EXHIBITION MEDIA KIT - American Visionary Art · PDF fileEXHIBITION MEDIA KIT HUMAN, ... this high-voltage exhibit stars the electric ... Temple Grandin’s Engineering Plans for the

EXHIBITION MEDIA KIT

HUMAN, SOUL AND MACHINE:THE COMING SINGULARITY!

OCTOBER 5, 2013—AUGUST 31, 2014

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM

Human, Soul and Machine:THE COMING SINGULARITY!

“ALL OF A SUDDEN, WE’VE LOST A LOT OF CONTROL . . . WE CAN’T TURN OFF OUR INTERNET; WE

CAN’T TURN OFF OUR SMARTPHONES; WE CAN’T TURN OFF OUR COMPUTERS. YOU USED TO ASK A

SMART PERSON A QUESTION. NOW WHO DO YOU ASK? IT STARTS WITH G-O, AND IT’S NOT GOD . . . ”

—STEVE WOZNIAK, APPLE CO-FOUNDER

Welcome Earthlings, Techies & Luddites!

Our American Visionary Art Museum’s 19th original thematic exhibition is a playful and timely examination of the serious impact of technology on all our lives, as

seen through the eyes of 40-plus visionary artists, cutting edge futurists, inventors, and human rights champions. In this show, we pose a question to Nobel Prize winners and schoolchildren alike: “Two billion personal computers later, post DNA-sequencing, are we on the road to being better, healthier, happier, less warlike human beings?”

Guided by Albert Einstein’s wise admonition, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year old, you don’t understand it yourself,” AVAM’s newest exhibition invites all to explore our most complex subject yet: the rapid and ever-increasing impact of artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, nanotechnology, genetics and 3-D printing on nearly every aspect of our lives. We investigate technology’s impact on personal privacy and surveillance, employment and manufacturing, longevity and health, defense and warfare, farming and food, creative invention and entertainment. We present some very real, well-funded attempts afoot to transfer what makes you YOU into an IT that doesn’t grow sick or old. This is high stakes, new territory never before negotiated by any prior civilization. We want everybody to be awake and present at the table as these great new powers—with their inherent potential for both blessing and peril—unfold and alter life on earth. Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine, defined the Singularity as the point at which “all the change in the last million years will be superseded by the change in the next five minutes.” —MORE—

Curated by myself, a self-confessed luddite, this high-voltage exhibit stars the electric visual delights of some of this world’s most visionary artists and astute filmmakers. Among the featured work: Kenny Irwin’s ROBOTMAS, glowing inside a central box theater at the heart of this exhibition; a selection of Alex Grey’s Sacred Mirrors, which examine the nexus of soul and body; Adam Kurtzman’s Bride of Frankenstein, representing humankind’s historic fascination with control over life and death; O.L. Samuels’ 7-foot-tall Godzilla—a creation first imagined in response to the devastating use of the A-Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Rigo 23’s delicate drawings exploring the ethics of drone usage; Allen Christian’s life-sized Piano Family, a love song to string theory; and Fred Carter’s massive wooden carvings, warning of destruction from shortsighted industrial manipulation of nature. This show is informative, sometimes scary, asks big questions, and is made with love.

May we kindly harness all these immense new powers to greater good,

Rebecca Alban Hoffberger AVAM Founder & Director Celebrating in ThankfulnessOur American Visionary Art Museum’s 18 years of Life

“MAN IS RATED THE HIGHEST ANIMAL, AT LEAST AMONG ALL ANIMALS THAT RETURNED THE QUESTIONNAIRE.” —ROBERT BRAUL

ALEX GREYGaia1989Oil on linenCollection of Bex WilkinsonPhoto courtesy the artist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 2, 2013Updated: August 1, 2013

MEDIA CONTACT:Nick Prevas

[email protected] ext. 241

HUMAN, SOUL & MACHINE: THE COMING SINGULARITY! October 5, 2013 – August 31, 2014

“FROM THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION UNTIL 2003, HUMANKIND GENERATED FIVE EXABYTES OF DATA. NOW WE PRODUCE FIVE EXABYTES

EVERY TWO DAYS… AND THE PACE IS ACCELERATING.” —ERIC SCHMIDT, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, GOOGLE

BALTIMORE, MD—The American Visionary Art Museum’s 19th original thematic exhibition, Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity!, is a timely and playful examination of the serious impact of technology on our lives, as seen through the eyes of 40+ visionary artists, cutting edge futurists, and inventors. Pleasing to an audience of Nobel Prize winners and schoolchildren alike, this show asks, “Two billion personal computers later, post DNA-sequencing, are we on the road to becoming a better, healthier, happier, less warlike, human race?”

AVAM’s newest exhibition takes on its most complex subject yet: examining the rapid and ever-increasing impact of artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, genetics, 3D printing and Big Data on nearly every aspect of human life. This thought-provoking exhibit investigates technology’s influence on issues of privacy and surveillance, employment and manufacturing, longevity and health, defense and warfare, farming and food, access to global and personal information, creative invention, and entertainment. This is high stakes, new territory never before negotiated by any prior civilization. Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired Magazine, well-defined the unprecedented nature of our times: “Singularity is the point at which all the change in the last million years will be superseded by the change in the next five minutes.”

800 KEY HWY • BALTIMORE, MD • 21230 • USA • 410.244.1900 • AVAM.ORG

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Curated by AVAM’s Founder and Director, Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, this stirring show harnesses the enchanting visual delights of remarkable visionary artists and their masterworks. Among them: Kenny Irwin’s Robolights—glowing inside of a central black box theater at the heart of this exhibition; a selection of Alex Grey’s Sacred Mirrors; Adam Kurtzman’s full-sized Bride of Frankenstein; O.L. Samuels’ 7-ft tall Godzilla—a creation first imagined in response to the devastating use of the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Rigo 23’s delicate anti-drone drawings; Allen Christian’s life-sized Piano Family—a love song to string theory; Fred Carter’s massive wooden carvings—created as a warning of destruction from industry’s manipulation of nature; and much more!

AVAM welcomes visitors of all ages into a communal look forward to where much of the Sci-Fi imaginings of the past are now swiftly becoming commonplace reality. Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity! is a hot-wired blend of art, science, humor, caution and hope.

“YOU NEVER CHANGE THINGS BY FIGHTING THE EXISTING REALITY. TO CHANGE SOMETHING, BUILD A NEW MODEL THAT MAKES THE EXISTING

MODEL OBSOLETE.” —R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER

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EXHIBITION DATES:• Media Preview: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 • 10am.• Human, Soul & Machine: The Preview Party!: Friday, October 4, 2013,

7pm–10pm (AVAM Members Free, $20 General Public).• Exhibition opens to the public Saturday, October 5, 2013 and runs through

Sunday, August 31, 2014.

HUMAN, SOUL & MACHINE: THE PREVIEW PARTY!FridayOctober4,2013•7pm–10pm•AVAMMembersFree,$20GeneralPublicAVAM welcomes our newest exhibition with our ever-popular, always switched-on Preview Party! Our 19th original exhibition examines the impact of technology—for both good and evil—on our modern day lives, as seen through the eyes of 40+ visionary artists, cutting edge futurists, and inventors. Meet exhibition artists in the bio-flesh and network with other visionary friends and fans as you get a first hack into this hot-wired blend of art, science, humor, and imagination. Enjoy lite fare & cocktails, inspired music & dancing, out-of-this-world costumes, and one-of-a-kind entertainment, as only AVAM can bring you... a truly SINGULAR experience! DRESS: ROBO-CHIC! Come in your most technologically advanced garb to celebrate the futuristic theme of this exhibition. Tickets available at Missiontix.com.


Chris Roberts-Antieau

Lindsey Bessanson

Fred Carter

Allen Christian

Candy Cummings

Rafel Duran

Roy Fender

Dalton M. Ghetti

Temple Grandin

Alex Grey

Neil Harbisson

Julian Harr

Steve Heller

Kenny Irwin, Jr.

David Knopp

Adam Kurtzman

Ray Kurzweil

Patty Kuzbida

Stephanie Lucas

Christopher Moses

Dean Millien

P.Nosa

PostSecret artists

Barry Ptolemy

Rigo 23

O.L. Samuels

Sean Samoheyl

Rev. Albert Wagner

Frank Warren

Jodi Wille

Sally Willowbee

Jack Wright

ARTISTS

DALTON GHETTIGlass Head Man1987Graphite and broken light bulbCollection of the artistPhoto by Sloan Howard

ALLEN CHRISTIAN, Detail: Piano Family: Amorosa, 2012, Spare piano parts, AVAM Permanent Collection

» High-res press images available at: http://avam.org/news-and-events/media-info.shtml «

» Email [email protected] for password «


GALLERIES& AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST

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FIRST FLOOR:

• Entrance Ramp: Chris Roberts-Antieau’s “The Story of Invention” illustrations; Video of President Eisenhower’s farewell speech; Exhibition Welcome; & more.

• Niche: “You’re Giving Me Good Vibrations!” – Cyborg artist Neil Harbisson’s paintings & Cyborg Foundation video by Rafel Duran.

• Hallway: Frank Warren’s selection of the best tech PostSecrets.

• Stairwells: Steve Heller’s Robots; "How We Spend Our Money" – essay with rainbow graph illustrating U.S. Federal Discretionary Spending by category.

2ND FLOOR:

• Niche: O.L. Samuels’ Godzilla.

• Entrance Gallery: Dean Millien’s giant aluminum foil Gorilla; P. Nosa’s embroideries. "It’s Alive!" – Adam Kurtzman’s Elsa Lanchester as Bride of Frankenstein; and Lindsey Bessanson’s Cyborg Insects. "Body as Machine/Soul as Consciousness" – Alex Grey’s Sacred Mirrors and Gaia; Allen Christian’s Piano Family and Ajax sculptures; Kenny Irwin, Jr.’s large ink drawings; & more!

• Theater: Videos – Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near and Barry Ptolemy’s Transcendent Man.

• Bridge Wall & Hallway: Reverend Albert Wagner’s Noah and the Rainbow painting.

• Elevator: Steve Heller’s Spaceships & Motherboard Bench; mirror by Candy Cummings.

Kenny Irwin Jr. inside his ROBOTMAS installation, Photo by Shawn Levin.

2ND FLOOR CONTINUED:

• "Have Yourself A Happy Little Robotmas!" – Kenny Irwin Jr.’s incredible glowing installation, featuring: Sanmagnetron, Santa’s Mega Casino Stealth Bull, Santa’s Space Tank, Toilet Bowl Robodeer, Nutcrackonators, Cyclopto Snowman & much more!

• Half Moon Gallery: Fred Carter’s massive wood carvings and paintings; biographical video of Fred Carter by Jack Wright; Chair by David Knopp; Julian Harr’s Orville Wright’s American Flyer.

• Rear Hallway (Key Hwy Side): works by Christopher Moses; pencil carvings by Dalton M. Ghetti; Kenny Irwin Jr.'s childhood notebooks.

• Rear Hallway (Covington St. Side): Stephanie Lucas’ Tomorrow The Dogs, Rigo 23’s Drone drawings, Temple Grandin’s Engineering Plans for the Humane Slaughter of Animals; Sally Willowbee’s Computer Angels & Code Pink Lights Up The World lamp.


• Jo Comerford, Executive Director, National Priorities Project.• Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, UMBC President included in Time Magazine's

"100 Most Influential People in the World."• Dr. Joseph N. Pelton, Space Telecommunications Pioneer, Professor, Author,

Futurist & Founding Officer of The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation.• Thomas J. McCabe, Mathematician, Developer of Cyclomatic Complexity Metric.• Eric Siegel, Director and Chief Content Officer, New York Hall of Science.• BertVogelstein,M.D., Cancer geneticist, Winner, Breakthrough Prize in Life

Science, 2013.

EXHIBITION AMBASSADORS

PLATINUM: Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.

GOLD: Dobkin Family Foundation, The Philip & Harriet Klein Foundation, Inc., Max’s Taphouse, Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Pakula, Urban Chic.

SILVER: Ann and Harvey Clapp, Jane Daniels, DLA Piper, John J. Leidy Foundation, Just Folk/Marcy Carsey & Susan Baerwald, Key Tech, Linehan Family Foundation, Thomas & Linda McCabe, The Alvin & Louise Myerberg Family Foundation, Arnold & Alison Richman, Sims Recycling Solutions, Sylvan/Laureate Foundation.

BRONZE: Robert E. Meyerhoff & Rheda Becker, Mary Catherine Bunting, Richard & Rosalee C. Davison Foundation, Barbara and Louis Denrich, John Sondheim & Emily Greenberg, George & Betsy Hess/MIDABI Philanthropic Fund, Maryellyn Lynott, Two Boots Pizza.

EXHIBITION SPONSORS

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SUPPORTER: Charles C. Baum Foundation, Mike & Patti Batza, Lois & Philip Macht Family Philanthropic Fund, Sayra & Neil Meyerhoff, Joan Develin Coley & Lee Rice, Eric Siegel & Family, Jan Weinberg.

PUBLIC SUPPORT: AVAM would like to thank the following public institutions for their generous annual operating support – Maryland State Arts Council, Maryland State Department of Education, The Citizens of Baltimore County & the Baltimore County Commission on Arts & Sciences, The Howard County Government & the Howard County Arts Council.

ALLEN CHRISTIANPiano Family: Adagio, Amorosa, Bucky2012Spare piano partsAVAM Permanent Collection



THE AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM is America’s official national museum and education center for self-taught, intuitive artistry (deemed so by a unanimous vote of the U.S. Congress). SINCE ITS OPENING IN 1995, the museum has sought to promote the recognition of intuitive, self-reliant, creative contribution as both an important historic and essential living piece of treasured human legacy. The ONE-OF-A-KIND American Visionary Art Museum is located on a 1.1 ACRE WONDERLAND CAMPUS at 800 Key Highway, Baltimore Inner Harbor. Three renovated historic industrial buildings house wonders created by farmers, housewives, mechanics, retired folk, the disabled, the homeless, as well as the occasional neurosurgeon – all INSPIRED BY THE FIRE WITHIN. From carved roots to embroidered rags, tattoos to toothpicks, ‘the visionary’ transforms dreams, loss, hopes, and ideals into POWERFUL WORKS OF ART.

WHAT IS A VISIONARY?Visionaries perceive potential and creative relationships where most of us don’t. English writer Jonathan Swift put it simply, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Such vision lies at the heart of all true invention, whether that special vision manifests as an astonishing work of art like those created by the intuitive artists featured at the American Visionary Art Museum or as a medical breakthrough, a melody never before sung, some deeper understanding of the cosmos, or as a way in which life could be better, more justly lived. Visionaries have always constituted human-kind’s greatest “evolutionaries.”

Without visionaries’ willingness to be called fools, to make mistakes, to be wrong, few new “right” things would ever be birthed. Visionaries are brave scouts at the frontier of the unknown. They explore their visions with a passionate single-mindedness. Albert Einstein rightly observed, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Creative acts intended to uplift, defend, and enlighten fulfill every function that can be asked of a work of art. They inspire us, make us think in new ways, and birth new beauty and dignity into our world.

WHAT IS ART?The ancients—the Greeks, Egyptians, Hopis, and New Guinea tribesmen—were among earth’s most prolific art-making peoples. Yet, none had any word for “art” in their respective languages. Rather, they each had a word that meant “well-made” or “beautifully performed.”

Our American Visionary Art Museum believes that this view of what art really means is as perfect an understanding of art as ever was. It speaks to an art incumbent upon all its citizens, pervasive throughout all the acts of our daily life. Its emphasis is on process and consciousness, not mere artifact.

Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed his profound respect for the true artistry each member of a society can uniquely evidence to bless our communities, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the Hosts of Heaven and earth would pause to say, Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.”

AVAM 101AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM is the official national museum for self-taught, intuitive artistry! Since our opening in 1995, the museum has sought to promote the recognition of intuitive, self-reliant, creative contribution as both an important historic and essential living piece of treasured human legacy. Don’t miss all three historic, renovated buildings that house wonders created by farmers, housewives, mechanics, retired folk, the disabled, the homeless, as well as the occasional neurosurgeon—all inspired by the fire within!

HUMAN, SOUL & MACHINE: THE COMING SINGULARITY!Oct 5, 2013–Aug 31, 2014 • Throughout Main BuildingAVAM’s 19th original thematic exhibition is a timely and playful examination of the serious impact of technology on our lives, as seen through the eyes of 40+ visionary artists, cutting edge futurists, and inventors, including—Kenny Irwin, Jr., Neil Harbisson, Alex Grey, Temple Grandin, O.L. Samuels, Rigo 23, Allen Christian, Fred Carter and many more! Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity! is a hot-wired blend of art, science, humor, caution and hope.

DONALD PASS: THE HOPE WE SEEKFeb. 28, 2014–Feb. 22, 2015 • 3rd Floor, Main BuildingAVAM’s celebration of the late British visionary artist’s ethereal spirit paintings, inspired by his own life-changing glimpse into the afterworld. Donald Pass (1930–2010) was a well known painter of lyrical abstract landscapes until the late 1960s when he experienced a series of spiritual visions of the Resurrection that radically and forever changed his view of reality, and subsequently, his artwork.

PERMANENT COLLECTION GALLERY Ongoing • 1st & 2nd Floors, Main BuildingWorks selected from a collection that includes visionaries such as Mary Proctor, Paul Darmafall, Mr. Imagination, Emily Duffy, Ted Gordon, James Harold Jennings, Deborah Berger, Wayne Kusy & many more!

JIM ROUSE VISIONARY CENTEROngoing • 1st floor: The Cabaret Mechanical Theatre of London: a collection of whimsical, interactive automta; Screen Painters Of Baltimore exhibit: a celebration of the uniquely Baltimore art form with full-size replica rowhouses displaying screens painted by Baltimore’s finest & a documentary film that shines a light on the artists and their desire to paint; Kinetic Sculpture Race Vehicles (featured in our annual East Coast Championship Race); DeVon Smith’s Robot Family; Leonard Knight’s Love Balloon; Andrew Logan’s giant sculpture of Baltimore icon Divine; 2nd floor: Remembering Jim Rouse Into Our Future exhibit; Thou Art Creative Classroom; 3rd floor: Large banquet room for museum mega-events & private rentals with access to the Bird’s Nest Balcony.

PUBLIC ART Ongoing • Throughout Museum GroundsA three-ton, four-story Whirligig by Vollis Simpson; Nancy Josephson’s mirror-mosaic Gallery-A-Go-Go bus; Andrew Logan’s Cosmic Galaxy Egg; Adam Kurtzman’s Giant Golden Hand; David Hess’s Bird’s Nest Balcony; Dick Brown’s Bluebird of Happiness; the glittering Community Mosaic Wall–the work of a wonderful apprenticeship program for at-risk youth; Wildflower Sculpture Garden featuring Ben Wilson’s wooden Meditation Chapel; Critters by Clyde Jones; Ted Ludwiczak’s Stone Fountain Heads; and more!

OUR HOURS10:00am–6:00pm, Tuesday–SundayClosed on Mondays,* Thanksgiving & Christmas Days.

* Open Monday Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as AVAM’s tribute to teachers–FREE admission for all!

PARKINGAbundant metered parking on Covington Street & Key Highway. Handicapped accessible.

REGULAR ADMISSIONAdult $15.95Senior (60 & up) $13.95Student $9.95Children 6 & under FREE!

GROUP RATES*Group Rate (Adult) $10 ea.Group Rate (College) $8 ea.Group Rate (K-12) $6 ea.* For Groups of 10 or more people only.

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM (AVAM)800 Key Highway • Baltimore, MD • 21230 • 410.244.1900

web: avam.org • facebook: facebook.com/theavam • twitter: @TheAVAM

SOME HANDY INFO

PROGRAMS & EVENTS CALENDAR

2013:HUMAN, SOUL & MACHINE: THE PREVIEW PARTY!Fri. October 4 • 7–10pm • AVAM Members Free, $20 Gen. Public*AVAM welcomes our newest exhibition with our ever-popular, always switched-on, Preview Party! Meet exhibition artists in the bio-flesh and network with other visionary friends and fans as you get a first hack into this hot-wired blend of art, science, humor, and imagination. Enjoy lite fare & cocktails, inspired music & dancing, out-of-this-world costumes, and one-of-a-kind entertainment, as only AVAM can bring you... a truly SINGULAR experience! *Tickets on-sale @ Missiontix.com!

EDUCATOR OPEN HOUSEThurs. October 17 • 4–7pm • *FREE for Teachers!Educators of all kinds are invited to this exclusive event where you can collect visionary resources for the classroom and learn about the educational programming available here at AVAM. Stop by to pick up our classroom-ready, interdisciplinary education packet, try your hand at a visionary activity, and receive a special guided tour through our new exhibition.*RSVP to [email protected].

AVAM’S FREE FALL HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION!Wed. October 30 • 4–7pm: FREE Admission, 4pm–6pm: *FREE Pumpkin Decorating, 7pm: FREE Flick: Beetlejuice! on Fed Hill!Goblins and ghouls of all ages are invited to PUNK out your pumpkin or GLAM up your gourd in AVAM's Tall Sculpture Barn from 4-6pm—*FREE, but please bring your own pumpkin or gourd, all others materials (paint, bling, etc.) provided. AVAM will also offer FREE admission from 4-7pm, then bring a blanket and cozy up for a free screening of Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice on Federal Hill at 7pm. Don't miss this spooktacular night @ AVAM in conjunction with Free Fall Baltimore!

BAZAART: HOLIDAY ART MARKETSat. November 30 • 10am–5pm • FREE Entry!AVAM’s annual Holiday Marketplace of original creations by over 50 regional artists and craftspeople. Painting, sculpture, paper crafts, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, mixed media, and other work that simply defies categorization! And don't miss the BAZAART FIRST DIBS RECEPTION: Friday Eve, November 29 • 5:30-8pm • $20, $10 Members @ the door • Bazaart Location: 3rd floor, AVAM’s Jim Rouse Visionary Center.

SOCK MONKEY SATURDAY!Sat. December 14 • 10am–2pm • *FREE Entry!Don’t let the holidays drive you BANANAS! Relax by making your very own Sock Monkey—a great last-minute gift, and just something fun to do with the family. *FREE, but you must bring 2 pair, clean & colorful socks & scissors to get in! Location: 3rd floor, AVAM’s Jim Rouse Visionary Center.

2014:MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY CELEBRATION

Mon. January 20 • 10am–6pm • FREE Admission!A celebration in honor of the life & dreams of one of history’s greatest visionaries. AVAM opens its doors for FREE all day! Join us for guided tours, birthday cake, special performances & more—all celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision & legacy.

KINETIC VOLUNTEER ROUND-UPApril 2014: *Volunteer Meeting dates TBAWANTED: The Brave, The Talented, The Mediocre, The Unsuspecting Few... KINETIC VOLUNTEERS to help in the grueling, all-day, general insanity of our 16th annual Kinetic Sculpture Race! *More details TBA, check avam.org or call 410.244.1900.

16TH ANNUAL KINETIC SCULPTURE RACESat. May 3 • All Day! (Race kicks of @ 10am) • FREE!From AVAM—a race of wacky, imaginative, totally human powered works of ART designed to travel on LAND, through the MUD, and over deep harbor WATERS, constructed out of used bicycles, gears, and parts, created by a lunatic genius who tinkers around in the garage or backyard (Do you know this person?) The machines can be simple, small crafts, piloted by only one brave soul, or they can be over 50 feet long, extremely well-engineered, sophisticated vehicles powered by a team of pilots. More info, including handy spectator's guide at kineticbaltimore.com!

VISIONARY PETS ON PARADEFri. July 4 • 10am (9:30am Pet Registration) • FREE!The best dog-gone parade in town! Dress your pet & strut your stuff. Animal fun! Animal prizes! Trophies awarded for Best Costume, Most Patriotic, Most Visionary Pet, Owner & Pet look-a-likes, Least likely to succeed as a Pet, & more! Friendly pets of ALL kinds are welcome. H20 & baggies provided.

FLICKS FROM THE HILLThursdays in July & August • FREE Screenings at 9pm on Federal Hill! • Museum Open & Free 5–9pm on Flicks Nights!Grab a blanket, picnic under the stars, and watch a great film selection inspired by AVAM’s current exhibition, plus the museum is open & free from 5–9pm on Flicks nights! Flicks was featured on Travel & Leisure’s list of “The World’s Best Free Stuff!” Check avam.org for 2014 dates & flicks schedule.

HUMAN, SOUL & MACHINE: FINAL WEEKENDLabor Day Weekend 2014 • Regular Admission AppliesAugust 31, 2014 will be the last chance to experience AVAM’s 19th original exhibition, Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity! Don’t miss the wonders of 40+ visionary artists, futurists & inventors in this playful & timely show. And get ready for October 2014, when we unveil our 20th annual mega-exhibition—stay tuned to avam.org for details!

LINDSEY BESSANSON, Brown Tarantula, n.d., Organic material and metal cogs, Collection of the artist, Photo by Dan Meyers.



STEVE HELLER, Not Plain Jane, 2013, Found metal, car parts, toaster, Collection of the artist, Photo by Dan Meyers.

ESSAYS

With a nod to The Beach Boys, we welcome all our visitors into what Rod Serling, the creator and host of The Twilight Zone, described: “a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land, whose boundaries

are that of imagination.”

HERE ARE SOME COOL VIBRATORY FACTS:

• One of the seven principles of Universal Law in Hermetic philosophy is that everything in the universe moves and vibrates at a specific speed, and that those frequencies fluctuate, like a flame. Nothing is at rest.

• When Comedian Bill Hicks famously reported that “all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration,” he was not far-off of how some physicists are now describing the behavior of matter as wavefunction in quantum mechanics. On a subatomic scale, everything is moving.

• There are some amazing resonances between vibratory systems: there are seven main colors in the visible light spectrum, and seven notes in a musical scale. The vibratory frequencies of the three primary colors—red, yellow and blue—can be likened to a major chord. Within the color spectrum, red is the first color, yellow the third color, and blue the fifth. Major chords are likewise composed of the root, third and fifth notes in the musical scale.

• Your specific frequency is uniquely yours, giving you the illusion that you are separate from the sea of other vibrations, seen and unseen, felt and undetected, to which we owe our communal existence. All our senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, and maybe a sixth sense of hyper-sensitized feeling—are perceived through vibrations that resonate within our own receptors.

• Synesthesia is a perceptual condition that jumbles these signals—one type of sensory stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when hearing a sound produces the visualization of a color. Marilyn Monroe, Leonardo DaVinci, and many famous musicians and artists were reportedly synesthetes, and they found their unique

YOU’RE GIVING MEGOOD VIBRATIONS!

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combinations of sensory experience to be an aide and a blessing to their experience of life. Neil Harbisson's Eyeborg mimics the experience of synesthesia, but he does not actually see colors, and has the extra ability to relate color and sound objectively, unlike natural synesthetes. Instead he uses the term sonochromatism to define his cyborg sense.

Here’s wishing you ever greater, brighter, pleasurable and insightful good vibrations!

Cyborg artist Neil Harbisson’s Eyeborg device allows the artist to perceive color through hearing.Photo by Moon Ribas, courtesy of the Cyborg Foundation.

Cyborg is short for cybernetic organism, meaning part machine, part human. No one would fault a person for using eyeglasses to see better, a cane or prosthetic leg to walk, or, most recently, a cochlear implant to enable hearing. The swift evolution of

new technologies may soon produce prostheses to enable the blind not only to see, but to see better than any human has seen before. In the new world of genomics and nanotechnology, we are on the cusp of merging human cellular structures with mechanized implants to correct many inherited and chronic medical diseases. We may be witnessing the accelerated evolution of a new human species. Leading biotechnology thinker Juan Enriquez reminds us, “The difference between humans and Neanderthals is .004 percent of gene code. That's how big the difference is, one species to another.”

Welcome to Maryland, a state long called “America in Miniature.” Maryland’s economy is fueled and sustained by the U.S. defense and surveillance technology industries more than that of any other American state.

• 70 of the Top 100 U.S. federal defense contractors are based in Maryland, and many more in the adjacent state of Virginia.

• Private sector Maryland businesses dependent on defense and intelligence contracts abound. The mammoth NSA, CIA, NASA and DARPA agencies all have their headquarters in the greater Baltimore-Washington area.

• Johns Hopkins University is the number one recipient of U.S. defense research and development monies among American universities ($1.9 billion in 2011), garnering almost twice that of any other university engaged in defense research. It’s no surprise that Maryland employs more PhD graduates in science and engineering than any other state.

• Fort Meade, with its 56,000+ employees (located less than 15 miles from where you stand) is Maryland’s largest employer. Add to it the 11 other Maryland US military bases with their concentrated expertise in the areas of chemical, biological, nuclear, cyber and nano warfare, and you get a clear picture of just how unique Maryland is, and how hugely its actions impact our world.

• The market for the design and manufacture of drones in Maryland has been growing exponentially. With U.S. government’s projected goal of 30,000 drones in continual flight over our own American skies by 2020, the Maryland technology job scene looks promising.

• A greater percentage of Maryland families derive their livelihood directly or indirectly from businesses related to the defense/surveillance industry than do families from any other state. No other geographic location on Earth concentrates a larger creative pool of defense research intelligence. If U.S. defense industry funding ceased, Maryland’s economy would collapse.

MARYLAND:AMERICA’S MOST POWERFUL DEFENSE

RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY STATE

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With these facts in mind, we could begin to imagine a shift that would refocus and harness the many brilliant and creative minds in our area to the task of using promising, even previously classified scientific breakthroughs to rapidly and peacefully solve many of humanity’s biggest challenges (e.g. stopping Fukushima’s out-of-control radioactive leaks, the creation of inexhaustible sources of clean energy and water, high quality/low cost public transportation). This refocusing would result in the creation of positive new industries.

We could then continue to support existing organizational structures and talented minds with our tax dollars to make an unprecedented positive leap forward to the benefit of humanity. The brave scientists, engineers, and defense leaders willing to change course would be humanity’s heroes. Native American wisdom cautions us to test our collective actions by considering their ultimate impact on the subsequent seven generations, rather than judging them by short-term profits. We must ask, “What kind of jobs and products are we creating?” To this end, may Maryland soon lead the way forward.

“OURS IS A WORLD OF NUCLEAR GIANTS AND ETHICAL INFANTS. WE KNOW MORE ABOUT WAR THAN WE KNOW ABOUT PEACE, MORE ABOUT

KILLING THAN WE KNOW ABOUT LIVING. WE HAVE GRASPED THE MYSTERY OF THE ATOM AND REJECTED THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.”

—OMAR NELSON BRADLEY, U.S. FIVE STAR ARMY GENERAL

RIGO 23: (left) MQ-9/Reaper and Yemen • (middle) RQ-4/Block 10/Global Hawk • (right) MQ-9/Reaper/Variety of Weapons, 2010, Ink on recycled elephant dung paper, Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY.



THE ART OF WAR“AND IN SUCH A WORLD OF CONFLICT, A WORLD OF VICTIMS AND EXECUTIONERS, IT IS THE JOB OF THINKING PEOPLE,

AS ALBERT CAMUS SUGGESTED, NOT TO BE ON THE SIDE OF THE EXECUTIONERS.” —HOWARD ZINN

Consider Sun Tzu, the legendary 6th century Chinese general and author of The Art of War, still one of the most widely read books on military strategy. Sun Tzu taught that the highest form of warfare is to win all your objectives without the

enemy even knowing you were ever engaged in warfare. Never before has the advancement in weapon technology birthed a greater capacity for stealth warfare and its covert lethal delivery. In the wrong hands, these new nano, biological, chemical and robotic technologies are frightening. Post World War II, military patronage of scientists, physicists, chemists, biologists, and engineers soared, tipping their creativity and focus toward more and more specialized and covert weaponry systems. This effort has been coupled with an unprecedented capacity for organized surveillance and information analysis and retrieval. Couldn’t imagine how it could ever be possible to record and store every single phone call made in America? Governments can now store and retrieve oceans of personal data at the rate of yottabytes (one trillion terabytes!), sometimes called "yodabytes" after the Star Wars wise one.

Recognizing the future power of robots to be misused against humankind as disproportionately powerful killing forces, science fiction author Isaac Asimov wrote his thoughtful and ethical recommendation, the “Three Laws of Robotics”:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Sadly, these rules were never adopted, putting much in peril. New smart gun assault weapons went on sale to civilians in 2013. Manufactured in Texas, they permit “even an inexperienced shooter to hit a target 10 football fields away.” As Military use of robotic

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drones proliferates, so do stories of collateral damage and civilian deaths. Crowds celebrated when the Boston police, wielding high-tech heat sensors capable of seeing through walls, discovered the suspected young Boston Marathon bomber hiding in a boat. We must remember that the very same technology, if invented only decades before, would have meant that young Anne Frank, hiding with her family behind a secret wall, would never have had the time to write her famed diary before being detected.

“I KNOW NOT WITH WHAT WEAPONS WORLD WAR III WILL BE FOUGHT,

BUT WORLD WAR IV WILL BE FOUGHT WITH STICKS AND STONES.” —ALBERT EINSTEIN

“THERE IS NO FLAG LARGE ENOUGH TO COVER THE SHAME OF KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE.” —HOWARD ZINN

"WE MUST DEVISE A SYSTEM IN WHICH PEACE IS MORE REWARDING THAN WAR." —MARGARET MEADE

STEPHANIE LUCASDemain les Chiens (Tomorrow the Dogs)2010Acrylic on canvasGift of the artist, AVAM Permanent CollectionPhoto by Dan Meyers



There are lots of ways to compute the very complex spending of our United States government. We join with The American Friends Service Committee in their endorsement of the important research undertaken by the National Priorities

Project. The National Priorities Project is a national non-profit, non-partisan research organization dedicated to making complex federal budget information transparent and accessible so people can prioritize and influence how their tax dollars are spent. “Discretionary spending, which accounts for 31 percent of the President’s proposed 2013 budget, does not include earned-benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare. Rather, it includes programs whose funding levels are set each year by lawmakers during the appropriations process, including the military, education, job training, and the environment.” The proportions for how President Obama proposed to spend 1.15 trillion dollars in discretionary spending this year are presented here as an easy-to-read rainbow graph that runs the length of two ascending floors of the Marilyn Meyerhoff Stairway to the Stars. For more detailed information on our U.S. government and its discretionary funding spending, go to the National Priorities project website: nationalpriorities.org

“WHAT YOU FEED GROWS, WHAT YOU STARVE DIES.” —ANONYMOUS

HOW WE SPEND OUR MONEYU.S. DISCRETIONARY SPENDING 2013

STRONGER THAN DIAMOND, MORE FLEXIBLE THAN RUBBER, MIND-BOGGLINGLY CONDUCTIVE,

AN ELEGANT ONE-ATOM THICK, AND RIGHT UNDER ALL OUR NOSES—AT THE TIP OF A SCHOOLCHILD’S PENCIL!

In 2010, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two Russian scientists employed at the University of Manchester, received the Nobel Prize in Physics for isolating graphene (a one-atom-thick layer of graphite) using a piece of scotch tape, and for their insight into its game-changing revolutionary applications.

The global race is now on to master a cheap transformation process of graphite into ultra-thin nano-graphene. With graphene, we can already imagine tomorrow’s flexible cell phones that could be folded up like a piece of paper, airplane wings with invisible built-in deicers, efficient solar roofs and plentiful, super strong and lightweight energy transmitters. Graphene absorbs and emits light over the widest range of wavelengths known for any material and does so more quickly than with any prior known material. Graphene conducts electricity 30x faster than silicon—and unlike silicon, which is brittle, graphene is flexible, stretchable, and can even be thrown into the washing machine and emerge undamaged.

Visionaries see new potential in the everyday. The biographies of many of our greatest inventors reveal that most get their best ideas in dreams, in the shower, walking alone in the woods, observing nature, or tinkering in backyard garages. The Wright Brothers were fascinated by the propeller-like twirling pods of Maple trees. Wonder and wisdom lies beneath all our feet.

“SCIENTISTS MAY HAVE SOPHISTICATED LABORATORIES, BUT NEVER FORGET

‘EUREKA’ WAS INSPIRED IN A BATHTUB." —TOBA BETA, BETELGEUSE INCIDENT

GRAPHENE:FROM HUMBLE PENCIL TO

TOMORROW’S WONDER SUBSTANCE!

DALTON GHETTI, Pencil Pencil, 1996, Graphite and wood (regular No.2 pencil), Collection of the artist, Photo by Sloan Howard

TRUE VALUE:THE SHIFT FROM SCARCITY TO ABUNDANCE, FROM

NEVER ENOUGH TO THANKFULNESS FOR PLENTY

Historically, market values have been driven by scarcity. Prior to commercial electrical generation in the early 1880s, aluminum was exceedingly difficult to extract from its various ores. This made pure aluminum far more valuable

than gold! Aluminum bars were displayed next to the French Crown Jewels at the Paris Exposition of 1855, and in 1884, aluminum was selected as the exclusive capstone material for the Washington Monument. When Napoleon III wanted to impress his most highly honored banquet guests, he served them on aluminum dinner sets, leaving the gold and silver sets for his lesser guests. As the process of extracting aluminum became streamlined, aluminum quickly dropped its value and became the stuff we wrap our hotdogs in and then throw in the trash. Can we imagine what a costly marvel artist Dean Millien’s aluminum Gorilla would have been in Napoleon’s day?

Diamonds are actually abundant minerals. Their market availability has been tightly controlled to artificially keep their price high. With molecular duplication and 3-D printing, the notion of what has and does not have value will need rewriting—an exciting thought as humanity rides out the swift changes in manufacturing and production with a fresh eye to establishing what is truly desirable and precious to us all. Those answers might cease to be thing-oriented at all.

“WHO IS RICH? THE FEW CONTENT WITH THEIR PORTION.” —PIRKEI AVOT (ETHICS OF THE FATHERS)

STEVE HELLERStar Trek flying saucer2013Found metal, car parts, shrunk-down Captain Kirk and FriendsCollection of the artistPhoto by Dan Meyers

DEAN MILLIENGorilla2011100% Aluminum FoilCollection of Paul YanduraPhoto by Dan Meyers



BINARY CODE:IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO

Please use this Binary Code graph to write your name using only zeroes and ones. You can also use it to decode the message our walls are visually whispering to you! For centuries, wise African drummers communicated their messages out

across many miles by a series of long and short raps, much like audible Morse Code system of dashes and dots. Some Native American tribes expertly sent short and long smoke signals which could be read in the sky at great distance. Electricity is based on negative and positive charge. Magnetism is based on the balanced attraction and repulsion of north and south charges. Everything a modern computer does is based on the language of ones and zeroes. Even your heart speaks in a two-stage, rhythmic “Baah-Bump,” as your lungs signal life with an inhalation sound distinct from the exhalation sound. Yin and Yang, light and darkness, these are all universal two-step dances.

LINDSEY BESSANSON, Bombardier Beetle Pocket Watch, 2012, Organic material and metal cogs, Collection of the artist, Photo by Dan Meyers.

ALEX GREYPsychic Energy System1980Acrylic on linenCollection of the artistPhoto courtesy the artist



LIGHT AS A FEATHER:DEFINING SOUL"WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS HAVING A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS HAVING A HUMAN EXPERIENCE." —PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN

Just as the existence of germs was once ridiculed by those in the medical establishment with insufficient technology to detect them, the existence of a soul and/or consciousness that precedes, animates and transcends bodily existence has been hotly debated since before the time of the ancient Greek philosophers. Whatever our doubts, it is not surprising that nearly all languages have a word for the Soul. Einstein put it this way: “The more I study physics, the more I am drawn to metaphysics.”

Using the popular childhood levitation game whose first mention dates back to the 1600s, “Light As A Feather, Stiff As a Board,” and its multi-cultural global variants build a bridge of first-hand experiential understanding that there are indeed unforeseen forces at hand that seem to trump the everyday mechanics of our physical reality.

The spooky game is still practiced today at slumber parties and college dorms around the world. Those lifting, who begin by experiencing the heavy physical weight of the body and then, after the short series of group incantations, experience the ease of the subject’s rise (even works with the heaviest of subjects), “Light As a Feather” becomes a powerful participatory rite few can easily forget.

Today, many labs around the world have taken up the charge to document such things as the existence of free will, remote viewing (when a person can send their consciousness a great distance from their body to accurately retrieve information) and what we mean by words like “you” and “me.” From the ancients who taught our inescapable, individualized part within a vast web of life to the kindred energetic web of consciousness expressed artfully within this series of Sacred Mirrors by Alex Grey, scientists and artists, philosophers and physicists are attempting to articulate the view that our bodies are exquisitely complex machines and our souls animating, hyper-conscious real forces.

“THE DAY SCIENCE BEGINS TO STUDY NON-PHYSICAL PHENOMENA, IT WILL MAKE MORE PROGRESS

IN ONE DECADE THAN IN ALL THE PREVIOUS CENTURIES OF ITS EXISTENCE.” —NIKOLA TESLA

“I WANT TO LIVE FOREVER!”HUMANKIND’S STRUGGLE TO OUTWIT DEATH & ILLNESS

“WHATEVER HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY YOUR SOUL WILL SURVIVE, UNTOUCHED…” —J. K. ROWLING, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

Futuristic and high tech as the current, seriously well-funded transhumanist movement may be, the longing for immortality has its ancient roots in Eve, who discussed death and its finality with both the creator and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Today, young Russian billionaire entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov has marked the year 2045 as an achievable projected date to enable a download of what makes you you, into a mechanized holographic host that won’t get ill and won’t ever die. Itskov is far from alone in these sincere efforts. We all learned in grade school that 16th century Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon, was passionately inspired to search for the Fountain of Youth after hearing rumors of eternity-imparting waters hidden among the native peoples he met in Florida and Puerto Rico. Consider the current vampire, watcher and zombie craze, along with the many comic book characters endowed with superhero powers that include not aging, rapid bodily regeneration, and super-strengths and abilities. From Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray, whose aging was transposed onto a portrait; to the alchemists in search of an elixir for insuring eternal life; the tale of Jesus raising four days dead Lazarus from his grave; the “I wanna be a real boy” story of Pinocchio; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; the Jewish Golem figure brought to life out of mud; to the legend and eye-witness accounts of the Count de St Germaine who transcended several centuries looking youthful—rumors, pure fantasy, and possible truths of humans beating physical decline abound and always have. The big difference today is that science is now getting exponentially closer to identifying and describing that elusive force called Life, plus the physiological mechanism for individualized memory, and mapping the domain of consciousness. There are those who would argue we are already immortal, as tiny sparks of that which is infinite.

“HOW CAN PART OF THE WORLD LEAVE THE WORLD, HOW CAN WETNESS LEAVE WATER?” —RUMI

ADAM KURTZMAN, Elsa Lanchester as Bride of Frankenstein, 1999, Oil paint and graphite on papier-mache, Collection of Michal Makarovich.



NOAH, HIS PLOW& SOME REALLY DUMB AND DISASTROUS INVENTIONS

All of us have made mistakes. Few individuals have made ones that devastated thousands or caused irrevocable grand-scale harm to living systems worldwide. But some corporations have! Today, we nervously laugh in horror as we watch this 1950s face cream commercial, in which real radioactive particles are sprinkled liberally on the face of the model to prove a product's effectiveness. Actually for several decades radium was added to beauty products, promising its users renewed youth and skin 'glow.'

This was one of many REALLY bad ideas that seemed good to somebody at the time:

• Thalidomide: First prescribed by doctors in the late 1950s to treat anxiety, insomnia and morning sickness, it was withdrawn from the market in the early 1960s when doctors learned that it had caused devastating birth defects in about 10,000 children around the world.

• Asbestos, liberally used in construction and insulation for many decades, still causes as many as 10,000 American deaths every year from mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer or asbestosis.

• Silver tooth fillings containing mercury.

• Chlorinated and brominated flame retardants have contaminated the environment and accumulate in the human body. One reason North Americans have the highest body burden of PBDEs in the world, with fire fighters having one of highest rates of cancer in the world is polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been linked to doing damage to the nervous and reproductive systems and impairing thyroid function. Europe had banned BVO’s in beverages, but the US is still fighting that battle. Read the labels before you put things in your body.

• Lead in the pipes of drinking water (Rome suffered from this) and in house paint, causing mental impairment in children and tendency to violence.

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• Cigarettes.

• Nuclear power plant construction on known earthquake fault lines, resulting in core meltdowns at large plants like Fukushima.

• Use of depleted uranium in weapons, injures civilians for decades to come through pollution of air, water and land, directly causing deformities and illness.

• Sinkholes and leaking containment of toxic wastes.

• Not joining with most other developed countries to advocate for more independent, care-oriented controls on all chemical, pharmaceutical, and food modification processes. Because we bowed to corporate pressures to not label genetically modified foods like 64 countries around the world, many of our U.S. foods are banned from export.

Religious scholars credit Noah with the invention of the plow. The name Noah comes from the original Hebrew, Noach, meaning rest or comfort. Noah’s father predicted Noah would give mankind rest from toil. But after the Great Flood, legend has it humanity started to eat meat for the very first time. Together with the plow, although handy, humanity’s patriarch Noah marked a time when humans had further distanced themselves from a natural cooperative harmony with Nature, and initiated a path to violate the Earth to force it give to up its bounty—a state well below the original heavenly Eden first provided humankind.

"WE ARE STARDUST

BILLION YEAR OLD CARBON

WE ARE GOLDEN

CAUGHT IN THE DEVIL'S BARGAIN

AND WE'VE GOT TO GET OURSELVES

BACK TO THE GARDEN."

—LAST LINE OF JONI MITCHELL’S SONG, “WOODSTOCK”

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