Venus Castina by Val Denham
I went straight from Heathrow to Candid Arts, a beautiful gallery space in the heart of London’s Angel area. There I found my co-conspiratrix Vanessa Sinclair, already in full swing. And why? Because we were about to organise a three day symposium called Psychoanalysis, Art & The Occult. After many months of preparations, suddenly it was a real and breathing Golem entity, designed to attract interdisciplinary communications between these three fascinating areas of human culture.
Despite logistical, psychosocial, emotional, financial, technical and practical challenges, we decided that what the world needs is not another confined conference catering to the already existing vanities of each of these fields specifically, but rather a trembling attempt to cross over and cross fertilise… An opening evening for the art exhibition, three days of panels, papers and discussions, musical entertainment and a focus on real interaction between real human beings. When all of this was over in specific time and space, we could but wonder what had actually happened. Because what was dominant post facto was not the usual feeling of being drained, exhausted and in need of serious denial, but actually a sense of absolute love.
Opening evening was the crown of a day of hanging and structuring some amazing works of art. Katelan Foisy, Vanessa Sinclair, Austin Osman Spare, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Ken Henson, Jesse Bransford, Val Denham, Charlotte Rodgers, Roberto Milusic Migliussi, Fredrik Söderberg, Derek Elmore, Juan Montoya, Natan Alexander, Malcolm McNeill, Jhonn Balance, Annette Rawlings, Billy Jacobs, K Lenore Siner, and Steingrimur Eyfjord were present on walls and pedestals and radiated curiosity, beauty and intelligence in their own peculiar and enchanting ways. People drifted in and out; old friends, new friends, great wine and conversations galore. The best thing for me was meeting so many strange and beautiful new people.
Then the conference proper began… Back to back, front to front; an onslaught of intellectual brilliance, moderations, questions and answers. All stories, fields and approaches presented in tolerance, curiosity and willingness to share. I was always a bit preoccupied with practical matters, video documentation, technical challenges appearing out of the blue etc but still I could never avoid the resonant feeling of privilege of being in the midst of so much brilliance.
Robert Ansell, Graham Duff, Katelan Foisy, Vanessa Sinclair, Val Denham, Olga Cox Cameron, Gary Lachman, Eve Watson, Jesse Hathaway Diaz, Ray O’Neill, Alkistis Dimech, Peter Grey, Steven Resiner, Ingo Lambrecht, Demetrius Lacroix, Khi Armand, Langston Khan, Katy Bohinc, Charlotte Rodgers, Luce deLire, Sharon Krauss and eventually little old me delivered the go(o)ds, while Eliott Edge, Claire-Madeline Culkin, Julio Mendes Rodrigo, Jordan Osserman and Derek Elmore moderated superbly.
On the Friday evening my film Sub Umbra Alarum Luna was shown and I was happy for it to be included in such a great context. But the real treat was on Saturday, with Val Denham in concert together with Oli Novadnieks, Danny Loker and Jeanne from Devaleve/Sineflesh. I was mixing the entire thing live. It was my first ever experience of that kind and overall it went well. Despite the nervousness I don’t think I’ve ever been that elated during a concert. Thanks to Sharon Krauss, who acted as musically savvy moral/technical support there. And yes, Sub Umbra was shown again as the backdrop for a concert I can only describe as pleasantly mind-jolting. Val Denham is a true genius in so many ways. Full frontal sensory attack, with a beautiful sense of humour and audacity: “How many of today’s bands would dare to perform live without any rehearsal at all or even any idea of songs or even sound checking, relying purely on MAGICK and psychic intuition as an instigator of rock’n’ roll reality?”
We crossed over, in the sense that representatives from different environments shared time-space and actually communicated with each other. And we crossed over in the sense that we genuinely listened to each other with apprehensive ears and minds. We crossed over in the sense that we realised that it’s not just enough to stuff intellectual memes into our already overheated systems. We realised that each and every expression is a vessel, angle and a channel. The main question was if what’s being communicated isn’t actually one and the same thing? Different strokes for different folks, yes, but it’s mainly a terminological challenge, not a signal one. If you don’t allow yourself to be seriously challenged, you’re probably religious. Which just isn’t enough in this day and age.
We will turn all of the papers/talks from the conference into number nine of the magico-anthropological journal The Fenris Wolf. More or less the entire conference was documented on video, and an edited version will be made available online. Material like this simply needs to be preserved and shared with people in other locations. “And so it shall be!”
Thanks and blessings to all those who attended. To those who helped out. To those who participated in the panels and performances. To those who discussed, sold books and other things of abstracted inspiration. To those who kept the flame burning after hours, and to those who still do. From my own perspective, extra special thanks to the whirlwind Vanessa, without whom this magical weekend would never have happened. The eternal gratitude and love is well deserved.
