BICYCLE, a psychedelic and visionary arts event

TICKETS ONLY AVAILABLE AT DOOR!

bicycleparty — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:00:08 +0000

hey all presale closed. Tickets available at door

5pm entry for early art-$10 (does not include music)

6pm-9pm entry for art show ONLY- $5

MUSIC and ART tix- $20

See you all there!!

BICYCLE limited edition release poster: BLACKLIGHT!!!!!!

bicycleparty — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:19:06 +0000

So the event posters are super fun. Same 1943 roadster as the shirt, same reason. This time sitting in a field of grass that’s slightly reminiscent of a brain, a jungle, a trap and a swirling release. Spinning off the wheels are again the fractals of LSD molecules. Around the outside of the poster are the words from Albert Hoffman himself, written in his journal from that fateful day in April 1943 when upon ingesting 250 mics of LSD-25 he rode his bike home and sent the rest of us forward….

These posters are 12″ x 18″, matte finish, blacklight phosphoresence, 40 each color, S/N by artist Erin Cadigan.

NIGHT version: BICYCLE print by Erin Cadigan

DAY version: BICYCLE print by Erin Cadigan

DETAIL: back tire night version

DETAIL: Day version front tire

LIMITED: BICYCLE SHIRTS

bicycleparty — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:22:02 +0000

So we made shirts for the participating visual artists and staff and liked them so much we made a few extra to sell at the general merch booth. Men or Women’s they have a 1943 roadster bicycle blasting off in the bottom left hand corner of the front of the shirt. Leaving in it’s wake is a wrap around to the back print of fractaling LSD molecules.

The meaning behind all this. In 1943 Albert Hoffman discovered LSD 25 while working in his lab. Assuming the compound to be useless for what he was trying to create, he decided to re-examine it on its own merits after a “trippy” experience in which he had absorbed a bit through his skin. So on a spring day in 1943 Hoffman ingested 250 mics of pure LSD (this is an enormous dosage for LSD but for most drugs considered a very low dosage). Once the drug kicked in, Hoffman freaked out a bit, jumped on his BICYCLE and quickly rode home. This shirt design is a graphic representation of that bike ride.

1943 Roadster BICYCLE shirt front

LSD Fractal BICYCLE shirt back

to read more about this: Albert Hoffman’s Bike Ride

Artist Spotlight: David D’Andrea

bicycleparty — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:10:31 +0000

Another spotlight! This time David D’Andrea. Davids work is quietly psychedelic and subtly visionary. It’s beautiful to look at and stunning in it’s mastery of pen and ink technique and drawing style. But what draws the viewer in is the layers of meaning, at first a peaceful scene of nature, then you notice the skull and the animals seem intentionally placed in the frame as if they are trying to tell you something, you start to question what is being conveyed in the hidden layers of the work, this is the kind of art that opens your mind and consciousness. What is it all saying? Heres David in his own words to shed some light……

David D'Andrea

name:

David V. D’Andrea

age:

city:

Emeryville , CA.

At what age did you know you wanted to be a professional artist

My connection to underground culture crystallized when I started doing drawings under the influence of punk rock, skateboarding, zines etc. of the late 80s/early 90s. I had found a place where I possibly belonged, and saw that my contribution was to be visual art. I obsessed over xeroxed zines, album covers, band logos, and just started doing my own.

Did you ever consider any other career

I am a tradesman I guess, and I approach illustration in that way. My father and grandfather were plumbers. Something along those lines would be fine. I feel like, even if I had a basic trade, I’d have to satisfy my artistic vision in some form.

Who is/are you favorite artist/s? Why?

Takato Yamamoto, Kiki Smith, Alan Forbes, Harry Clarke, Roger Dean, Larry Rivers, Barron Storey, Rick Griffin, Ivan Bilibin, Barney Bubbles, El Greco, Brion Gysin.

What moves you to create psychedelic or visionary art?

I’m interested in nature, science, letterforms, graphic design, print making, and mark making. Once I filter these things through my vision, I guess the outcome is psychedelic.

I definitely make conscious nods to the artists of the 60s in certain pieces. It is one of the eras that speaks to me most strongly, and I think the general subject matter coupled with lettering style and layout, are signifiers in peoples’ heads of the psychedelic era.

Whereas I am equally inspired by early 1900s artists, such as Harry Clarke, who are incredibly psychedelic in a less recognized way.

I think that a psychedelic artist somehow communicates this vision from beyond the veil, which resonates with the viewer on a deep level. In my favorite “psychedelic” art there’s simultaneously heavy communication, abstraction, good design, and craft. Rick Griffin is the best example in my mind. There is a lot to aspire to in that.

I like that a large part of the process requires going inward, surfacing, and explaining the experience through visuals. Psychedelic art is at once extremely personal and hugely universal.

David D'Andrea Skelwreath

what is your favorite piece you’ve created? Why?

My favorite piece is usually the one on my drawing table!

What medium do you work in? What is your process to complete art?

The method of drawing is always determined by method of reproduction. Screen prints are always ink on paper or board.

Album covers or gallery pieces are more flexible. Anything goes.

What about being a professional artists do you find challenging? What do you find rewarding?

It’s all pretty rewarding. The biggest challenge is probably financial woes., but that goes without saying.

What is your favorite color. Why do you think it is?

Earthy green. I like mushrooms and moss.

Like any other field do you see yourself “retiring”?

I’ll keep working until either my hands or eyes give way.

Do you listen to music while you work? Who in particular?

Of course! Pandit Pran Nath, Ash Ra Tempel, Om, Mournful Congregation.

Do you have your own studio?

I have a studio, yes. There’s not much separation between my “everyday” life and work. I sleep under my drawing table.

David D'Andrea Sleepy Sun giclee

SNEAK PEAK: David D’Andrea

bicycleparty — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:43:40 +0000

So here is a look at artist David D’Andrea’s new print for BICYCLE on the theme: Positive Visions. Though from what we understand he will be bringing forward several new prints…

DAVID D'ANDREA : Positive Visions : BICYCLE RELEASE 2010

Spotlight Special: Katherine Factor

bicycleparty — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:18:37 +0000

So it’s kind of hard to categorize today’s spotlight. Katherine Factor is neither a musician nor a visual artist. She is a poetess, a working poetess which is no mean feat in this day and age of t.v. video games and internet. Katherine will be joining BICYCLE on the main stage to share some of her most recent works before Citizen Ten kicks off the music. And so we decided she deserves a spotlight. Katherine in her own words….

Katherine Factor

name:

Katherine
age:

unknown
city::

Greece, California

At what age did you know you wanted to be a professional poet?
A love of language has been present in my whole life ~ I sang jingles from commercials, I absorbed and re-produced puns, I read voraciously with particular interests in the unknown and fantasy. I was very sensitive to how language is used – and was raised with an emphasis on education, having enormous access to the all for the visual and performing arts. As a result, I encountered wonderful mentors the whole way. This created a feeling of direct transmission of knowledge. And since the dominant culture annihilates poetry and all that shimmers with illogic, (hence there is no profession as Poet), the teaching I do is monumentally important to me.
When I was 12 I wrote many good poems that were published, and while that could have been an early start, I only struggled to shape a poet’s life because, in part, it is so ill-defined in society. I also wasn’t aware for a very long time that there was indeed a place for me/ my odd poetics that stem from an intricate musical score in my head. Movements that produce a visionary aesthetics – surrealism, experimental poetics, and social justice – these help permeate the machine of logic, thus creating space for poetry.

Did you ever consider any other career?
I have had hands in other fields, as any poet must. And while I earnestly tried otherwise, poetry continues to choose me. I do not have a choice.
Who is/are you favorite artist/s? Why?
My favorite poets are the British and American Romantics like Blake, the Wordsworths, Thoreau and Whitman. Due to that lineage, I draw generously from poets like Hilda Doolittle, the Black Mountain School (Denise Levertov) and the San Francisco Renaissance (Robin Blasér and Robert Duncan). Those are two lesser-known movements that circulated around the better-known Beat Movement of that very healthy era in poetry. Of course, contemporary poets continue to strengthen these lineages through ethno and eco-poetics, ( Snyder, Rothenberg, Hillman) and west coast experimentalists.
What moves you to create?
The great necessity for poetry and its duties: to create restoration and increase our mutability – to slow us down, to attend to connections; to reify silence, create music, ritual, time travel, to create worlds that move! and insist on imagination against hegemony and our suffocating prejudice toward time-space-military economy paradigm over love and dreamwork.
For me, this translates (as it did for the Romantics) as a need to fight for the irrational, experiential knowing, an interest in the occult and apocalyptic as well as Utopian thinking; and thus idiosyncrasy, Gaian thinking, and folk or common speech patterns/syntax and other ways of waking up words/worlds must be employed.
Ultimately, this is an eco-feminism, a deep want for a Sybil society, one that allows for uncertainty, Keats’s “negative capability”, ambiguity, alongside a gnosis and wisdom that is intuitive and of natural law – those dark and wet unknown zones of our inner and outer lives, they are extremely fertile ways of proceeding through this current bottleneck.

What is your favorite piece you’ve created? Why?
Right now, I am really into this poem Mycophilia. After Ifinished I worked with my friend, Christopher Jett, whose a sound engineer to put beats behind my reading of it.

I had so much fun researching and writing this potent retelling the story of two mid-20th century figures seminal to our understanding of cultural influences on human relationships to “plant” life.

It really took on another life when Chris put beats to it. Thank you! My poetics necessitate collaboration, and I invite more cross-disciplinary work.
What is your process for creating a piece?
There are several ways of making a poem, of casting a world through organic or more traditional forms. Inspiration, the arrival of the muse, is the most common way we assume art happens, yet that is the way my poems happen the least – in a flash or with ease. Perspiration, an intense and delicate crafting of a poem is a more common way to work. And it is such tremendously difficult work – to tap poetic sources sustainably, to play with words productively, to understand nuance in language, to keep some etymologies alive, to read and listen widely across the world, to insist on diversity and multi-dimensional literacy, to have to organize ancient wisdom and myth appropriately. But the pay off is tremendous! There is no feeling better than poem-making and reading ~

What about being a poet do you find challenging?
Everything about poetry is challenging. It is a vastly misunderstood art, and we wrongly are imprinted by the education system that one must be a super erudite to read them, and that then we must unlock the “deep” meaning from the poem as if it is a code. Movements like the avant-garde, Dadaism, elliptical, and L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E poetry teach us – wisely- that it is important to feel a poem, that we read and re-read, and if we are confused or challenged, we sit with that uncertainty, with any indeterminability at had. We live in the disease of Capitalism and Cannibalism of the Mother, an era that insists on ever-increasing push for comfort and certainty.
What do you find rewarding?
I find the fact that it makes me feel wild inside…that I have a direct line to sacred utterances and the oral tradition…that is uber-rewarding. Also, I relish that I am able to put anything to live together in a line — all the while making tiny artifacts, evidence of the mind - of consciousness – at the time.
What is your favorite genre of music? Why do you think it is?
Oh goodness, I like nearly all of it, (especially jazz funk and soul) and it all informs or sometimes hijacks my work. I LONG to know more about the music of Ancient Greece, that might be my favorite.
Like any other field do you see yourself “retiring”? If so when? What would you do after? If not, why?
No one retires from poetry; it feeds the soul and goes on and on as long as the sounds do. The word is the oldest form of materialization, and as much as I love them, it would be neat to return to a state of ESP or color communication. This is something some of my poems attempt to penetrate – parallel communicative tools, worlds, points of views.

While creating do you work alone?
I do. It is a lonely legislation, for sure. But, most of the percolating - the collecting of constellating ideas, the eavesdropping/extracting found language, the imagination that grows at protests or events I attend, the wonder I carry with me, the exchange of drafts, that all takes place in the company of others/nature/the Mother.
Do you have your own studio? If not where do you work? If so how long have you had the studio?
No. I work wherever possible – within institutions, on drink costers, borrowed computers.

Musician Spotlight : Kaptain Harris

bicycleparty — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:16:39 +0000

Spotlight Kaptain Harris.

KAP10

Kap10 is a SF local and STS9 family. He’ll be on the second stage at about 11 getting the party pumped with” a little bit of everything-hip hop, house, funk, disco and electro to name a few-into a unique mélange of high energy, dance floor friendly mixing”. I’m guessing Kap10 can’t be held in a box. This spotlight is more a stream of consciousness then an interview. With out further a do…the Kaptain in his own words

my favorite genre at the moment is prawbly moombahton which a DC DJ by the name of Dave Nada, “invented” at a house party…(u can find a link to the whole story online somewhere if ya want) Moombahton is slowed down house with reggaeton drum patterns underneath and its been killin out here and alot of other places…I find it to be a perfect mix of house, rave, tropical, reggae/dancehall and the whole bass craze thats been goin on but at a tempo that everyone is comfortable with, around 108 bpms which is great for people of all tastes because the ravers recognize the tracks and the builds, but its slow enough for people with a more hip hop/dancehall background to get down to…My first take on this is Claude Von Stroke’s “The Whistler” which I felt would be perfect for the moombahton vibe and was pretty big out here for quite awhile back in the day as he and DIrtyBird are based out here….I actually started this track trying to flip Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ “Home” which is an Amazing song with even more amazing sections but almost too good to “remix” or mess around with really, so I chopped up the whistle part of it as well as using bits of Too Shorts “Blow the Whistle”, and Juelz’ “Whistle Song”, my own drums and some other bits and pieces and my first moombahton remix was born..I have a couple more moombahton edits im working on as well as 3 or 4 EPs of originals that will be coming out in the next few months as well as some remixes working with other people….

http://soundcloud.com/kap10/the-whistler-kap-moombahton-rmx

Chor Boogie in Action

bicycleparty — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:21:31 +0000

Chor Boogie creates amazing large scale works using strictly spraypaints. His works are more fine art then graffiti and can be seen in outdoor spaces all up and down the West Coast. Chor will be painting live during the art show working on a canvas to be donated to one of our sponsors MAPS, The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

Musician Spotlight : CITIZEN TEN

bicycleparty — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:30:36 +0000

Spotlight! CITIZEN TEN! Citizen Ten as a DJ likes to shake things up, basically spinning Hip Hop/ Psychedelic, he likes to add what he calls “organic music”, melodies, thematic statements, to the electronica. He wants his listeners to discover new music to love every time they listen to one of his sets. As an individual Citizen Ten listens to an eclectic mix of of genres and you can hear that come through in his music. That’s why you’ll find him in line ups with everyone from Meat-Beat Manifesto to STS9 to Gift of Gab. Come catch his set on the Main Stage with the MC Abstract Rude. Here’s Citizen Ten in his own words….

Citizen Ten

Name:

Citizen Ten

Age

City:

born and raised in San Diego, CA – then raised some more in San Francizzle

At what age did you know you wanted to be a professional musician?

uh… loaded question. i was basically told i was going to be a professional concert violinist since birth – rejected that at some point and thought I’d be a rock star in a band. or a comic book artist. or a filmmaker. AND a professional musician… about 10 years ago, when i moved to the bay, is when it really clicked, i guess…

Did you ever consider any other career?

i considered baseball when i was in elementary school. i was awesome (haha)… since high school i’ve been working towards, basically, what i’m doing now – which is music, art, and film.

Who is/are you favorite artist/s? Why?

musically, Radiohead. if you can make me rock-out, dance, and cry at the same time – you’re the shit. most of my second-favorites (and there are tons) only make me do one or the other…

What moves you to create?

Life, love, loss, and the thought of something never seen or heard before. and the concept of having been so inspired by someone that i just want to (ideally) return the favor…

What is your favorite piece you’ve created? Why?

i generally end up hating most stuff i’ve done – at some point… I’m super proud, though, of a lil’ mixtape series i’ve been working on – and still am – called TOUGH LOVE & RARE ROCKERS. so far there’s 3 volumes with 2 or 3 mini-mixes on each showcasing super rare soul, psych-rock, lost international world music, and stuff that later got sampled by hiphop… no big turntable tricks or anything – it’s all about the music. contact me to get ‘em… THECITIZENTEN@GMAIL.COM or, i think i have one of ‘em up on Soundcloud.

What is your process for creating a piece?

i’m a big-intro kinda guy – so there’s that. always a huge dirty drums dude. so there’s that too… but my music background dictates an interesting melody… so i’m always looking to rep that too. i’m a huge advocate of ‘happy accidents’ – so i never count those out… it’s different depending on the project or vibe i’m going for.

What about being a professional musician do you find challenging? What do
you find rewarding?

most people know what’s up – especially in SF. but, of course i get frustrated when people come to a show and request songs. let alone a song that they have in their fucking car or some radio shit. guess what? go out to yer car and bump! i’m trying to play some new shit – even if it’s super old… I get off on zeroing in on the person in the crowd who’s rocking out the most – and then i’m just playing for them. they are my target and i’m trying to keep ‘em moving.

What is your favorite genre of music. Why do you think it is?

tough… but live music. band-stuff. doesn’t have to be rock. I love BROADCAST – but i wouldn’t call them rock per se… the blood, sweat and tears doesn’t translate to laptops, beat machines, or djs… it can – but it’s a one in a million-type thing. a dj has NEVER made me get super emotional. a rapper has. but not, like, empathy-sad emotion. more like “yeah! fuck that!” -type emotion…

Like any other field do you see yourself “retiring”? If so when? What would
you do after? If not, why?

haha. i can see myself “retiring” from djing – but that would only mean i got my live performance game on lock – and am doing that. which is what i want to do. and when i “retire” from that – it’s because i will be composing film scores for my movies. and when that stops – i’ll be old and just jamming with the homies… i do not know life without music.

While creating do you work alone?

yes. i share for input and opinions from friends – but only after i’ve worked out initial kinks. it’s a meditatve process for the most part.

Do you have your own studio? If not where do you work? If so how long have
you had the studio?

i’m kind of a caveman. the least tech-y musican i know. i work alot of stuff out in my head – and have ALOT of tech-savvy friends around me, thank god. i had a studio but am now more of a vagabond artist. if i have paper and a pencil – i can (seriously) get more music done than you. most of the magic happens in the pre-production. then when it’s go-time, it just goes…

Check out some of Citizen Tens mixes at:

myspace.com/citizenten

Musician Spotlight: ABSTRACT RUDE

bicycleparty — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:08:51 +0000

Welcome to the first musician spotlight… Abstract Rude. Hailing from Los Angeles, Ab Rude has been creating music since he was child. His rhyming is both prophetic and earthly, expressing through hip hop poetry a strong connection to some universal truths. If you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing this man speak and perform, you definitely need to. For more about Abstract Rude in his own words….

Abstract Rude

Name:

Abstract Rude

Age

30 sumthn

City:

Los Dangerous

At what age did you know you wanted to be a professional musician?

9 but it wasnt believable until 15

Did you ever consider any other career?

Electrical engineer like my pops

Who is/are you favorite artist/s? Why?

Michael Jackson/Prince – ultimate entertainers
Erykah Badu – so risky & sexy
Gnarls Barkley/Mos Def/Outkast/Snoop Dogg – they solid
RJD2/STS9/Pretty Lights/Glitch Mob – the beats and stage shows

What moves you to create?

Things I see either wrong or beautiful in the world basically
also just wanting to share my crazy or calm thoughts

What is your favorite piece you’ve created? Why?

Coat of Paint and/or In Nevada
both are creatively stylized and unique to my voice

What is your process for creating a piece?

Vibing with the music, letting it speak to me, listening to what it says
then i just ride the streamline of thought

What about being a professional musician do you find challenging? What do
you find rewarding?

Challenging: making a living with solely music
Rewarding: effecting people’s lives and the gratitude from fans

What is your favorite genre of music. Why do you think it is?

Hip Hop of course, but also Soul, reggae, jazz & dubstep…it all makes my soul fulfilled
and my ass wanna dance

Like any other field do you see yourself “retiring”? If so when? What would
you do after? If not, why?

Yes I will transition into artist development in the next 5 or so years maybe…but u never retire from singing/rhyming
it stays in u…look at Aretha, James Brown till he died, Jay Z, Too Short, Tina Turner…the list goes on

While creating do you work alone?

Yes i work best alone but with a producer or fellow artists too it just adds to the creation

Do you have your own studio? If not where do you work? If so how long have
you had the studio?

Yep…had my own studio since the mid 90s…its morphed as technology has changed
but its the same ol trusty point of origin!!!

for previews to unreleased tracks visit
reverbnation.com/abstractrude

to follow or visit or connect with Abstract Rude
facebook.com/abstractrude
twitter.com/abstractrude
myspace.com/abstractrude
rhymesayers.com/abstractrude