Visionary Art with Alex and Allyson Grey – Elements of Bass Recap

We recently had the pleasure of participating in an extra-ordinary event here in Seattle in which the music and art communities came together to give thanks to the elements.

Hosted by Seattle bass music collective Bassdrop Music as their four year anniversary party, the event  featured music from some of the hottest West Coast producers, plus some of the city’s freshest local acts. To top things off, world famous visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey participated by doing live painting during the event. Naturally this enlivening event was entitled Elements of Bass.

Many find that the four common elements Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water are the basic elements of the universe. We are here to contend that in this time we are moving beyond this knowledge of the elementals in this basic sense. We are living in a time of expansion, connectivity and collaboration. For this reason we redefine the elements of creation as music, art, dance and healing. The folks over at Bassdrop did a great job of bringing these aspects together into an inspiring event with EOB.

For those that don’t know, Alex Grey has become famous for his ability to diagram energy flows in the human body. His attention to detail is unrivaled by any living artist of his ilk. To spice up the evening, our good friends at Bassdrop Music coordinated a discussion with the Greys, so that we young creators could get a glimpse into the minds of these visionaries.

During the discussion, Alex and Allyson shared their views on contemporary art, music, and culture and how it relates to the historical perspective. The theme of the presentation was centered on consciousness and how music, art and other forms of creative expression can color the human experience.

A strong through line which permeated the talk, was the idea of sacrament and how certain substances can bring us into a more clear space of awareness, both individually and as a collective.

From the ancient art of consuming Soma, psychedelic mushrooms or even that famed flora known to grow on grave of King Solomon – we humans have been creating, cultivating, and consuming sacraments of various form and texture throughout time. Like the infamous talks given by the late great Terrence McKenna, the Greys stressed the importance of knowing and using these plants and other substances to the benefit of consciousness, while warning of the dangers of misuse. Many of the slides displayed shared imagery of art old and new which had quite obviously been influenced by the use of psychedelics. A personal favorite is the image of the little mushroom men carrying smaller mushrooms and feeding them to one another. Alex states, “Ok, this one is quite clear… Someone was high!”

The Greys shared their view on the legalization of cannabis in the NW calling what’s happening in Washington and Colorado a benchmark. It is quite clear that like the team here at Ganjaology, Alex and Allyson value cannabis for its many beneficial properties beyond the commonly recognized lofty high that comes with smoking it. Whether it’s used to reduce pain, stop nausea, settle the mind or expand conscious awareness, one thing is clear…

The use of cannabis in appropriate dosage promotes CREATIVITY, POSITIVITY and the creation and enjoyment of BASS MUSIC!

We want to extend a big thanks to Alex and Allyson for sharing their knowledge and participating in the event both as speakers and live painters. Further we want to give thanks to Bassdrop Music for organizing the event along with all of the others that had a hand in bringing us together. Big up all the musicians that performed including Mat The Alien, Christian Martin, Bluetech, David Starfire, BizZara, Selecta Element and Triple Crown, Sean Majors, Kozmo, and all the others. Lastly we can’t leave out the local artists that participated including Burgandy Viscosi, Damon Conklin, Sarah Jorgenson, The Graffiti Defense Coalition and more!

Like Allyson’s secret script, no amount of language could begin to decipher the excitement we all shared in this phenomenal event. Again, thanks to everyone involved. We couldn’t have done it without you!

All photos featured here are the work of Kari Champoux. Thanks KC!

Further Thanks to Culture Yard Productions, Aunt Donna’s, Within Sodo, Tiberio’s Catering, Heady HQ Cascadia, Steampunk Evolution.