PCA/ACA Conference 2007

The Mythology and Technology panel presented during the second day of the PCA/ACA Conference at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Anais N. Spitzer from Pacifica Graduate Institute was the chair.

The first presenter was Katharyn M. Privett from Auburn University who presented on Sacred Cyborgs and 21st Century Goddesses. Ms. Privett discussed the cyborg as a contemporary model for femininity in a technological society. She also gave examples of contemporary role models who have developed fuller potentials than this limited robotic image.

I was the second presenter and spoke about Myth and the Machine, giving a presentation on the technological fantasies of global civilization and contrasted them with the sustaining values of living mythological communities.

The third presenter was Garrison LeMasters from Catholic University who spoke on Trickster Makes this (Virtual) World: Ludic Myth in Liminal Space. Mr. Lemaster’s presentation explored the ontological freedom expressed in trickster online gamers.

The final presenter was Colette Kavanagh from Pacifica Graduate Institute who presented on The Webcam as the “Evil Eye” in Modern Culture. Ms. Kavanagh discussed the cultural significance of the “evil eye” in European and Middle Eastern culture and demonstrated how the webcams of sexual predators reify in a destructive way this cross-cultural mytheme.

There was a good turn out for the panel and afterwards a lively discussion started by the chair, Ms. Spitzer.

Mythic Art on Ebay

Hello all,
I have just begun the process of selling my prints on eBay. I don’t know much about the ins-and-outs of eBay selling, but am anxious to learn.

Last Sunday, I uploaded nine works of art to the eBay site. The prints are:

The Minotaur: Woodblock Print, Dave Alber LTD, SIG
Communication: Dave Alber, Digital Etching, LTD, SIG
Narcissus: Dave Alber, lithograph, LTD, SIG
From Darkness Light: Dave Alber, 2-color Woodblock, LTD, SIG
Awake: Dave Alber, 2-color Woodblock, LTD, SIG
Model & Press: Dave Alber, 2-Color litho, LTD, SIG
Body Heat: Dave Alber, 4-color Woodblock, LTD, SIG
Living Flesh: Dave Alber, 4-color Woodblock, LTD, SIG
Ravenous Creates a Human: Dave Alber, Etching, LTD, SIG

The headline of this blog links to an overview of all the eBay art items.
Hope you enjoy!
Dave

Mythopoetry.com

If you haven't already checked out Stephanie Pope's Mythopoetry.com site, please do so.

In a series of essays, Stephanie worked the Janus image and the theme of a coin with two faces as a starting off point for discussing American identity, politics, images, and fantasies. Of itself, Stephanie’s style is fascinating. She maintains a dialogue between forms, allowing them to unpack themselves of their own. She does not concretized, limit, or “factualize” phenomena, but rather, holds a synthetic dialectic with a pantheon of forms that decompress their significations. There is no judgment in her writing, only images dreaming themselves into the phenomenal world.

The Mythopoetry site is here:
http://www.mythopoetry.com

Here Janus essays here:
http://www.mythopoetry.com/dialogs/archives_day-log.html

And an email corrospondece between the two of us here:
http://www.mythopoetry.com/dialogs/twofaces_onecoin_comments.html

Hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
Cheers,
Dave

PCA/ACA: Mythology in Contemporary Culture

I was recently invited to speak on The Mythology in Contemporary Culture panel at the PCA/ACA conference. (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association.) The conference will be April 4-7, 2007 in Boston Massachusetts. The organizer of the mythology panel is Anais Spitzer, a fellow graduate of Pacific Graduate Institute. My talk is entitled ‘Myth vs. the Machine’ and is about technology as a force affecting both the Western mythological traditions and indigenous traditions. CDs of the material will be on sale at the time, a portion of the proceeds will go to help endangered cultures.

Some future art will be related to this project. I will keep you informed.

Welcome to Myth & Medium

Thank you for visiting Myth & Medium. This site is dedicated to mythological art. It will have images of contemporary mythic art and often demonstrate its relationship to the long historical tradition of mythic art. Throughout history most art was mythological. This site is a way of continuing in what I believe is the most significant purpose of art.

Enjoy the posts. I hope that you find the site as rewarding as it has been for me to put it together. Hope to see you coming back to the site often.

Warm regards,
Dave Alber, M.A.