Article on 'Shamanic' VJ...

[MrJustin]

Link Here (http://www.fivefoundfreedom.com/justin/shamanvj.jpg)

The cutting is taken from revolve magazine http://www.revolvemagazine.co.uk

Each time you chuckle when reading this article, a kitten will die. ;)

@Mods... If posting this contravenes forum rules can you zap it and let me know if i can transcribe it instead?

[cat]

OOhh those poor kittens.....

[vjvishnu]

I love this guy.

He's fu*King great.

This is a direction I lean heavily into myself.

Alright the images of him chilling in a waterfall are a bit cheesy but C'mon this is exactly what VJing needs. Unless we're all just going to end up being no more that either visual technicians or flashy frivolrous entertainers.

People dancing...

Repetitive beats....

Psychedelic/euphoric drugs...

Visions....

What the f else are we trying to do here except induce some kind of prehistoric trance-like state of extacy, just like the shamans of old. One day (if the corpocrocy doesn't blow us up first (~or hardwire us into 24 hour shit pop chart music)) all VJ's will be shamans (to some extent) and maybe vica versa.

I want to start mixing proper magickal rituals into my performances.

...i'll take your brain to another dimention...

Is the guy on the boards?

Is anyone else interested in the cross section between video projections and astral projections (i.e. MaGiCk).

LV

Vishnu.

[vjpixylight]

Is the guy on the boards?



he is, but rarely posts. I have known Torsten since 2002 when we both were to do the emotional summer trance tour. I believe he is now located in Sweden.

As for Shaman VJ, well I definately see certain A/V doing this. Check out Reality Engine (http://realityengine.org/ok.html)
His set at Sacred Earth was very shamanic..
Also in the genre is Shaman Films (http://www.shamanfilms.net/).

[vjvishnu]

That reality engine interface is a real beaut. Very inspiring. I'm just starting to learn flash and those interactive graphics are exactly the type of content i want to produce.

Also their whole ethos is very similar to the sort of kind I want to bring to my site.

Beautiful. Interactive frog. :)

[MrJustin]

Alright the images of him chilling in a waterfall are a bit cheesy but C'mon this is exactly what VJing needs. Unless we're all just going to end up being no more that either visual technicians or flashy frivolrous entertainers.


But how much 'universal truth' is he actually communicating with his V4's kaleidescope effect?

Dont get me wrong, i admire the sentiment but i wholeheartedly disapprove of so much significance being placed in meaningless, overused computer generated patterns. If that's Vjing, and/or the stuff we're still showing to people on 'cid, then we dont seem to have come a long way since the 60s.

Anything can inspire a revelation or euphoria while on a trip, ANYTHING. I've as good as touched the face of god while staring at nothing but my shoelaces. Let's please keep the visuals interesting. even if i was tripping i'd be bored out of my mind staring at an animated kaleidescope pattern all night.

@Pixy; are the stills in the clipping a fair example of his work?

[vjpixylight]

Justin- Omanada has more than swirlies and kaliedescopes, but he certainly uses a fair amount of them. He has used symbols(symbology) and has works with Spook(Geomagnetic TV) so he has a fair amout of psychedelic 3D.

Torsten came into the VJ scene a bit later than many, as he gained his notariety from the Psy-Documentary "Liquid Crystal Vision" well befor he was actually VJing live. He does have alot of connections with the PsyTrance scene tho, and is a regular contributer to Mushroom Mag(based out of Germany).

[vjvishnu]

Dont get me wrong, i admire the sentiment but i wholeheartedly disapprove of so much significance being placed in meaningless, overused computer generated patterns.

Hmmn, just on a technical level he doesn't just use CPU generated patterns he also uses "analog systems" and "Bio-feedback".

Bit pedantic of me maybe but I also use alot of analog meets digital stuff and it can get pretty "cosmic" (i.e. deep and meaningful) at times.:inf:

[karl]

But how much 'universal truth' is he actually communicating with his V4's kaleidescope effect?

Dont get me wrong, i admire the sentiment but i wholeheartedly disapprove of so much significance being placed in meaningless, overused computer generated patterns. If that's Vjing, and/or the stuff we're still showing to people on 'cid, then we dont seem to have come a long way since the 60s.


Bob Marley was mentioned earlier, he didn't actually invent reagge, hell he was in fact pretty mainstream reagge, with a social consciousness, and with a peace and love message and easy to digest 'pop' sound even in Kingstown(?).

Technically Bob Dylan was just a dude from up north that had a strange voice and a cheap guitar...

I don't think we have come a long way since the 60s, rather the other way around...

My point is that a far-out-fishing dude with a v4 could be the next hendrix, or dylan or barret...

k

[karl]

... i don't really think vj shamanic is barret, but its pretty close...

[magiclantern]

does the v4 have a kaleidoscope preset???

i think i must have missed it

[asterix]

I think visuals CAN be quite powerful in conveying and inducing a spiritual idea or sentiment. I see alot of vjs asking for 'spiritual geometry' visuals and when I query them - they're really just after kscopes and fractals - not really spiritual (but then again they can be).

At the moment Im working on a 'chillout' psycadellic set which Im creating specifically to induce or convey actuall spiritual philosophies. I'll elaborate:

Visual representations of spiritual philosophy originates from the very first artworks of man. The aboriginal paintings of the Australian outback and the dream time.

The first cave paintings with the buffallo and horses on them - I saw a doco explaining how the painters would live deep within the cave for several days or weeks - the vibrations in the cave stimulated deep psycadellic episodes and the result was represented on the walls (what they actually saw).
Or how about the labirynth, a symbol which appears in most major and minor cultures around the world some thousands of years ago and right up to the 1500's in british monastary's and churches.
And then there are symbologies used in reiki (which I practice) that have very powerful uses in the holistic healing arts.So Im focussing on many of those elements, including the chakras, celtic geometry and all sorts.
But there is another way we can induce psycadellic states using visuals. Take psycadellic trance music - the rythms oscilate at 12 cycles per second - the same frequency as our brain patterns in thier alpha state (the creative, highly meditative states). Plus the bpm sits at around 150 which mimicks your heart rate when your going on a run! By combining with a visual representation - can we actually increase the effect on the viewer? My experience is yes, and it increases at least three fold if used correctly.

Take for example those meditative goggles you can buy in psuedo scientific magazines that were so popular back in the 90's. Its basically music and light rythms that stimulate a deep meditate state.

I'd like to combine all these theorums into a chillout set. So hard to find good chillout dj's though!

[asterix]

So what does that mean? Does that make me a shaman?
Well I guess a shaman is simply a guide. And vishnu is right - we're creating a trance like state of extacy. Trance by definition of the word is:

A hypnotic, cataleptic, or ecstatic state.
Detachment from one's physical surroundings, as in contemplation or daydreaming.
A semiconscious state, as between sleeping and waking; a daze.Often when reach those higher levels and detatchments we have profound spiritual experiences - which doesn't have to translate into some revelation about god or the universe. The spiritual world I guess is far more diverse than that.
Any way thats my 3c.

[deepvisual]

does the v4 have a kaleidoscope preset???

i think i must have missed it


Mirror HV1

[magiclantern]

Mirror HV1

cheers...i very rarely use the presets...i'll find use with that one though!!!

(sparingly of course!!!)

[MrJustin]

Omanada has more than swirlies and kaliedescopes, but he certainly uses a fair amount of them. He has used symbols(symbology) and has works with Spook(Geomagnetic TV) so he has a fair amout of psychedelic 3D.

Torsten came into the VJ scene a bit later than many, as he gained his notariety from the Psy-Documentary "Liquid Crystal Vision" well befor he was actually VJing live. He does have alot of connections with the PsyTrance scene tho, and is a regular contributer to Mushroom Mag(based out of Germany).

Well in which case i respectufully back down, i guess its just a difference in methods/styles. i DO believe in the 'spiritual' power of visuals to a measured extent, i just try to evoke the feeling rather than anything else.

Asterix - thats really interesting about the connections between the patterns of the music mirroring those of our brains - i'll be looking into that, thanks.

Vishnu- do you mind me asking what exactly you mean by analog systems and bio feedback, im curious?

Cheers

[deepvisual]

Neuropsychologists were for a long time baffled by the simultaneous appearance of 'iconic' psychedelic imagery in people from different cultures. people from all over the world would regularly see similar mandalas, spirals, vortexes etc when they tripped.

There was an article in new scientist about 5 years ago that said that new research had indicated that these patterns were hardwired into the brain and were part of the psychic architecture. That the brain was actually seeing these things because of the way it is constructed and how neurons are organised in patterns.

I can't remember it all, maybe someone else can, but for sure there is a reason behind the occurence of these Psychedelic visual cliches....

[vjvishnu]

Vishnu- do you mind me asking what exactly you mean by analog systems and bio feedback, im curious?


Well I can't speak for Omanada, but my understanding of 'analog systems' (which i use) includes things like video feedback (which is, for one example, where you plug a video mixers output into its input) and 'bio feedback' (which i am still dreaming of using) includes using certain sensors placed on the body to mesure things like heart rate, breathing rate, temprature etc, which are then mapped into midi and used to controll VJ apps for instance. It is very Marshal Mchluan (spelling?) type goodness of extending the nervous system beyond the body. I think Mondo does this kind of thing sometimes.

I attended a lecture once of a girl who used bio-feedback to make the bodily states of a group of people in a room - make music/sounds. She said that at first the people were a bit freaked out because everytime they lied, or heard something personal said, the music would go hyper - so this made it a very intimate and personal experience. After they got used to it she said that they started to zone out like they were deep in meditation listening to their hearts beating, their lungs breathing and other bodily states.

Imagine VJing with your heart beat and breath...

When is Omanada going to join the party and post his thoughts?

[VJ Atreyu]

I think the vj is the one media medium where video can be used to expand peoples consciousness.

You can pump the viewer full of inspiring, insightful visions.

You can also fuck people up with hardcore evil imagery (if thats what you want).

I love video because of its power to convey multiple meanings in a short space of time.

The holographic mind can find meaning in anything, every moment as all is one. Ie Fractals and Kaleidoscope effects can convey meaning- especially to those who havn't been subjected to it b4. Its just as a vj that it gets boring oi reckon.

Inspiration to be more and to see beyond the illusion created by the mainstream media is what its all aout for me.

P.S Does anyone know when the new Geomagnetic .TV dvd's are comin out- they are months late atm. I'm really lookin forward to them.:inf:

[zambari]

caleidoscopic images have one distinct attribute - they generate, through symmetry, a very defined centre of the screen. they actually reduce amount of information on the screen (as most of it is repeatet), but one thing that is new, when a kaleidoscope (or even HVM1) is added, that is - it's easy to avoid eye movement.

when figurative imaginery is shown, your eyes will automaticly move arount the screen, to pick and analyse shapes, and 'subject' of the pictrue.
when imaginery is abstract, and centre oriented (like geometry or even fractal zoom-ins), your eyes keep still on the centre of the screen, and your brain stops searching for known shapes.
this is the moment, that another possibility is born - to reproduce feelings about sound, without using real-world concepts.

Of course many times beeing related to reality (storytelling?) is good, but on some types of parties, trance parties beeing the best example, people don't want to see cars, commercials, etc on the screen. they want something that doesnt interrupt the flight, doesn't bring them back from where they have gone a long way, doesn't cancel some subtle changes in counsciousness that people seek.

so, here we are, HVMirror ON for the night, no more recognisable picture all the night (no that I'm doing so, just an example ; ), is it now without sense to do visuals at all? could be looped shoelaces (COLORISE ON : ) ?
anserw is no.
there is a diffrence between a fast moving caleidoscope, and a slow moving one.
there is a diffrence between a blue one and a red one.
and first of all, there is a diffrence, where there's synchronisation.
And I don't mean beat by beat flashes (however they are sometimes good too), but changing something in visuals in the exact moment when something changes in music.
Like changing a blue slow caleidoscope into a red fast one (from our example) on the exact moment that the beat starts after a break. that kind of things can trigger something in your brain. something that makes you feel that something changed right there, not only a record played by dj has come to a certain point, but mood of the space changes, there's slighty diffrent vibration, and even if one didn't notice what exactly changed, they have to feel something did.

and of course, it makes all the watching know, that you're not asleep at the mixer, and that's not a dvd playing, but a VJ



PS. http://zambari.info/tym/vj_demo_menus.avi
small preview of a 'demo' of our (zambari+divia) trance visuals

[Amukidi]

Anybody know of a good use for 5 1/2 tonnes of dead kittens?
:lol: :lol:

when figurative imaginery is shown, your eyes will automaticly move arount the screen, to pick and analyse shapes, and 'subject' of the pictrue.
when imaginery is abstract, and centre oriented (like geometry or even fractal zoom-ins), your eyes keep still on the centre of the screen, and your brain stops searching for known shapes.

And can you show us the research data / source of this spurious statement please?

[zambari]

no, I'm afraid no sciencific research was involved (as I suspect for many other popular psycho- and sociological sentences), so you may consider it my hypothesis, based on observation and experience.

which part of it do you call spurious ?

eye-movement (it's easy prepare an experiment to verify it), or searching for shapes ?

as for the shapes I would resentence myself:
with abstract imaginary brain doesn't lock on to known forms, it seeks them but many forms and most of meanings it can eventually observe, are products of the brain itself.

I've looked you up, seen your videos on myspace, they are abstract (and beautiful), so I erased the rest of my reply, as I see you know what you are taking about.

I take your post as a voice against simple symmetry beeing a shortcut to beeing abstract, and I agree.

My post was for abstract, and against fabular (like cut movies?), not for symmetrical.

[zambari]

but I might be over interpreting - i didn't get the kitten part

[Amukidi]

The kitten bit was with reference to the first post - and I quote: "Each time you chuckle when reading this article, a kitten will die. "

I take your post as a voice against simple symmetry beeing a shortcut to being abstract, and I agree.
How lucidly put, and pretty much on the nail! Composition was one of my specialist subjects,whilst an art school lecturer, so am often a little hasty jumping in on discussions such as this! To be honest, I think that symetry is worth avoiding in nearly all cases! We all know that it has a kind of hypnotic effect, and will, naturally draw the eye to the centre - I want peoples eyes to wander all over the area of my work, and to see the contrasts and balances going on within. Every now and then I hit the "Mirror" button on my V4, and usually can't wait to switch it off, however twee the effect might be, I seriously don't think folks would stare at this stuff for hours if they weren't off their gourds on shrooms or 'cid, which, in my book, devalues it considerably. One reason why i watch an awful lot of demos at 8.30 in the morning - you see the whole truth this way, and often as not, if it looks good then, it'll look a treat when trollied...;)

[asterix]

Yeah but HV mirror doesn't cover the world of symetry. Its only a fragment of what can be achieved

[VJFranzK]

Great, a discussion with a flame war AND actual visual theory! ;-)

That's an interesting point, about kaleidoscopes keeping the eye drawn inward. There's definitely truth in that. But it's not always a bad thing.
(It wouldn't be a cliche if it hadn't been good to begin with.)

I'd think it best to combine symetric and asymetric images in the same set,
to add variety and visual interest.

the "hard wired" nature of shape perception? that's well accepted psychology.
also, there's the theory that "beauty", as of a person's face,
is largely dependent on a biological desire for visual symetry.
(and that a symetrical face denotes health, and stability.)

yet at the same time, notice that an object and it's horizontal mirror twin
look "different", in a way that's hard to define?
it must be due to the diferent function of our lateralized brain hemispheres

faces made from absolute symetry (such as "obey giant") can look... creepy.
perhaps because no natural face is absolutely symetrical?


symetry is good, when not overused.
but a VJ set based on HV mirroring and nothing else looks amateurish!

best not to be a "one trick pony" in any field, really.

[spaceraimo]

Great article, thank you very much!

[6071842]

Thanks for digging that up!

[vjvishnu]

We still don't know if he's a real shaman, or more importantly, wether he takes large quantites of powerful psychelic drugs while manning a large desk of expensive equipment in a tent full of mashed up munters, with his carftwork beaming up across huge screens in the space and everyone looking at him. :lol: :lol2:

Seriously though, i met a real shaman recenetly and he showed me a few shamanic truths about myself. Pretty scary. I wasn't on drugs and i have to tell you, but i don't expect you to believe anything you can't have proved for your self, that the whole spirit world that they deal with is horribly real. Most of the time you can't actually see it but you can sure as fk feel it kinesthitically. I really hope you don't experince what i went through with all that. But maybe you can take my word for it, the realm of cars and desk jobs is not the only realm in existance, the others are just locked away from you like the passport control to a forbidden country. I'm totally cool if you don't believe me, i wouldn't believe it if i hadn't gone through all that stuff for so long. At least it means your safe on that level. I don't believe in spirits any more. I'm simply aware that they exist. Take the piss all you want. I don't need any more convincing.

But yeah I like the article too, even if i can totally see why every one ripps it. He just seems like such an energetic, positve, go getting fruit cake, i don't think anything could stop him. You can imagine him jumping into water falls in the jungle and eating from coconuts while VJing. He's like tarzan on mushrooms.

But he is hanging around the the community some where because he posted this (http://www.vjcentral.com/?mod=articles&act=view&id=_projecting_living_visionary_art) article on VJcentral in late 2005. Here's a choice cut from the article:

"There is a balance between being a binary computer-geek and a natural shaman. I get the best trip-visuals when tripping! Yes, I am very much inspired by the psychedelic experience. I would even say that the psychedelic experience is the reason why I create psychedelic light shows - to express what I have seen on the insight. I like to facilitate that for others too, because it's one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I receive many teachings there and it's kind of invaluable to my spirit to go beyond the physical limitations and travel astrally to distant star-systems, where it is entirely possible to communicate with beings from other dimensions. They can teach us universal wisdom of the ancients. Often I am amazed of how close the external reality has really come to simulate the internal show, although of course they are ONE~! After a night of projecting visuals I experience visions for many hours."

Right, so he does tripp out in front of his equipment. I hope he doesn't have too many wires to clear up at the end. Hisssssss, hisssssssssss, get them off me, get them off me!

This guy fking rocks.

When will you come and join the forum party Omananda? Just one post to say a quick hello. Your developing quite a fan base here dude.

:inf: :dali: :butterfly


;)

[makemassair]

wicked. thanks for reviving this. lol.

*goes to read the article*

[vjvishnu]

Its not revived, its resurected and re-incarnated. :lol2:

[makemassair]

:lol2:

[vjvishnu]

Omananda... come out and play my interdimentional brother :):inf: .....

[werlin]

i think the thing about mirrored images is not just an ease on the eyes thing that relaxes them centering on the center facilitating the trance state(also that but not only that), cause you look in a mirror and you don't stare at it and the original object for more than 5 seconds, and especially when we're talking about moving images, we're talking about the curious nature of the human animal.... cause what was said was pretty much right when we see we therefore analise it, and its easy to pass trough the analysing of the picture as hole when you're brain is looking at a kaleido/mirror image.... the brain almost instantaneously figures out how the image is composed, what lefts it with just one question to awser-> the why/how of the image.

cause when we look at an image we see movement that is caused by something ex: one thing crashes in to another, but in kaleido there is no normal cause and effect, there is only an origin with no point of materialisation, you can see the effect but you cant see the cause, so you look at the center looking for what the hell is generating that effect, it looks like the effect is comming out of somewhere that must be too far away or too small for you to see right away... but you keep looking in the "fountain" of the kaleido"river".

and thats the question that has been bugging the human animal for ages, its origin. so in a way, i think there its some afinity with the image of an unknown origin. there's a theory that states "if you know the place of all the pieces you know how the game is going to end up", and that all games are fractals of each other. a kaleidoimage is much like our universe, its got color movement and a certain logic to it, its got all the right similarities, and an image constrained to 4x3m looks like such a much tiny and easier world to search for awnsers, than to scavenge the universe looking for them.

the origin we try to find is our own. that's the objective of meditation, to find a center an origin of balance, at least thats been the mainstream of meditation for myleniums... at least this is what i think

[MrJustin]

Omananda... come out and play my interdimentional brother :):inf: .....

perhaps Oli or anyone else mentioned on the following flyer can extend him an invvitation to the forums... looks like they might be bumping into him in miami.... nice. :cool:

http://www.hi-beamentertainment.com/images/Miambient-eFlyer.jpg

[vjvishnu]

Its a beautiful multi-verse. Get your cosi on and dive in. (watch out for sharks ;))

:yep: