Desert Rocks’ expansion into an all-out “consciousness festival” includes the addition of workshops, speakers, films, visual artists and performance art to the four-day camping hootenanny. Here are City Weekly’s picks, which are included with a festival pass, for mind-expanding must-dos at the new location, Jenk Star Ranch in Green River.Â
Lucent Dossier Experience
Lucent Dossier translates loosely to “a collection of glowing light”—but it’s more than seeing stars during a psychedelic comedown. A dizzying combination of occult Cirque du Soleil meets steampunk-tribal spectacle, this show could be found deep in the subconscious, but what you are seeing is assuredly real.
Scott Whitaker
A Scott Whitaker exhibit is like scuba diving for lost treasures: chandeliers look like pewter octopuses, scrap metal becomes dancing figurines and wooden workings seem to be angels (or demons, depending on how you look at it). His textually rich, multidimensional creations of “urban artifacts,” composed of sundry items others have discarded, are metallically magnificent and an upcycled experiment in environmental activism.Â
Chakra Balancing & CleansingÂ
If you have a cavity, you go to the dentist; if you have clogged pores, you get a facial; if you have stagnant energy, you take a chakra-cleansing workshop with Evolver co-founder Jonathan Talat Phillips. The techniques covered in this workshop include how to do “hands-on healing” to cleanse the auric field, ground energy and, of course, balance chakras.Â
2012: A Time for Change
This flick is what the 2009 blockbuster 2012 may have been if Hollywood were on happy pills. This Desert Rocks screening is an optimistic look at the rebirth of a post-industrial world. It follows Daniel Pinchbeck on a quest for the regeneration of a world in balance with science, the ecosystem and ancient wisdom. Director João Amorin features the talents of Ellen Page and Gilberto Gil, among others.Â
Brother Ali
Brother Ali is not a priest spitting out “hallelujah”s; rather, the Midwest rapper conjures “hell yeah”s from his congregation of conscious hip-hop lovers. Growing up as a chubby, albino African American, Brother Ali found his introspective voice by exploring his hardships and life experiences. And lyrics like, “Welcome to the United Snakes/ Land of the thief, home of the slave,” get him in trouble, but what successful rap career is free from scuffles?
Daniel Pinchbeck
Explorer of uncharted jungles and shamanism, author of Reality Sandwich, Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism and Return of Quetzalcoatl, Daniel Pinchbeck will speak on psychedelic philosophies, illumination and his many multifarious trips.Â
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