taking us into the field to see the world around us, differently. Then Hope Ginsburg will bring us to our inner landscape, using the sound of breath, in an far-out way. Day three has Lindsay Mack showing us ways to access what’s found deep within, through inherent narrative and symbolism. Kellie Brooks will then create the bridge back to our external experiences, through the work of sacred relationships. And finally, the week culminates bearing witness to, and immersing in, the refreshing work/life design of Donald Judd.
We’ll go from out to-in, and back out, over 5 days, with these sublime luminaries, and my contextualizing it through daily prompts:
ELSEWHERE
What grabbed my attention, and wouldn’t let go, was a simple sentence on Jasen and Allison Bowes “about” page: Let us confuse and amuse you. Ga. And yes! Please do. And they have. When, I reached out to gauge their interest in being a Guest of Honor, like all good Inquierers, they said yes on the spot, knowing the details will figure themselves out. And we have. We are. As we’ve gone back and forth talking about their offering to our coterie, I’ve found myself literally at the edge of my seat and/or leaning forward. This is the affect of their infectious enthusiasm for life, love and art. Jasen and Allison are our resident Design Thinkers. They’ll be taking us into the field to explore the principles of Japanese Wabi-sabi and combine it with using Polaroid Land Cameras. We’re talking the 240 and 103 models, baby!
Learn more about Jasen and Allison, here.
Elsewhere’s workshop: While achieving perfection in design tends to be the modus operandi, Jasen and Allison’s offering will have us play the edges of what we commonly think is “design” and “designed.” We begin with a casual Japanese Tea Ceremony and have an open discussion about the history and pragmatic applications of Wabi-sabi. Elsewhere’s studio practice is all about being comfortable in discomfort and confident in our stride when things are not totally perfect—and we get to come along for the ride. Then, we get to play! Through the use of vintage Polaroid Land Cameras, we’ll have the opportunity to experientially understand new ways to break through boundaries of design. With camera-in-hand, we’ll walk around Marfa and find beauty in things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. We reconvene later in the day to review our images together. Jasen and Allison will have us appreciating accidents, believing planning isn’t always effective in design, and discover how to find “Pretty” in “Ugly.” Huzzah!
HOPE GINSBURG
How I met Hope is serendipitous and delicious. And, it’s a convoluted story. My friend posted a picture to Facebook about her visit with me in Richmond. Then her sister’s best friend commented about HER good friend in Richmond and did I know her, A meeting was in order, so meet we did. From go, Hope’s whole is-ness scratched the daring side in me. I have no doubt she will awaken something similar in you. Hope is an artist and educator, she’s voracious and peaceful. She’s fearless and utilizes a perfectly restrained degree of the absurd into her work. That, is what she’s bringing to us. To Inquiry. The beautiful, peaceful, voracious absurd.
Learn more about Hope, here.
Hope’s workshop: We’re going Land Diving! Breathing on Land is a new body of work that takes meditation with scuba gear as a starting point to refocus attention on our bodies, their contexts and implicitly the health of our atmosphere. The practice of breathing on land with scuba makes for a kind of assisted meditation. The mild, if not moderate discomfort of the equipment (its weight, warmth, constraints) keeps the wearer in mind of his or her physical presence. The intensification of each breath becomes a kind of involuntary meditation; one must “show up” for each exhalation when an entire apparatus is calling attention to it. And the experience of a group of people breathing in chorus creates an unusual and amplified soundscape. So chill. At the end of the day, we’ll not only feel a deeper connection with ourselves, but have earned our Land Breather certification. Nice.
LINDSAY MACK
Everything is better with a little woo. Can I get a “testify!”? I’m no stranger to the spiritual arts and devour each modality, agnosticly. When I was introduced to Lindsay’s work (on Instagram), I immediately new I wanted her to do a read for me. I reached out (via Instagram) and she got back to me pronto. We booked a session for the next day. NOT because she’s not busy, but because she says yes. NOT like a doormat, but like you do to silent prayers. She trusts her gut trulyamdlydeeply and moves though life accordingly. My bringing her to Marfa for us all could have been that unknown reason she said yes to an unprecedented next day appointment. Magic!
Learn more about Lindsay Mack, here.
Lindsay’s workshop: Tarot is definitely not a fortune-telling tool, and Lindsay is part of a generation of readers who are redefining that false notion. To read Tarot is to look into a sacred mirror of the soul. It is a road home to the Great Mother, the Great Mystery, and to alignment with all things. It is a bridge that links our earthly existence to our wild souls, an ancient and unwavering connection that is available to us at all times. Lindsay will be leading us in a beautiful and comprehensive workshop she calls “Sacred Tarot for the Wild Soul.” Together, we’ll dive deeply into the bones, heart and soul of the Tarot, and leave with the wisdom, foundation and knowledge to begin our own Soul Tarot practice. The information Lindsay will share in this workshop will radically shift your relationship to Tarot—and your wild soul.
The workshop will cover: What Soul Tarot is; The Major Arcana as macrocosm, the Minor Arcana as microcosm; How Tarot can help to heal the nervous system and rewire the brain; How to drop in with the Great Mother and with our guidance when we read for ourselves or others; Brain chemistry and how it relates to Tarot; Spreads, as well as how to pull intuitively in a deeply powerful way; Understanding tarot as a healing tool; And more! I’ve experienced Lindsay’s talent and she uses tarot in a feminine, intuitive way—really organically—you’re going to love her. OH! And no previous understanding of Tarot is necessary, but if you already have a connection to a particular deck of cards, bring them!
KELLIE BROOKSs
After an online, mutual admiration society of two, Kellie and I took it to real time over a long tea—as she drove through Richmond this past year. In a sea of opinions, updates and shared links… Kellie’s written perspective and radical honesty stood out to me. Her long posts lay bare her heart and mind—both insanely beautiful. But it’s in her responses to comments, (inflammatory and in support) that made me change my posture. Without ego, and full of curiosity, Kellie holds space for everything and everyone. No one leaves feeling shamed, or applauded. It’s a new middle space, that’s hard to explain. But it transcends the culture of approval. Which when you think about it, is radical. It makes total sense that Kellie’s life’s work is in client relationships, AKA: hospitality. When it comes to the taking care of clients: entrepreneurs, restaurant diners, healthcare patients—and you, Kellie’s a visionary. Truly. Being in communion is the key to her approach, which melds strategic thinking and self-contemplation as the life-blood of all our relationships.
Being in Kellie’s realm, virtual and real, never fails to support the creation of more space in my life and nimbleness in my thoughts. This is precisely why I invited her to join Inquiry Pop-up as a Guest.
Learn more about Kellie Brooks, here.
Kellie’s workshop: It’s a Hospitality Revolution! The root of the word hospitality shares its origins with the words hotel, hospital and hospice: all in their own way providing protection, offering refuge, giving shelter from the storm. In essence, it points to taking exquisite care of someone, and making sure no harm comes to them as they are moving from one circumstance or place to another.
The best part is steeping yourself—and your work—in hospitality is the honor felt by those who serve, and the blessing experienced by those in receipt. As modern entrepreneurs and creatives, rooted in the rising Divine Feminine, we are uniquely positioned to lead and shape our relationships in wholly magical and practical ways.
Through storytelling, embodiment exercises and dialogue, we’ll learn to integrate our words, our hearts, and our bodies to create a work/life where we show up as full impact contributors to our experience‚ and in the world. Seeing beyond what we think is possible and crafting a new story of the influence we each truly have, we can better molding the world we long for—and know is possible.
MARFA
Don’t forget the ever-present, Marfa.
Each day, Marfa will be there—to explore, kick-back in, and take advantage of. Your visit should include the major art immersion, Chinati Foundation, as well as the many smaller galleries peppered throughout the town. There is a disproportionate number of great places to eat and shop, considering where in the world you are. But the greatest gift is what this li’l town with one traffic light offers, just by default. Its grit and quirk. Its expanse and insularity. Its Mañana and carpe diem spirit. Some of the very reasons Donald Judd chose to settle here in the early 1970s, and created a dynamic legacy, that’s been built upon and expanded exponentially ever since. I can bet you’ll be planning your return at week’s end.
Judd Foundation tour: On our final day we will be given a private look into Donald Judd’s living and work spaces, peppered throughout the town. This guided walking tour gives us direct engagement with Donald Judd’s art and vision, and provides a first-hand experience of the concept for Chinati, his permanent installation in the Chihuahuan Desert. Judd’s residence—La Mansana de Chinati (“The Block”)—is site of some of the artist’s first large-scale architectural projects. The Block also gives us access to Judd’s three main studios, which are permanently installed with his early work. But for me, the highlight at the block is his personal library—which houses his collection of over 13,000 books. We’ll then be given access to a selection of Juddʼs downtown spaces, including the Architecture Studio, Art Studio and the Cobb and Whyte Houses. These spaces contain furniture by Donald Judd, as well as his early paintings from the 1960s. There is also an extensive collection of modernist and period furniture, as well as works by other prominent 20th century artists and designers. The take away of the tour is having been immersed in the world of someone who elegantly, boldly, blurred the line between life and work.
[Photo: Brooke Schwab]
