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eye in the triangle

august 17

the house of david

The House of David was a religious commune founded in 1903 by Benjamin and Mary Purnell. Based in and around Benton Harbor, Michigan, the commune required its members to refrain from sex, haircuts, shaving, and the eating of meat. Starting around 1907 the community ran "The Springs of Eden Park" which became a popular Michigan vacation spot in the 1930s. They operated a famous baseball team, which toured rural America from the 1920s to the 1950s, playing amateur and semi-pro teams in exhibition games. The organization also fielded nationally known musical bands between 1906 and 1927. During that period these bands toured the country almost non-stop primarily on the three top vaudeville circuits: the Pantages, the Keith and the Orpheum. The House of David also operated a world-famous amusement park and zoo. The commune reached the peak of its operations in 1907-1927. Difficulties arose in the 1920s, as the Detroit Free Press and other newspapers began running articles attacking Benjamin Purnell, who was accused of violating the commune's oath of celibacy. Purnell was tried in Berrien County, Michigan, for "public immorality," and 13 young women, placed under oath, confessed to having had sex with the patriarch. The trial led to Purnell's expulsion from the commune in 1927, and the former leader died in 1929; his body was mummified and kept in a glass coffin in the commune. The group suffered further splintering after his death and ultimately split into two groups. One group, run by Purnell's wife Mary, remained successful until her death at 91 in 1953. The group has since declined, but still has a few dozen members.

--wikipedia

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Ray Bradbury once held science fiction meetings in this room.
C-print, 20x24inches

half-life

A few weeks ago I took still photos for Lia Ices new video that my friends Simone Montemurno & Joanna Bovay directed.

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Graphite on newsprint, 9x12inches

earthbound

Ghost polaroid, B&W photograph, Color photograph
Echo Park, CA

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At the aquarium - Mystic, CT

ancient evenings

Lake Michigan

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Brothers and sisters of the pale forest
O Children of Night
Who among you will run with the hunt?

JM

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Untitled, C-prints
Ruby Falls, Tennessee

vague pure affection

Fig. 8 is a revolving cloud of pure affection, and except for its vagueness it represents a very good feeling. The person from whom it emanates is happy and at peace with the world, thinking dreamily of some friend whose very presence is a pleasure. There is nothing keen or strong about the feeling, yet it is one of gentle well-being, and of an unselfish delight in the proximity of those who are beloved. The feeling which gives birth to such a cloud is pure of its kind, but there is in it no force capable of producing definite results. An appearance by no means unlike this frequently surrounds a gently purring cat, and radiates slowly outward from the animal in a series of gradually enlarging concentric shells of rosy cloud, fading into invisibility at a distance of a few feet from their drowsily contented creator.

THOUGHT-FORMS BY ANNIE BESANT AND C.W. LEADBEATER

cryptocrystal-line

Xerox with colored pencil & beeswax, 30x40inches

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These photographs taken of friend and muse Malia James in London's Hampstead Heath will appear in an upcoming issue of Untitled Magazine curated by Anna Wolf.

poet-trees & land(e)scapes

These are images from a recent zine created in collaboration with writer Francis Parrilli. It's 10 pages, full color with a hand wax embellished cover, edition of 100. There was an accompanying exhibition and release party at IHeart.

Available at Printed Matter & Ommu.