The scope of the OP is vast. It is about the continuous journey, and for the betterment of humanity.
We are as limited as the words we use, that is why art can enlighten on levels beyond the human language. Bigger messages can be seen, heard, and understood thru art.
And as we learned from Duchamp in 1904, If we say its art, It is.
So some of the more lofty projects below will happen, not as urban planning, civil curation, or systemic change, but as art. Living sculptures
Phase I
the global artist alliance
An interconnected web of safe houses, & residencies have begun to form. Greece, Sri Lanka, Bali, Mexico, Southern Ca, Northern Ca, Utah, NY…
Still in the seedling phase these properties will continue to expand, and their uses in our broader Alliance will become clearer.
501c3
A non profit needs to be created to house multiple Artist Residencies, create Giant Rock Radio as an FCC approved Community Radio Station, and many more facets as they become clear. I hope to have one applied for by fall 2020.
Hi-lo homestead
The Hi-Lo Homestead is the flagship property. A 5 acre spread with workshop, venue, radio station, lodging, micro farm, and 3 acre sculpture garden. It will host an Artist Residency Program, Wizard School, and act as a venue for gatherings of many kinds within the music, and arts world.
Museum of Contemporary Folk Art
The 3 acre sculpture garden will be open to the public for the next 5 or so years. There will be a parking meter style pay booth that allows people to swipe a card or use an app to turn on power for minutes at a time activating the sound and lighting of the installations.
Giant Rock Radio
Radio in integral to all of the projects. We need to create our own news sources to get the good new out to the people. And as in art, Music can share messages with the masses on a much larger scale. Giant Rock Radio is a truly community radio station that broadcasts to the Landers valley, & Streams online globally. We launch this fall with the Donation campaign ramping up in August.Hi-Lo Frequencies
The Trailer that houses the radio station will also be equipped with a full digital/analog recording studio. We will be putting out content thru our own label. We will also record live shows on the outdoor stage within The Bone Yard.
The Bone Yard
A nitty gritty outdoor venue at the Hi-Lo Homestead that will house GRR & host local shows, along with secret performances by top caliber musicians.
Hi-Lo AIR
We will host 4 paid residencies ongoing through out the year either thru a membership program, or single use. We will also host a bi-annual curated residency. Focusing on a balance of artists from all walks of life, gender, and ethnicity. We will look to curate artists who use their practice as a voice for planetary advancements.
Shop Class
A workshop series teaching the basics of wood, metal, masonry, heavy machinery & more. Thru each project we will also share insights into shop design, organizational skills, mindfulness, reclamation, restoration, & creative thinking etc.
Shop Talk
The Online & Open source version of the shop class series. A Youtube channel devoted to How to’s, Tool Talk, Build hacks, DIY Projects & all things maker.
Dreamers Only Club
A 7 day intensive course teaching the basics of primitive skills, building skills, creative thinking & more. The beginning phases of wizard school.
the landers experiment
the Landers Experiment is a multi tiered initiative starting with an arts fair & building up to an entire town recalibration. Within the decade we will Incorporate Landers, creating is own local government, Green Power Grid, Crypto Based Monetary system, School, and year round farming & distribution.
Phase I
A valley wide arts festival taking place in Landers, California. With the beta version taking place fall 2020
we will host 6-12 artists for 7-14 days to create sculptures, performance art, Audio Installations, etc…
The Art will be installed around the Valley at various Properties all owned, or connected to the OP.
We will Host tours of the Art via art cars & Land Yachts with maps available at Moon Wind, GRMR & other local staples.
The Festival will coincide with HWY62 Studio art tours which has an already established audience of 15k over the month of October.
The Art, Artists, Collectors, and Visitors will all be part of the bigger “Experiment” Which will go as follows:
We purchase as many properties through out the Landers valley as we can. (I have an up to date & ongoing list compiled from my realtor)
We create a spectacle of the art fair. With a film festival, & music festival to follow.
By Year 2 we will be published in every new outlet from NY times, & LA times, to Juxtapose & Playboy. (with help from people we know tied to such publications)
All with front page articles reading something along the lines of “Landers, The coolest town in America”see where I’m going with this yet…?
By the time the greed machine from LA come in to swoop up the land and out price the artists we will have already beat them to their own game. We will have Beaten the Gentrification model from the inside. We will hold the keys to the town, being able to curate who we want moving in.
For every overpriced desert lot we sell we can sell one at cost to an artist, or low income individual. It also Provides the opportunity for the artists who are part of the fair to get stock equity in the town they helped put on the map.We will create an in-house design firm & construction company to build homes on the lots we sell.
It is difficult working with the county here. And there doesn’t seem to be a viable construction company. So… We will design 4-5 model homes (likely Pre fab Container houses) that once we get one passed thru the county we will be able to replicate easily and quickly. They Can be made here in the valley and transported to each lot where a pad has been poured and septic system installed.
The Goal of this “experiment” is not to become filthy rich; though it may become a bi-product.
The goal is to create a model that puts the power into the hands of the artists & creatives that historically move into an impoverished area, do what they do best (beautify) and then get out priced, and kicked out by the business savvy corporate greed machine.
My one and only lecture was in 2016 at Symbiosis Gathering. It was titled:
“Art drives culture, creative revolution in the modern age.”
It was a seedling of this concept, and 3 years later the vision is getting stronger with the help of fellow co-creators, co-conspirators, and visionaries.
monroe utah
Monroe is a picturesque 2000 person, quaint, all American town smack dab in the middle of rural Utah. Its current inhabitance consist of 99.9% republican, religious, right wing, conservatives. The perfect spot to start a revolution! It is in this town that we will start another experiment.
The beta model for a reimagined society by restructuring the “6 Pillars of society.”
Power
Food
Money
Schooling
government
religion
Currently Mieka’s Family owns Mystic Hot Springs. A destination hot springs for people all over the world. Over the next decade we will be giving the Property a whole new facelift transforming it into a retreat center, farm, and Permaculture school. On the south end of Main Street we purchased a 4000sqft, 2 story store front. It was the original Mercantile from the town built in 1879. The building sits on Main & Center. The heart of town. We will be opening a Cafe, Coffee shop, & Gallery. The Culture hub. The artist magnet. A flickering lighthouse to wayward dreamers that says “you’ve made it home. Welcome.”
On the north end of Main St. Miekas father purchased the original 1920’s creamery from the town. In its hay day this 12,000 sqft facility produced cheese, dried milk, & bottled milk from all the farms in the surrounding area of southern Utah. It has sat derelict for 60+ years. We are renovating it to become another culture hub. Maker space, Venue, Museum, shops, restaurant, indoor farmers market, Film location, rental retail & studio space. Between these 3 keystones a strong foundation is built to rapidly expand Monroes creative population to become a thriving artist community in a matter of years. That is all the easy part. What we do next is the real experiment. AKA “art project”
Eagle point
Eagle Point is about as Pristine a Mountain range as you can find. Picture the sound of music, meets Fern Gulley, with dashes of the Hobbit, Narnia, oh and with great skiing.
A group of us have purchased over 10 conjoined lots in a valley 1 mile downhill from the Ski Resort where we plan to build a community. The Land butts up to National Forest to the North & East which means our backyards are endless untouched Nature. My 1 acre parcel has a year round creek and 2 mountain springs we can drink from.
I plan to start a 2nd chapter of the Wizard school here for the children, but also for adults.
Primitive skills, foraging, hunting & gathering. Bringing it all back to our roots. Building will take place too. falling timber, cabin building, cable bridges…
The Owner of the Ski Resort, Shane Gadbow has become a close friend. I am midway through creating a 1/4 mile children’s park, sculpture garden, & nature walk. Shane has a new development that broke ground last year and there is lots of potential for real estate investment there.
It is also a unique place because it is so remote. You can really feel it when your there. It is a true Respite from society. A place to tune out and rejuvenate.
the golden record project
The Golden Record Project is a lifelong sonic exploration. To learn more and help invest in the aquisition of a PHONOCUT record maker please click the link below.
That is all for now. These plans, and ideas are all past germination & propagation, and have begun to sprout. They will be growing over the coming decade, how quickly depends on the team, and finances to help them along.
Thank you
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- There is no one There is no other There is only. -
