The Universal Mind Lattice

Human-Race, Overland Theatre, Boston, MA, April 17th, 1982. I created a special gasoline powered circular drive vehicle. The audience sat within two feet of the circle. I entered the space and pull-started the noisy engine which filled the space with the smell of gasoline. Laying down on the machine, I engage the clutch and it started rolling. The vehicle quickly accelerated to 25 or 30 mph spinning around the circle. Suddenly the base ripped out of the concrete; the machine was out of control heading toward the audience. Everyone screamed. But the machine stopped when I killed the engine. Later I thought about this piece as a metaphor of technology out of control. Initially it has an exciting and a mesmerising effect upon us, then we realise it may kill us.

The above is a sample of the work of performance artist Alex Grey. He describes in the following adapted extract how a (drug-induced) mystical experience with his partner and fellow artist Allyson Grey led to focus on transformative art and art as a healing force.

We made a sacred ritual use of LSD. I remember having come back from the North magnetic pole, directly prior to going to Allyson's party. I had been questioning what my performances were about. What was I looking for - in my work and in my life? For the first time I realised I was looking for God. Allyson is for me an experience of God's Love in the physical world and the LSD was a way for both of us to dissolve the ego boundaries and enter into the infinite domain of Love which God is. Many times we would take the substance Iying in bed, sometimes with blindfolds on. It was one such occasion when we entered into a dimension that we call the Universal Mind Lattice. Trying to describe this space is a formidable task, and is always illusive, but I will attempt it.

The dimension is outside of the continuum of space and time that we commonly experience in the material or phenomenal realm. Our consciousness transcended the physical body, and we entered an infinite realm where all beings and things are obviously, immediately, and spontaneously interconnected. Each being and thing is a node in this network, a network that extends infinitely, omni-directionally, and is composed of Divine Love. This is the energy that is running through all beings and things. We all share the same energy. There is a breakdown of all boundaries - of the boundary between self and other. We saw that we are the same as all other beings and things, yet we are an important node in the network of consciousness. We gained an instant rapport and sacred connection with all beings and things. All the energy is moving from one being into another, each being simultaneously a fountain and a drain of light. The strands or emanations of energy are composed of a rainbow irridescence of clear light. It all arises out of a ground of seeming emptiness.

This was the mystical experience that became the foundation from which our art would emanate. Our attempt from that point forward was to express in our artwork this interconnectedness of all beings and things that we experienced through the Universal Mind Lattice.

There are now organisations whose purpose is to discuss, analyse, exhibit and promote art which has a healing and transformative intent. Art As A Healing Force is a conference and art exhibition held on an annual basis in Bolinas, California, and sponsored by the Bolinas Museum and Commonwealth. Some of the best minds in contemporary art, medicine, healing, art therapy, psychiatry, and transpersonal psychology meet and discuss the healing potential of imagery and the art-making process. They can be contacted at, Art As A Healing Force, Box 830, Bolinas, CA 94924, USA.

We are also excited to be part of a group called the lnternational Friends of Transformative Art. TFTA is a non-profit organisation established to study, present and encourage transformative art. They define transformative art as 'any visual or performing art that expresses or evokes spiritual truths, or higher states of consciousness that lead to a greater understanding of oneself, humanity, nature, the cosmos, and their interdependence. As old as the first shamanic song, ritual object, or cave painting, transformative art is also as new as the work of thousands of artists living today who are deeply concemed with the urgent need for change in our world. These artists are often inspired by the venerable, ancient tradition of the spiritual in art. However, the spiritual impulse in recent art is being transformed toward a more globally inclusive, socially responsible, interactive, and ecological committed purpose.' International Friends of Transformative Art can be contacted at 142A North 78th Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, USA.

For more information about the works of Alex and Allyson Grey, contact them at their studio at 725 UnionStreet, Brooklyn, NY11215, USA.