2017 Guests of Honor
The week is fixin’ to be something else. #understatment. And this Pop-up is a themed edition. Inhabit. As always, location will play a significant part in our experience, but this time, it will be intentionally filtered through an inquiry into the places we occupy: our body, our mind, our world. Marking the body will play a role, as will ambient movement, investigating avatars, and of course alchemizing the divine, arid landscape.
In a nutshell, we’ll go from out to-in, and back out, over 5 days, with sublime luminaries, and my contextualizing it through daily prompts. Details of the offerings are currently in development, and will reflect the vibe of our tribe. As they come to light I’ll update the below intros:
LIZ ROBB
What made Liz a top-of-the-list-no-brainer choice, wasn’t her bananas talent—but what led me to her. You see, an integral part of Inquiry Pop-up (planning and during) is allowing for serendipity. I had a strong sense that a cyanotype workshop was something that I wanted for us—utilizing the sun and creating a relationship with the land via the alchemy of this simple and beautiful chemical process… but finding an artist to lead us there wasn’t happening. Separately, and at the same time, I was researching residencies. One situated in Blönduós, Iceland piqued my interest. It wasn’t the right fit, but maybe if I looked at past residents I’d get ideas on where to look next on their sites… In a long list of names I was drawn to Liz’s. I think it was the double Bs. Well, click the link below and you’ll see why ‘dumb luck’ is neither dumb or luck. It’s actually divine intelligence.
Learn more about Liz, here.
Liz’s workshop
In her words: “I work sculpturally to capture a moment in time using active processes that become meditations, notably dyeing, weaving, wrapping, & painting. The repetition of these acts fosters a connection between the subconscious mind & the body, & these full body rhythmic movements allow my stream of consciousness to expand on certain conceptual ideas & develop more thoughtful conclusions.” For us, Liz has created a cyanotype workshop called “Moon to Sun.” The night before, we’ll prepare our fabric to be captured by the sun.
In the morning, we’ll gather materials as we are intentionally led around The Ranch. Following the sunlight, we’ll practice laying out compositions with found objects, creating a desert sun narrative. When we’re ready to expose our ideas, we’ll lay the objects in the dark and then bring them to the light!
Liz will set the tone for experimentation. She’ll encourage everyone to reach further and try things we’re uncertain of — all in service to reveal new truths.
SARAH GOTTESDIENER
Sarah Gottesdiener is a designer, art director, and artist living in Los Angeles. She prolific in her work and scope of knowing, and because of this also teaches art, design, visual literacy, tarot and ‘Moonbeaming’ at various spaces and institutions. You may know Sarah from her cult favorite (work)book Many Moons … Or through Modern Women, her intersectional feminist gear company. I know Sarah because of Many Moons. Then made the connection that she was my friend, Nicole Killian’s, collaborator. Pieces fell into place and I’ve been leaning into all that she creates and shares—with grace and aplomb.
There’s so much to discover about Sarah online, and you can start here.
Sarah’s workshop:To many religions, the Moon represents the Female aspect of Divinity, shining softly and brightly. To magicians and witches, the Moon reflects our wild self, that which is beyond gender and resonates on the most astral, most cosmic plane.
Understanding the phases of the moon is helpful to any modern mystic—as our closest celestial neighbor, ruler of the tides, she’s a gentle guide to our own intuitive cycles. As the moon circles round our planet, harnessing its energy is a potent tool when cultivating our dreams and goals.
We’ll discuss scientific facts about the moon, become familiar with the Moon’s main cycles, and discuss the symbolic importance of the moon in different cultures. We will explore spells, magickal ingredients, ritual suggestions, and activate the moon’s role in manifestation. Understanding how to utilize the rhythms of the moon, we can support releasing tired stories and replace them with fresh thought patterns that make room for your evolving self. This is an empowerment-focused workshop that aims to allow for the co-existence between ephemeral practice and living in the realities modern life. Nice!
Photo: Andria Lo
DANA BALICKI
How I found Dana is also delicious. It took a circuitous route, but once I got there, I knew I arrived. Beyond question she was for me and we and Inquiry. I was looking for someone who could ground us in our location. Someone that could create meaning in the infinite and granular. I also wanted that someone to possess a modicum of urbanity, if you will. A tall order. The journey began at my friend Kerrilynn’s website, CAP Beauty. She always highlights women who elegantly balance pragmatism and “woo.” Perfect. Her blog employs, how would you say, an intuitive navigation—and I’m game for that always. Like Liz above, I just scrolled, saw Dana’s feature and stopped. Before I finished the interview, it was a done deal. I wanted her to be a part of Inquiry Pop-up. And again, get this, what are the odds… I read on and she’s an NYC expat now living in Joshua Tree. #micdrop
See what I mean about Dana, here.
Dana’s workshop: Because her gifts embody r a n g e (you might call her a polymath), I’ve given her time and space to respond and create her offering. As soon as I know, you will too, here. And only brilliance can come from someone who identifies in this way: “I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I have crap-taco days like everyone else. And I’m committed to bringing you the very best of my critical thinking and feeling — even if in slightly goofy and bizarre packages. I curse. I quote Beyoncé. I deal in ritual. I ask really good questions. I make you dance. I tell you I love you. I get on your level. And we make magic.”
CHELSEA FULLERTON JONES
You know those people who just radiate coolness? Well, that’s Chelsea. An all around creative-force-to-be-reckoned-with, I thrived having her as part my studio, Viewers Like You, for 7 years. We were two peas in a pod until 2014, when she left the nest and created her own studio Go Forth Creative. Sniff sniff hug hug, it was a bittersweet farewell. And time would prove that underneath our uncommon boss/employee relationship contained a vital friendship. Still two peas! My affection for this woman never ceases to amaze me. She is goodness, and fun, and smart and soulful—and she has excellent taste. Chelsea serves as a beacon to me in many many ways, still. And that’s why I invited her to join me, us, to document this year’s Inquiry.
See the magic Chelsea creates, here.
Chelsea will be a radiant presence all week, elegantly weaving her social ease and delight upon us—while snapping and filming away. She will be our resident documentarian and social mediator. In her images you’ll see yourself as you truly are, full-of life. No doubt, with her ninja-like ways capturing genuine moments, your easeful, joyous selves will be revealed.
Photo: Brooke Schwab
DESERT CURIOSITIES
An essential element to making meaning, and making our experiences meaning-full, is to know where we stand. The history, energy, people, culture… latitude longitude elevation weather. Together, we’ll explore two curiosities in the Joshua Tree area.
They say to spend even an hour at the Integratron is to find your mind opening to esoteric possibilities—to feel your doubts melting away beneath the desert sun, skepticism bending toward curiosity. It is said, the sacred location of The Integratron and its architecture is integral to its potency. It is, aesthetically speaking, extraterrestrial: a transportative encounter with music, an experience of pure sound not quite of this earth. Ninety percent of what goes on at The Integratron is beyond the visible eye perspective. And we’ll be right up in that action.
Read more here and here.
Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum
The artist Noah Purifoy was a leader in the Los Angeles assemblage movement and the founding director of the Watts Towers Arts Center; his outdoor art museum is another desert oddity. Created in 1989, it’s been supported since his death by the efforts of Ed Ruscha and other art-world luminaries. Visitors can roam freely through the 10-acre landscape to view works incorporating materials such as bowling balls, charred wood and old car parts. However, we will have a private tour with a “docent” contextualizing the work and person who created it. The space is well known as a meeting ground for communication, connection, relaxation, celebration and stimulation among individuals and the greater society at large.
Learn more here.
After the tours, I’d be delighted to create a custom itinerary for the rest of your day. Or just take the siesta and integrate.
PALLAVI SEN
I was a fan girl. And how I got all up in Pallavi Sen’s Instagram business is unclear, but probably has to do with VCU where she was a graduate student and I teach. Pallavi is an interdisciplinary artist working with installation, printmaking, textiles, and… Instagram. I fell hard for how prolific and brave she was in her posts. How raw and curious and luminous. And then there was her deeply complex Art (with a capital A). So ga-ga for her, I volunteered to help cut paper flowers for her thesis show and while she was super busy, the quiet manual labor allowed me to crawl a wee bit into that beautiful brain of hers. I wanted to be in her world more and invited her to Luminate us at Inquiry. She said yes.
Begin your fan-girldom, here, now.
Pallavi’s workshop:
Oh em gee, we’re having an Art Intervention! By its very nature, art interventions carry an implication of subversion, and Pallavi Sen will be taking us on an investigative journey, and incorporating us into her practice. We’ll be players in a site specific piece of work, entering a situation outside the art world in an attempt to change the existing conditions there. The final form of this intervention will be gently mapped out over the next few months, and activated by the makeup of our coterie. Initial ideas are about embodying our stories. Literally. Like eating them. Whoa. Participation will attempt to bring awareness to conditions (inside and out) we previously had no knowledge of.
