SUBTROPICS PRESENTS…
A residency with Sam Ashley | August 5-18, 2016
two public presentations addressing werewolves, living in heaven, complacency, and natural oracles, plus a workshop on the subject of shamanic magic: exploring the sonic dimension of the spirit world!
Sam Ashley has devoted his life to the development of an experimental, non-religious mysticism, one rooted in a “find out for yourself” attitude, an attitude that he advocates in direct opposition to so many traditions.
At an early age Sam Ashley began a study of trance. That study has continued without interruption up to the present. Authentic mysticism as a creative process is Sam Ashley’s signature statement as a composer and as an artist.
Sam’s pieces are mostly about luck, hallucination and coincidence. Usually they include direct presentations of magic events, objects or phenomena. Sam’s sound art work is frequently about finding ways to amplify imaginary sound. Sam’s performed pieces often feature the use of authentic spirit possession, a phenomenon he has been working with for more than 30 years. All of what Sam does relates directly to trance. He offers simple windows onto things that occur in-between the real world and that which transcends it.
With almost a half century of experience, Sam Ashley has become a role model, inspiration and teacher to younger generations of musicians and artists seeking to allow trance to inform their work.
EVENTS AT AUDIOTHEQUE (ask to join this FB group)
Feature Concert
WED.AUG.10.2016 | 8PM | $10 minimum suggested donation | fb event
SAM ASHLEY: HARRY THE DOG THAT BIT YOU
about werewolves, living in heaven, and the problem of complacency
You don’t go to heaven after you die. That’s a myth that gives false hope to anybody naive enough to believe in religious craziness. No, we have a choice: either we live in heaven or we die. So the opposite of heaven is not a mythical hell. The opposite of heaven is complacency.
The werewolf transformation seems (at least from my perspective) to require the transcendence of complacency. Whether or not werewolves are living in heaven, this I don’t know (yet). This piece explores that question…
Listening Club
S3:E12
WED.AUG.17.2016 | 8PM | $5 minimum suggested donation | fb event
NATURAL ORACLES OF THE MIAMI REGION
Curator: Sam Ashley
Sam Ashley has been a modern-day witch-doctor for more than 45 years and has been using his special brand of mysticism in the creation of music and art. For this last episode of the third season of the Listening Club, Audiotheque’s resident artist, Sam Ashley will contribute a curated program of audio recordings collected during his short time in Miami. These recordings claim to capture what he refers to as “Natural Oracles.”
Sam describes “oracles” as “anything that can serve as an interface between the soul and the mind, let’s say. Modern people have lost the ability to do nothing” … “When we do nothing there’s a tendency for a creative process to fill in the gaps, so to speak. And it turns out that what arises in those moments can be amazingly informative.”
“The stuff that arises to fill in the gaps, whether it be coincidental experiences or imaginings, can help us to understand things that are happening in our lives. Many ancient cultures well understood the value of these oracular events. But modern people tend to scoff at the notion – without having even tried the process for themselves. I’m trying through this project to promote an understanding of the value oracles can have in our lives. …Maybe they are more needed today than at any other time…”
Workshop
THE MYSTERIES OF TRANCE
A one day workshop with Sam Ashley
Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:
Sunday, August 21, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
Audiotheque at ArtCenter/South Florida | view map
924 Lincoln Road
Studio # 201
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Explore the mysteries of trance in this experimental one day workshop. Starting from an introductory step in which sound conducive to auditory hallucination is presented, the workshop will explore, without presupposing a need to “prove” anything, a process of direct, intuitive communication of sounds. That is, the direct communication of the perception of sound without reliance on media. This is a radically experimental, hands-on workshop in shamanic magic exploring the sonic dimension of the spirit world. It will be conducted by Sam Ashley, a mystic with approximately 50 years of experience with trance.
Please note: there will be an introductory discussion, then the rest of the workshop will for the most part take place in trance. So it should properly be seen as a “master class.” No experience is necessary, but we ask that participants bring an open mind and a willingness to discover things that are at the boundaries of familiar experience.
Click here to sign up for this workshop
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Listen to these programs anywhere in the world!
The live stream hosted by Stephen Malagodi begins at 8:30PM EST on: www.spectacular.media
Audiotheque | view map
924 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach 33139
(south side of lincoln road-parking in back of the building)
for donations we now accept:
PAYPAL | VISA | MASTER CARD | DISCOVER | AMERICAN EXPRESS
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Sam Ashley’s residency is possible in part with in-kind support from ArtCenter South Florida
SFCA [isaw+subtropics.org] is the leading proponent of experimental music and sound art in the Southeast, and the nourishing platform for projects like Audiotheque, the Listening Club, the Subtropics Biennial and yearly Marathon, the Frozen Music Ensemble, iSAW’s Experimental Sound Archive and Sound Studio, and other projects designed to produce, promote and present the newest, most on-topic new music and sound art experiences in South Florida
Audiotheque’s 2015-16 season of events are possible with support from SFCA [isaw+subtropics.org], City of Miami Beach’s Cultural Affairs Program and Cultural Arts Council; with additional support from Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; and sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; and by the Blank Family Foundation. SFCA [isaw+subtropics.org] would also like to acknowledge the ongoing support of Sennheiser, leaders in superior sound technology