DJKCreative Portfolio – Meow Wolf to Earthship – I_Nonself Creative

After returning from the east coast and my grandmothers funeral, I spent a week in Fort Collins before heading out to Albuquerque to help my dad move.

He was moving out there to help a family friend. She needed a roommate to help take care of the house while she traveled to Florida to take care of her Mom.

He had been working for the state, a government job doing software and database stuff for Colorado Fish and Wildlife. I visited his office at one point, a very beige, very drab office from the 70’s, tucked into an industrial park on the north west side of Denver near I25. I remember seeing coke or coffee stains on the cubical wall as we hung some of my photographs from Nepal.

My Dad began to feel physically ill at work, commuting from Denver to Boulder and sitting in that cramped office. Life’s calling had him asking whats important? Whats comes next?

His friend and landlord passed at the beginning of spring. While dealing with the repercussion of that, we got word that his mother, my grandmother, was going into hospice. She made the transition to the great unknown within a few days after she was admitted. As spring began, he found himself wandering, traveling, taking weeks off at a time, until he finally quit and met up with an old friend in the desert.

Padre and Stella Blue

They camped and talked, him and Janice. They knew each other from way back, time spent on the east coast and elsewhere. She took him to Albuquerque and to her ground level adobe apartment. She said to him, this spare room is yours, I would like your help, I’m counting on you. She needed someone to be there while she tended to family matters across the country.

He agreed and headed back to Boulder, two weeks to pack up a Uhaul and move his life from the Foothills of Colorado, to the high plains of Albuquerque.

I agreed to help and as the weekend of the move approached, we got word that Janice herself had fallen ill, and was going into surgery to remove a tumor that had been discovered during a routine check up. With plans changing and things shifting, we hit the road, Dad in the Uhaul and me in Stella Blue, dad’s SUV and ticket to the open road.

We arrived in Albuquerque, unpacked dads stuff in his new shared space, while Janice recovered in the hospital. A routine surgery produced complications, and our expectation of arriving to meet with Janice were once again rearranged. I unloaded Dad’s tomato plants and moved them into the back court yard. A beautiful little space, secluded and full of life, plants and hummingbirds.

The Courtyard at Janice’s

I straightened up the area, moved one of dads tables into the corner and set up a sitting nook in the shade. There was a wooden Buddha’s head mounted on the fence, with a big heart diagonally above it. I sat and looked at the scene as humming birds buzzed in and out of the plastic, mushroom shaped, bird feeder placed among the tomatoes.

I could see the roots of a big branching plant in the corner and I spied mycelium in the wood chips. The white strands of a fungal colony, the symbiotic partner to plant roots and the internet of the soil. A of network of exchange, moving nutrients from tree to tree, plant to plant.

The Buddha’s face was placed halfway up the wall, diagonal from the roots, and a big wooden heart was upward, and to the right, in the same diagonal direction. The progression of these images had me pondering my experience, modes of being, cultural momentum and individual trajectory.

Cultural waves can sweep people up, moving one towards or away from our own trajectory, closer or further from ones own way. There are many modes of being, thinking, feeling and doing – Energetic, bodily, and spiritually – momentum may ask us to change modes, discernment asks why.

On our journey, one can go to the roots, grounded in the earth, working with the plants and the soil, an earthly process of body and land. The soil and a closeness to it provides a timeless understanding of natures way. To plant your seeds in the soil, to walk to your plants each day, and to provide them with water and care is a most human experience, seemingly a never fail in terms of being and doing.

The Roots, The Wooden Buddha’s Heart, The Big Heart

One can navigate to the wooden Buddha’s head. Fed and clothed, In search of wisdom, and looking inward. What is to be found hear? The Buddha’s head and the imagery of the scene spoke to me of human wisdom and the nature of the mind.

The worker in the field toils all day, and any contemplation is often of ones work, ones pay or ones next meal. As a worker I have often been detached, mind elsewhere, body on auto pilot. To be mindful of ones work, to be present for ones work, this is a practice of a meditative mind.

The realms of sickle and seed are rewarding yet toilsome, the contemplative realm is steeped in stillness, one may confront fear, pain and suffering, with glimpses of clarity and an illuminated mind.

Clarity, many glimpses repeated, the breath and the embodied moment, free from obsession over concept and feeling, this is a practice of a meditative mind.

The opportunity to be still in contemplation provides a different experience of self. Looking inward I have found much more than self, I have seen other in self. I have heard other in self. I have felt other in self.

Uncertainty and discomfort along the way. I ask myself what am I attached to? how do my actions define my path? and how does one illuminate their life’s journey?

What a relief it is to sit and contemplate how I do not yet fully understand.

The big heart above the soil, above the Buddha’s head pulls on the individual. A great story line beckons, grandiose, epic and egotistic, a nonstop joyride to the heights of desire and endless celebration. A notion of being, to good to be true, I find myself attracted and adverse to this biggest of hearts.

Is it a trick, a ploy, a plot line untrue?

It seems to point at fame and fortune, the material world, and power. I know it, have felt it, indulged in its glow, and I’ve wondered what else.

In contrast, I examine the ways of the recluse. What is this biggest of hearts when nobody is around? When one is alone in the wilderness, does it tend to ones being? Does it tend to ones wholeness and health? Or does it pull, and complain, dragging and weighing upon the mind and body?

Gathering information through experience, I continue to ask, what is knowledge? What is wisdom? What is a distraction? What wisdom is to be found in solitude? What wisdom is to be found and shared together? And what of the process?

How to be true to ones journey, aging, life and death?

Alone and together, cultural expectations and the individual experience can clash and collide. What to hold on to and what to let go of? Connectedness, a network of brains, the individual and identity. How to balance the reality of being? Can all of ones grasping at the material world and the mind turn into a gentle yet firm embrace of that which is sacred and true?

The pull of the big heart, above the soil, above the Buddha’s head. The modern experience, and the illusion of endless glamour, fame and fortune. The celebrated american dream, the thrilling and endless race of desire and accomplishment. What of it brings happiness and contentment? Where is room for impermanence in these towers we build?

Space, place and purpose. In society, in culture, and in the ecosystem. In ones body, brain and mind. How do the cultural stories we tell, and the material creations we make from them effect our well being, and the environment.

A house is a story, a structure of meaning, the suburbs have their meaning by design, the temple has its meaning by design. The designer tells the story through form and function based on what they know, how they think, who they think with, what they have learned, and what the intention is.

Given a design, does the story of the design function in reality? Does it unify the human mind and the natural world?

Our imagination has an environmental impact on the planet. What we create begins as an idea. To take it from the mind into reality is the experiment of life. The creative approach to the human condition. True innovation and self creation occurs outside the boundaries of convention, yet we are still addressing humanities oldest of questions, who are we and what we are doing on earth?

A spiritual question?

A design problem to solve?

A continuance of story?

A matter of self expression?

How much space on earth is there for the human mind? If our creative thought effects the environment, how best to create a future of balance between humans, ourselves and the natural environment.

What does one do when conflicts between the individual, space, place and purpose arise. Beyond the intent of the built environment, nature has a structure of its own, and one may begin to notice that the brain is often quite fond of natures network of interdependence, the cycles of growth and decay, the sticks and stones, plants and trees, worms, animals and the vegetables in the garden.

I have noticed that a brain like mine can develop a comfort zone behind a computer, sometimes my brain focuses to much on my own mind and twists into a ball of tension as if arguing with itself. I walk and sit in nature to help.

Observation of natures processes can help one understand how an ecosystem functions.

Observation of the mind can bring awareness to the individual.

Awareness for the individual can bring about awareness of our interconnectedness, an interdependence; humans, the earth system, and what we create.

Awareness of self and the environment can lead to curiosity. The curious explore and examine the internal and the external, eventually encountering a problem to solve, then personal growth and innovation become the next step forward.

Through design, through creation, through communication and through mindful reflection, an understanding of oneself, and ones environment can lead to a purposeful mode of being.

Harmonic and chaotic, the individual, as a body, in a culture and in an ecosystem, is a balancing act of space, place, and purpose.

In action, the cleaning of the patio space at Janice’s gave purpose to the moment for me, and later, sitting out there in stillness provided a contemplative space to be, and for these ideas to arise.

“Take a deep breath.”

With ideas of how to be swimming through my head, and an appreciation of place, space, feeling and purpose, we left Albuquerque and took the Turquoise Trial, New Mexico State Road 14, through the rustic artist enclave of Madrid, and on to Santa Fe, the oldest city in the american west.

Pictures from The Oldest House – The oldest structure in Santa Fe and One of the oldest occupied structures in the western United States. Its speculated that it has been standing and occupied since 1740.

Quality was written on the plastic water knobs at the Super 8 motel. I thought about that notion over a few beers while lying on the polyester comforter. How we create, the materials we use, the labels and meanings we assign to things, how they function, the stories they tell.

The artist, the designer, the engineer. Vision, purpose and structure.

In the morning we woke, went to get breakfast, then headed to Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return. Meow Wolf came together as a collective of anarchist artists, whose philosophy was to be radically inclusive. The mock Victorian house located in a warehouse in Santa Fe became a space where artists could gather and build whatever they wanted out of whatever they wanted, without asking for permission to create. They organized themselves and they used recycled and reclaimed materials in order to create scenes, structures, and material environments. Out of the chaos, a group of penniless, renegade artists created a world for themselves, a structure, a business and a community.

An amazing and overwhelming experience, The House of Eternal return uses place and space, material and design to excite, to captivate and as one of the creators said, the space has viewers leaving blissed out. Bizarre and interactive rooms, portals, creations of waste, found objects, shiny new materials, digital screens and a music venue are enough to keep people engaged for hours. There is also a story line, a mystery to be solved.

Who were the Seligs? Where did they go? and why is their home overrun by figures in white lab coats? (Picture Courtesy of Meow Wolf)

Meow Wolf used the chaos of their environment and cohesion of community to create order overtime. Chaos and order, the plight and purpose of humanity. The founding members of Meow Wolf had a problem of place and purpose. Anarchist principles and a general displacement from mainstream society had them looking for a way to do, a way to be. A need for themselves and for each other, in terms of self expression and community. In the long term, they created a livelihood based on their creative efforts. They made room for themselves by operating from their shared values and the mainstream curved to their intentions over time.

“An unassuming building in the city’s (Santa Fe) industrial district is a nexus of colorful, chaotic portals that take explorers to worlds they’ve only seen in their wildest dreams.” (Pictures Courtesy of Meow Wolf)

This amazing space of creative expression and curious absurdity, built by a culture of DIY bandits and talented artists, gave birth to a world of possibility.

My experience came with a mixed appreciation, in awe and overwhelmed. All the materials, all of the creative effort, plastics plants and plastic mushrooms, an amazing sensory overload of story and place. I reflected as we got back in the car and headed to The Earthship Biotecture Community to check out the ships and stay the night.

As we headed north, I thought. What was the meaning of the House of Eternal Return?

The title made me think of the Buddhist idea of Samsara, the continued rebirth into earthly suffering. Could one build a house, a material dwelling that could help to usher one out of Samsara, a freedom from suffering in this lifetime? Regardless of ones perception of reincarnation, could one help to eliminate suffering by design? Could one build a structure, a place that provides a way to live in harmony with themselves, a space for the individual to be in the body and mind with purpose, with the environment and with community?

So much creative energy went into the making of Meow Wolf. If one were to pursue an idea as described above, a design of space and place with the purpose of alleviating suffering, where would they place their creative efforts? What kind of home would they design?

Within the human experience we all encounter problems of place and purpose. In my experience I have been through times when a simple roof overhead was the greatest blessing. Wandering, traveling, out of the wilderness and off the highway, a roof and a space to lie down is quite a place to be after continued exposure to the elements.

After a while, spending a long time under one roof, one may notice more of what a roof does. After the initial relief of being sheltered, one may notice that the roof sheds water awkwardly and could be made to funnel water into a catchment system to capture the rain.

Place and space enhance our creativity. Natural and man made environments inspire.

When problems of space and place in regards to housing are solved, the creative individual is able to expand their mind further past the basic needs of survival and into the realms of well being and progress.

Self expression is a way of creative problem solving, but what if, once expressed, the individual recognizes that the shelter which allowed them to stay warm and dry, was an idea that in itself could be improved upon. What if the design and function of a house was an expression of natures processes, a structure built using an understanding of the earth system and human materials to define how a house functions.

This is the vision behind the Earthship structure. This living building model is an earthwork structure built using cob, adobe, hay, and the earth onsite. Often built into a burm, car tires are used as a retaining wall at the rear of the structure. The front of the building faces south, a full front facing greenhouse allows for plants to grow in the structure as well as for the capture of passive solar energy to heat the building.

A convection system allows for hot and cold air to move through the space based on a system of vents that can be opened and closed to control air flow. The building materials are conducive to organic, flowing shapes, with beautiful glass bottle windows and the ever resourceful beer can wall. The feel of the space is often open, natural, full of light and plant life. The living breathing ships are an amazing and inspiring use of recycled materials in a beautiful and resourceful way.

Human impact on our environment, the materials we create with and how we view our waste, are all concerning problems to solve for Architect Micheal Reynolds.

His vision of a living, breathing house, built from recycled materials began to come to fruition in the early 70s. He wanted to build a structure out of earth, something that would be self sustaining in terms of energy, garbage management, sewage treatment, shelter, clean water and food. The structure was designed to capture and recycle water through a system of planters. Persevering through push back from the mainstream architecture world and through the stigma of building with waste, his dream manifested in the Earthship model and the Earthship Community in Taos, New Mexico over the next several decades.

We stayed the night in the Lemuria Earthship. Cob, water catchment, solar power, glass bottle windows, and aluminum can walls. We drank beers and listened to the distant neighbors laugh and holler as the setting sun shone against the solar panels and the greenhouse glass. The top vents to the greenhouse were wide open, a long, heavy draw cord, used to operate them, like the raising of a ships sail.

Opening the vent above the door to the main living area allows cool air to flow from the vents running through the berm on the east wall. The air flows up through the vent in between the greenhouse and the main room. The draw of air creates a living, breathing convection current that allows the ship to be heated and cooled by opening and closing the vents. A water catchment system is built into the berm, so the roof drains entirely into several catchment units.

The Earthship was spacious, the main entrance being either from the east or west into an insulating mud room that connects the greenhouse. The mud room is a glass and adobe room with no ventilation other than opening and closing the doors. The large east facing windows allowed the solar heat from the sun to keep these small rooms very warm year round. The greenhouse is watered by a grey water system, all water that is used in the house is recycled through the house, all black water (water containing waste) enters into the leech field, providing nutrients from human waste to the outdoor plants over time. The water is heated by a solar heater with a gas heater back up, the main living space is connected to an open kitchen with an island separating the spaces.

The space has a master bedroom to the east of the kitchen and there is one bathroom with a beautiful full shower made of sheet rock and adobe. Random works of art can be found on the property, beautiful creations made out of welded metal, re-purposed materials, left over cob, and broken pieces of colored glass.

The house itself is a vision incarnate, how to think of waste in architecture, how to make a regenerative living building. An earthly ship sailing the vast sea of human sustainability. A vessel integrated into the ecosystem, self sustaining and built to function within its localized environment.

As Micheal Reynolds has said, waste is a word we made up. His design is in recognition of future resource scarcity and humanities propensity for producing waste while recognizing the abundance mentality. Comfortable living in a socially progressive and environmentally responsible design. A philosophy in a building, a house on the desert sea, with systems of resource retention and recycling built into the design.

Meow Wolf to Earthship, a journey through space, place and purpose. The stories they tell by design. Stories of community, expression and values. Individuals gathering together using creativity to challenge the main stream and to solve problems of place and purpose. How the visionary dances with design, and recognizes chaos while seeking order. The ecosystem, our materials, and how they interact. Design for human excitement and design for a sustainable future, how they associate, and how they contrast; the definition of space and what it promotes. Both Meow Wolf and Earthship Biotecture have built communities of thought as well as structures in the environment. Both use recycled materials to define space. More obviously a focus of the earthship model, the use of tires, cob and glass bottles creates a space of unified intentions. Humans, materials, and earth as one cohesive function, in one cohesive space. Meow Wolf’s interior space shows its roots in anarchy. The outrageous use of materials, color, light and space depict the chaos from which it was born. Its success has shown that by being true to the creative process by which it was built, the movement and creative collective shifted chaos to order over time.

Meow Wolf, a chaotic world of imagination, a future built by a movement of creatives through community and expression.

Earthship Biotecture, a beautiful and functional vision of the future built from the chaos of the past.

These two experiences provided an amazing dialogue for me to expand upon and share here. The journey from the wondrous and creative chaos of Meow Wolf to the earthly beauty and composed function of the Earthship Community symbolizes, for me, a process of maturing understanding.

Meow Wolf is a sculpted experience, amazement in day glow, young and explosive.

The idea of the Earthship acknowledges a deeper understanding of existence past ones own lifetime. A grounded world beyond self, a recognition of cycles, of natures way, and of a sacred earth.

As I look forward at my own future and to the future of our civilization, I wonder;

Where do we go from here?

How do we get there?

How do we engage our minds with the true value of being? With the true value of nature?

How do we enrich a natural spirit in our world for generations to come?

How will we live? What will we live in? And what of our waste?

How do we design for this?

Can the social balance of humanity reach an earth balance with the ecosystem. Are we all on the wildest ride of our lives, the whole world careening into oblivion, an outbreak species, destined to consume and propagate until we have reached the bounds of our petridish and parish in our own waste, or, are we here, present, acknowledging urgency while remaining calm, fixing problems, creating solutions, pushing forward at a reasonable pace, peacefully changing hearts and minds, easing out of chaos.

The human mind, focused on humans, only does human things. We are an overbearing species in the earth system. How does one recognize this honestly, with compassion for ourselves, and design a future to account for that?

What did we do while we were here? Did we let our urgency become debilitating instead of empowering? Did we learn of stillness, in observation of natures processes?

The recognition of death can bring an urgency to life. What to do with that urgent energy, this is part of my journey; Meow Wolf to Earthship, and onward. The push forward that both of these groups made for the world, as artists, designers, and engineers, was steeped in urgency, in recognition of situational, social and environmental problems in our world, both locally and universally.

For all people, it seems that story tellers we become, regardless of ones perspective or ones work. Our lives are stories told to the next generation regardless of how we viewed ourselves. Our buildings are stories, a communication of values, our ways of being, a way to create pathways for young minds to fallow and build further for themselves. Our respect for the earth, and natures cycles shall continue as they do after we die. What we imagine can become what we create, what we create can change the earth, what we believe of the process can provide purpose, and building with purpose can define ones story. A story of purpose will live on in what we built, knowledge and wisdom in a structure of material creation. An understanding of space, place, and purpose, designed and built for the world, a totem on the path for the next generation. Based on your story, what will they create?