Guided Meditation
The Vøid Contemplation Tactics newsletter started out as a guided meditation series combining video art, heavy mellow music, and readings from various writers and Zen teachers. This meditation practice is rooted in the Zen tradition, and informed by my time as a resident student at the Indianapolis Zen Center, where I practiced “together action” with dharma teachers John Melvin, David Culp, and Lincoln Rhodes.
This initial six episode sequence from 2020 features excerpts from the ongoing White River, Slow Flow project. The images in each 15-minute video are made from my own slow motion footage of Prairie Creek Reservoir and sections of the White River in Muncie, Indiana. I captured the video in the late winter and early spring of 2019 and 2020 using a phone camera and a DSLR equipped with a macro lens.
Big gratitude to all of the musicians who contributed their music for the videos. This project was also made possible in part by the generous support of Amy Peddycord and Invoke Yoga Studio.
Void Contemplation Tactics 20200316
This 20200316 installment features the original composition "Void Contemplation Tactic" from Wife Signs, the ambient project of musician Kellen Perry. Find more of Perry’s music on Bandcamp.
Void Contemplation Tactics 20200323
The 20200323 installment of Void Contemplation Tactics features an excerpt from Ezra Bayda's Beyond Happiness (2010). Our session also includes music from Lunaria's 2018 album Water Mind. Lunaria is the ambient electronic music project of Daniel Guillén, an artist based in Zaragoza, Spain.
Void Contemplation Tactics 20200330
The 20200330 installment of Vøid Contemplation Tactics features “Witches Brew” from the the 2020 PJS album Precipice. PJS is the electronic music project of Patrick Dique and Jordan Christoff. “All sounds created live with synthesizers, field recordings, and effects,” they tell us. “No computer sounds, screens or presets present during the creation process.”
Today’s meditation includes an excerpt from Zen Master Seung Sahn’s Compass of Zen (1997).
Void Contemplation Tactics 20200406
This 20200406 installment of Void Contemplation Tactics features music from Inner Travels, the “peaceful electronic music” project of Wisconsin-based artist Steve Targo. We’ll hear selections from Panorama Set (2020) and Nature Spirit (2019).
Today’s meditation includes an excerpt from “Ordinary Mind,” a 1990 dharma talk from Joko Beck.
Void Contemplation Tactics 20200413
The 20200413 episode of Void Contemplation Tactics features music from Live in the Rain From the Russian Woods, a “mainly improvised duo set” from Mary Lattimore and Ornament, a solo project from Growing’s Joe DeNardo.
Today’s meditation includes an excerpt from The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra.
Void Contemplation Tactics 20200420
The 20200420 episode of Void Contemplation Tactics features music from itta, a South Korean artist who creates transcendent New Age drone magic with her voice, toy instruments and electronics. Together with the Japanese noise musician Marqido, she performs as TENGGER.
Today’s meditation includes an excerpt “The Authentic Life,” an interview with Zen Teacher Lewis Richmond. You can find the full text at tricycle.org/magazine/authentic-life/
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