We are all familiar with multisensory experiences, where you can see, touch, hear, and sometimes smell various textures and vibrancies. Particularly useful for children, the range of inputs can provide a sense of wonderment and tranquillity. Children with certain special needs can find the unique and playful environment in sensory exhibits particularly exciting.


Real ORCAs will have seen and hopefully read my book Cri Du Chat, The First Ten Years. It's about bringing up my daughter who has the syndrome. Even now at age 17 she loves glowing lights, bright pink blu-tac, and if she gets away with it, several screens at once with different shows. Now that modern technology is able to provide a whole list of multisensory experiences from simple devices, the concept is rightfully branching out into other places. Hand in hand with therapy and recreation, the arts have also been experimenting with what these ideas can bring about for everyday visitors.


Creative Pinellas have taken this concept into their own hearts. Presenting in Largo, Florida, an interactive multisensory art experience called Look Touch Move, visitors are invited to soak up the invigorating and enchanting atmospheres created by a joint artist venture. A true multi-disciplinarian, Sharon McCaman makes use of sculpture, sound, colour, projection and more to produce vivid and adventurous experiences. Featuring the Reiteration exhibition by Sharon McCaman, the works are reframed and reignited via the collaborative inclusion of Helen French's Reprise.


Helen French holds an art degree and has quickly risen to great heights well beyond her St. Petersburg community. The dance choreography she produces has been enjoyed in many venues around the land and this new show is bound to encourage many to come and see this fusion event.


Reiteration involves large-scale structures that are comprised of textures, angles, vibrancy, and moving parts. Visitors are invited to experience the work, listen to its feedback, and get to grips with the varying sensory anomalies that are provided. On the other hand, Reprise has been choreographed to provide a visual dance experience that explores the sensory works in the exhibit.


The explorations are endless, with metaphor and symbolism holding open ended chains of thought association. We can use art like this to realise how our own lives are multidimensional and that we regularly make adjustments to the way we express ourselves on a layering of different levels.


Find out more about the exhibit here.


Via Patch

There are many conflicting opinions about Winston Churchill out there, with advocates of each closing their ears to the other side's view. This partisan stance from society towards Winston Churchill is no-doubt earned from his life and actions. I never studied him at school, apart from when we briefly covered the second world war, and I didn't know much more than a few quotations, the fact he liked cigars, and that he died long before I was born. A recent story came to light when a group of activists wanted to have his statue removed from parliament square. This being due to his imperialist ideologue and a few snippets from his various written works that seem to define him as a racist and white supremacist. Why is he treated as a saint when he carries such a large shadow? I read this book in order to get a better idea.


It begins as many biographies do with Churchill's early years. Born into money within a traditional and states-person central family, a future of great things seemed to already be laid out for him. He lived in India when he was young and enjoyed playing polo most of the time, although he was a stationed officer of the British army. Never did he cook his own food or make his own bed, he had a servant that took care of all his everyday needs. When the first world war broke out, he went off to the trenches like everyone else, yet still managed to sip champaign, have his meals cooked for him, and he employed someone to keep his quarters tidy.


Joining the Conservative Party as a fresh civilian once the war was over, a career in politics soon blossomed. Clearly with no idea about the daily struggle of ordinary people, he could only seem the world through the eyes of a person who never felt the pang of hunger or the sleepless nights worrying if you'll be able to pay the essentials when other people expect so much as well. It was during this early time as a fledgling politician that Churchill made most of his famous imperialist quotes. He subscribed to eugenics theory in which only high achievers should be allowed to reproduce. He also said that white English people are morally bound to take care of lesser races.


It was only until after the second world war that he recanted most of these views. Frightfulness is not a remedy found in the British pharmacopoeia as he rightfully said. It seems he didn't realise how frightful some of his early ideas were. But what about the thing that made him famous? If it wasn't for the defeat of Nazism then he'd have likely been a faded face on a photograph hardly anyone notices. Why did he become the figurehead of freedom and victory?


His war tactics were arguably flawed, the bombing campaigns intended for pure terror and without any viable war targets led to the deaths of hundred of thousands of non-combatant Germans and the destruction of hundreds of British planes filled with the brightest and bravest of all of us. Most of Churchill's air tactics would be deemed war crimes in today's world. It was only through the combined efforts of Britain, Russia, The USA, and the resistance fighters in their native lands that Nazism was defeated. The rubble left behind by British carpet bombing gave the Nazis one last defence against the oncoming armies.


So why do we iconise Churchill as the face of bravery and freedom? He has become synonymous with certain human qualities and flaws. He makes war seem moral and right. If you can liken your cause to the allies against Nazism and identify yourself with Churchill, people will rally behind you. Like a modern day Abracadabra, if you can summon the ghost of Winston Churchill then you can persuade people to fight. When this happens, a lot of money is spent in nearly every sector. So by keeping Churchill famous and by silver lining his shadow the big powers can continue to use his famous ideas to push their own agendas.


The fact that I can recount this all to you in one go is pretty good evidence towards the quality of this lengthy but worthwhile book.  

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Toronto based artist Adam Macciocchi Lancia classifies himself as having bad eyesight. Not just an inner feeling, this is serious business as eye doctors all agree that he suffers with cracked and detached retinas in both eyes. Never the less, Adam manages to create absolutely blinding artwork proving that nothing is beyond the reach of this man. Currently on display at The Local Gallery (Toronto), and with a massive Instagram following, we're all just awestruck with the quality. Considering that Adam experiences a constant strobing effect even when his eyes are closed, it's amazing he has the patience and wherewithal to produce such stunning pictures.


When Adam's eyesight failed in 2007, it didn't look good. The gradual onset of blindness meant that Adam had to undergo tests and procedures to discover the cause and any possible cure. The retinas were reattached to his great relief however the fact that light enters his eyes at the wrong speed can't be altered. This is why he is constantly bombarded with the flickering strobe effect as light struggles to make its way through his optical sensors.


With the support of his friends and family and a great attitude, Adam Macciocchi Lancia now can proudly call himself a highly successful artist. His parents bought him paints at a very young age as something to entertain himself with. This became a love for art over the next few years which gradually blossomed into the amazing skill we see today. When he was just seven yeas old, the city of Toronto acknowledged his clear ability and granted him access to the Young Artist's Incubator. This set him up to further his study at university when the time came.


His fantasy and interpersonal scenes really strike as potent and vivid images. It's easy to imagine how the strong contrasts in composition within the individual works serve to help Adam define place and flow despite his obstacles to clarity. An almost escapist thematic can be felt in the visual journeys that depict people and places with abstract textures that produce another layer of metaphor within the larger whole. Like layers of exploration, we can take our time to fully explore the nuance and timbre of each work and be drawn right in.


Why not pay a visit to Adam's website and see what else he has made. Visit here.


You can follow Adam Lancia on Instagram


​Via Daily Hive

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It's been a good twenty years since the final Yves Saint Laurent show back in 2002. Then it's a worthwhile wait because the first room of the six museum strong exhibition in honour of the artist opens with a recreation of this magical affair. A series of expert sketches rekindle the flow and elegance of the display while remaining true to the media. Through suggestion the viewer can place themselves in the room with the reality. Of course, this primary exhibition is to be found at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent.


Five other prominent Paris venues are also displaying resonating works to compliment and harmonise with this remembrance. Moving past the first room in the Musée, visitors can expect to be greeted by some true artefacts from the Yves Saint Laurent collection. The designer's creative process is outlined as selections of fabrics, designs, shapes, and decorations are explained with various cabinets and media.


It's widely known the Yves Saint Laurent paid many homages to the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. Famous for his abstractions and impressionism, the theories and schemas portrayed by the artist often found themselves represented in the fashion world. At the Musée Picasso in Paris, the combination of the two creators are demonstrated in highlighting exhibitions. Now we can be drawn along the line of the YSL legacy and discover how Picasso often found his way into the clothing and designs.


No multi-venue Paris exhibition would be complete without a section within the legendary Louvre. Among many national treasures and hugely significant masterpieces, one of France's biggest cultural names surely has a rightful place. And what a place, the Yves Saint Laurent section has been assembled in the Galerie D'Apollon. The place where the French Crown Jewels are kept, this historical building is housing an avenue that shows the luxurious background which swept in and around everything Yves Saint Laurent did. The jewellery and royalty inspired designs by the artist are selected and put on show next to some of the most precious objects in the realm.


One huge influence in the private life of Yves Saint Laurent was the work of Proust. Being a defining factor in the way the designer formed his own thoughts, this subconscious seed manifested in several ways through his expert creations. The book In Search Of Lost Time was a particular piece that YSL is known to have read at a relatively young age. The Musée d'Orsay is playing its role by highlighting several pieces that echo with the archetypes left behind by this seminal work.


Something that Yves Saint Laurent is famous for is “Putting Colour in Motion” (Art News). At the Musée d'art moderne this aspect of the designer's career is given full view. In the Bonnard room, visitors can find the painter's masterpieces The Garden and The Lunch shown in dim lighting next to some of Yves Saint Laurent's creations. Further rooms define the designer's influences through works by Lucio Fontana and Raoul Dufy.


Hugely influenced by other artists, the designer had in fact helped make some painters much more accessible than they were before. One example of this staircase effect is the cocktail dress designed to resemble work by Piet Mondrian. This and other works that identified with need-to-know artists are exhibited too. In order to see this collection visitors need to travel to the Centre Pompidou. Curated by Mouna Mekouar and Stephan Janson, with the help of Pierre Bergé of the Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, it's essential viewing for YSL fans and those who want to find out more about the designer's lifestyle.  

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With the metaverse approaching and various private organisations bidding to be the one who runs it, perhaps we need to pay attention. The internet was famously created to be open and built on a structure that nobody actually owns. Like a fertile field, what ever you grow on there is yours. Now the most successful gardeners want to tell you that the field belongs to them and they'll use every power to make you believe it. Who knows what the internet will look like in decades time, however we can keep an eye on how modern technology finds uses in new and interesting ways.


London's Serpentine Gallery is currently home to an exhibition by American artist KAWS. Back in 2020 the artist had an inspiration and decided to seek out the right help to make it happen. Teaming up with an organisation named acute art, the group set to work producing a series of augmented reality sculptures. These are set to be displayed via an augmented reality smartphone app that allows you to see and interact with the objects.


Titled New Fiction, this opening sequence is curated within the Serpentine Gallery and within the popular video game Fortnite. A first-person shooter with building and other functions that allows players to co-exist in a contained artificial world, Fortnite is an example of what the metaverse might look like in the future. Users are shown as an avatar that can be customised which then interacts with the other players each with their own designed character.


The Serpentine Gallery has been painstakingly recreated in this virtual world and the New Fiction exhibit is on full display. So it doesn't matter if London is out of reach, not every one has the ability to travel. If you're on Fortnite then you can get a healthy dose of culture at the same time as exploring the fundamental abilities of this new genre of creative expression.


Many of us are not even on this popular game, and for those of us who don't play there is thankfully a YouTube video of the display that we can enjoy regardless. It's not the same experience as walking around the virtual and augmented reality exhibition ourselves but it does give us a good perspective on the display nonetheless.   
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I decided to read this book because as a human being with a strong emotional environment, I wanted to find out about how this relates to my animal self. It is my belief that human beings contain an animal self and a human self, mostly interconnected, there are times when one has to choose between the two. Overcoming instincts and passions is how we manage to stay secure and part of the community in many instances.


The book takes us through a series of interesting sections of evolutionary psychology. From Darwin to Goodall, a variety of sources are drawn on to show that animal behaviour demonstrates some kind of social conditioning in which behaviour is governed. On certain levels in lower lifeforms such as fish, we see that genetics play a role in which behaviour traits individuals express. In higher life such as apes the behavioural traits are created by nurture and circumstance as much as what they inherit from their parents.


It's when the author goes into gender specific behaviour that I find myself at odds with the rhetoric. It is in my understanding that male and female individuals have personality bell curves that flow across all possible personalities. It's true that personality traits often come in groups, each complimenting and validating the other. The male and female personality bell-curves overlap and it's only at the extremities where strong differences can be quantified. The book doesn't see it like this. Robert Wright subscribes to the Mars and Venus model which places men and women on completely different worlds. This may be true on one level, particularly emotionally, however in society as a whole it's clearly not true. Forcing people to choose between distant planets based on their personality may not help those who struggle with identity issues.


There are times when I catch myself thinking “Is this guy a psychopath?” when describing the most evolutionary proper male type. The author goes into great detail about monogamous relationships are the bane of a male's desires and in less sociologically advanced groups, men are permitted many wives as along as they can prove their worth. It seems to me that Robert Wright undertakes a degree of posturing and male-centric chest-puffing through the means of poorly defined argument. Maybe I'm strange, but he doesn't talk about the kind of man I am. He's also dismissive of women's empowerment at times. I find it difficult to accept, even if it's written with clarity.


The author provides a cold and scientific analysis of why we have morals. It's what I should have expected, and for the same reasons I left the science field, in that the work is completely left brain. The two hemispheres are what give us a rich human experience. Connected on many levels but unable to translate each other's signals, it's the combination of the two perspectives that give us our consciousness. Linear and holistic thought combine. Science is linear, it discredits symbolism and metaphor in favour of fact and statistic. This is good for finding the truth out there but bad for understanding us as people. Turning this idea onto consciousness itself is a mistake.


The book is worth reading as in between the glaring issues, that some may not notice or may interpret differently, there is a lot of interesting information in there. When reading between the lines of opinion, we can gain a proficient understanding of how emotions and feelings has become essential for survival. However, as an antidote to the dry and uncaring style in which it is written, I've now turned my attention to The Master and His Emissary by Ian McGilchrist. It's about the two hemispheres and how putting them both to use is essential.

A lot of people grow up with some degree of trauma. Unless we are lucky and have completely safe and loving childhoods in which all our troubles are respected and tackled together, children grow up with a distorted sense of their place in life. At a time where people naturally need continual care and positive reinforcement in a place of safety, many of us are denied one or more of these fundamentals to development.


This can make us highly sensitive to threat perception and give us an unfair expectation of our own responsibility. It causes people to hide their vulnerabilities and take on the role of an adult at an age when it's not appropriate. The poetry series Our Nexus Of Sorrows by Scott Free published by Deltic Books explores several facets of this psychological phenomenon. Penned as a Frankenstein's monster, the problematic effects of this condition are explored and stitched together. Enabling individuals to feel the inherent wrongness in the thinking and perhaps identify versions of it in themselves, it's a great healing aid for some.


When we take into consideration the limitations of people with developmental trauma and those who have surpassed it, then enable them to work in their best environment, this experience can also leave people with qualities that more than make up for the social drawbacks. Rather than take advantage of people with developmental trauma, we can recognise their natural abilities by rewarding them fairly and appropriately.


According to Jennifer Lock Oman of Psychology Today, developmental trauma survivors often demonstrate these five outstanding qualities.


A Genuine Desire To Connect And Support


Growing up in an environment that was perhaps unsafe emotionally or physically has taught people how to be the bridge builder in a situation. Having been in their best interests to maintain fond connection and genuine reciprocal networks in a situation where these things are scarce, individuals learn how to maximise these things in every environment.


Refined Empathy Heuristics


Heuristic thinking allows us to spot cues and points that signify a bigger picture. Like a join the dots puzzle, we notice subtle cues in body language and voice tone in order to establish the stress levels and cruelty index of those around us. We all are able to do this on a subconscious and conscious level however when people have developed in a situation where this is important to survival then it becomes much more focussed. The level of resolution is much stronger and we individuals are often able to read a group situation with precision.


Less Intimidated By Risk


Certain jobs have inherent risks involved. From armed forces, emergency services, to running a business, risk can be a daily occurrence to varying degrees. Some people crumble when the odds are not in their favour, some people shy away from anything that might make them vulnerable. People who have developed in an environment that was not safe have usually established a higher threshold for risk. Because every day carried inherent risks as they learned about life and developed their personalities, a lot of trauma survivors can stay calm and collected in situations where it matters most.


High Standards


Being brought up where mistakes were vilified or punished and where errors were looked for and successes were ignored can teach children to strive for excellence. By minimising the risk of vindication for errors, developmental trauma enables people to learn patience and hard work in order to produce what is asked for. It's worth remembering that these people may hold a lot of stress that others do not feel when undertaking tasks.


Leadership


Making sense of chaos and seeing the good in every situation is learned when it's left up to us to find these things. Often when people grow up, the world is not in their control and it can be unpredictable. Children need to feel empowered to get what they need without doing it for themselves - until they learn. If this sense of security is not available they have to take their own responsibility. At first they attempt to be leaders and problem solvers without the necessary life experience these people need but with the right guidance it's possible to help them find their feet. 

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We think of ghosts and angels, aliens and ancient origins, and for all we know it's real. Maybe everything behind the cloak of dark matter is actually the spiritual and ethereal universe so many have claimed to witness? Perhaps the best way to reach beyond the veil and to communicate the sights and sounds of beyond is through the arts. Unless we can touch it, it's never fully accepted by all. Making it tangible by depicting the furthest reaches of our experience can help others to find their own unique lights in the dark.


The Speed Art Museum is displaying a wide ranging selection of supernatural and paranormal art throughout January. With so many individuals claiming to experienced the otherworldly and extraordinary, having a place to express and communicate the facts is essential. So many experiencers of the paranormal find art and expression a fruitful field to begin.  
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Ghosts and spiritual beings have been described since prehistory with some of our first known stories drawing on these concepts from the beginning. Understanding the faith people have in hidden happenings that explain the universe in personal terms is what the many stories attempt to do. By hatching the egg of mythical sequences so many have discovered a new kind of life ready to break free.


Included is a piece named The Thanaton III (pictured at the top). This vivid and richly decorated artwork by Paul Laffoley is said to be a portal to another dimension. Because of this, visitors are politely asked to not touch it. The various images along its lower half seem to give directions as to what dimension is being summoned where as the central design looks like it wants to use mesmerism and suggestion to tap into the mental process required to travel.


With videos and artworks adorning the walls of two floors in the museum, visitors can indulge and absorb themselves in the spectacular mixture of media and design. One of the most important sections is on the downstairs floor. A recreated 19th Century parlour has been painstakingly built from genuine period materials by Whitfield Lovell. This time of ghosts and superstition that still enchant and inspires the American mind, is hauntingly accurate and full of anemoia.  
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Images and names via WFPL.org. Visit the site for more on this exhbition.

Listening to audiobooks is one of life's greater pleasures. Reading is essential for modern life, we read all day long. Sometimes the audio version can give our mind a break or simply give us the opportunity to do two things at once. A lot of us associate reading with school, which for some in turn is associated with all kinds of unpleasant feelings. Others have a preference to listening over reading. Maybe it's a bit of everything combined that creates a genuine hard-core audiobook fan. There are a lot of options on the internet to choose from. The Classic Tales Podcast was where I began, the show even became a mentioned influence on my book 575365.


B.J. Harrison reads to us each week from a chosen story from antiquity. His style is humorous and serious in exactly the right places and he has an innate understanding of the author's intention with each telling. Fans can support the show and get vouchers in return. The man has recorded a phenomenal amount of work and it's all available for sale at realistically good prices.


There's more to choose from, and sometimes we don't want to listen to the classics as enjoyable as they might be. The two big services out there are Audible and Kobo. Joining both services gives you a free first book so if you want to try them both then it's absolutely free. Here's a tip, use your free trial to get the longest book you can find. It's what I did.


So how do these services compare? You can assume that both sites offer extremely high quality recordings from a plethora of professional readers. This is exactly right. Their first comparable difference is in the price. One month membership is charged and in return you get a credit to spend on any book. Kobo is a pound cheaper than Audible.


This changes when you start getting into multiple credits. With Audible you can by 3 credits for £6 each provided you are a member. Kobo offers the same for £20. This is a two pounds increase. This being said, both sites offer plenty of cheaper options for selected titles. Plus, the books you might want to listen to but can't because Audible doesn't list them are probably on Kobo. I've managed to find titles on Kobo when Audible didn't have them.


Audible works on the computer and the phone. Any OS can play Audible through their app. Kobo doesn't have a Windows app, you have to use your phone. This can be a hassle, especially if you use your phone for other things. It would be great if Kobo could produce a Windows player. It would also be amazing if they created a list of free to listen content for members. Audible has this, and it's actually very generous. We understand that readers and writers need to get paid but there must be some viable economics for it to work on the other platform.


Learn about new subjects to university level, delve into the history of the world, or just escape into a made-up reality where you are a silent observer, see if you can settle down with audiobooks. You can still do other things while they're on.


Get a free audiobook with Kobo


Get a free audiobook with Audible

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One of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 20th Century, Bob Dylan, is now displaying the other side of his talent in the Frost Art Museum at Florida State University. The contemporary artist, who is great with a paintbrush, has created a large scope of images that depict various poignant scenes. Through his entire life, which began in 1941, Bob Dylan has encountered a host of scenarios and movements that ran their course over the years. The world is always changing, and his music gave a soundtrack to the shifting of consensus. An avid anti-war voice with a desire for more freedoms to live our own lives, Dylan picked up a Nobel Prize for his inspiration to literature in which he gave rise to a new and modern American voice.


Since his breakthrough into music during the 1960s when he dropped out of college and moved to New York, the multi-talented musician has enjoyed a continual run of success and growth. A huge following began to form during the 60s and 70s as he wrote songs about human rights and the stupidity of war. After a motorcycle accident in 1966 in which Dylan broke his neck and survived, his touring came abruptly to a close. Working in the studio with The Band, his continual flow of American folk and blues took a turn into the realm of the album. AOR sentimentality perhaps became popular thanks to this twist of fate, with many musicians and bands preferring the scope of an artistic album over ten or twelve radio songs.


Despite his busy career with a schedule no-one would envy, Bob Dylan remained true to his passion for painting. Now in his 80s, the artist has created a huge catalogue of work that shows many intriguing aspects to his experiences and personality.


Retrospectrum is an exhibit hosted by The Frost Art Centre at Florida State University in Miami. The vast collection spans the musician's painted output from the late 60s until the modern day. Perhaps the more secretive side of this long-standing stage performer, the pictures immediately strike with quality of talent. On the retrospective, Dylan is known to have said “Seeing many of my works years after I completed them is a fascinating experience”. Artnet


Much like photography, Bob Dylan's paintings depict images of people and places with an inclusion of subtle drama that creates an immediate imaginary experience. Deep Focus is Dylan's latest series of paintings. These stills are taken from films, known for having iconic cinematography, in which the atmosphere and intention of the scenes are captured in static pigment. Situational story-telling in Bob Dylan's art provides the viewer with countless introspections toward life's twists and turns in ways that resonate with the brilliance of the artist. Over 180 paintings, photographs, and sculptures make the exhibition which opened in November.