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Sensory Experience

The Belly – An interactive art installation of art in public places

Alisa Looney experiences The Belly, an art installation by Amber Metz

Art Installation by Aim Axon

The senses, how enticing, visceral, our primal instincts… unnourished. The Belly was created to awaken our healthy and innate urges within ourselves, within nature itself. A 20 minute sensory experience crafted to open doors, unlocking the tight control that represses and denies the very essence of who we are and the Earth we live on.

Alisa Looney experiencing The Belly - an art installation by Aim Axion.
Alisa Looney experiencing The Belly

Into the chaotic jungle, through angles of bamboo, near the mind altering glows, enter The Belly. Feet undressed, pass through the veil, greeted by one glowing light. The ground soft, inviting a seat ~ lay ~ crawl ~ stretch. Look around, Earth is hiding in the darkness. Trees, flowers, scents of rosemary, lavender, and lemon. The sky has an underground feeling, wet and mountainous. Come closer to the light, see your reflection. Put your skin in the Earth and Water…touch your body…the elements so wonderful, so giving, have you forgotten?

It wasn’t who she thought she knew, but who they used to be
She whispered to the wind at night, preserving bits of memory…

Excerpt from the poem written by Jessica Stroia

Vibrating sound surrounds, undulating in emotional spectrum: fear, anger, repression, hunger, sexuality, ecstasy, sensuality, gentleness, unknowing, meditation, renewal. All here, seeping and pouring through our souls like the streams and rushes of Water.

Photo of The Belly - an art installation by Aim Axion.

As experiencers came out of The Belly with mud on their faces and a curious look in their eye, many greeted me with warm hugs. Some expressed they had feelings of being in the womb, being deep within and tending to the core. Being in a mystical and sacred place, similar to a sweat lodge. Being close to Earth’s weaving roots… 

Photo of The Belly - an art installation by Aim Axion.

This journey has been so fruitful and fulfilling. Thank you all who interacted and took a moment to feel.

Musical appearances by:

• Nature – Spirit, Fire, Air, Water, Earth, the Crow and native birds

• Amber Metz (Aim Axon) – Composition and recording, female vocals, planetary patterns, bamboo, tingsha bells, chimes, xylophone, Tibetan singing bowls, wood drumming, rainstick, gong, whistles, effects

• Dave Gonzo – Dejembe drumming, bamboo, Rick Gregg’s bells

• Matt Weiers – Clarinet, flute, xylophone

• Chayo Wilson – Tibetan singing bowl, bells, xylophone

• Andy Kennedy – Male throat singing

Listen in a quiet and dark space at » www.aimaxon.bandcamp.com

Special thanks to:

The elements for nourishing our very existence, allowing us to feel the senses and experience this stay on Earth. 

Andy Kennedy for stoking the fire to this conscious experiment, for being an intriguing collaborator and a whimsically supporting hand. Andy, thank you for creating the engaging jungle atmosphere outside The Belly room, which encouraged the audience to touch – play – wonder – let go. 

Also within the jungle, Craig Dorety for lending his hallucination chamber and Joseph Cartino for his indigenous dangling decor. 

Chayo Wilson for her spiritual guidance and all around kindness and support. 

Matt Weiers for sharing audio knowledge and lending his recording equipment and handsomely crafted singing bowls. 

Dave Gonzo for harnessing the essential and primal animalistic forces. 

Jessica Stroia for her surreal poetry, elegant flower reef and veil decor. 

Terri Elioff for her excellent seamstress skills that made the ground oh so comfortable. 

Jennifer Corio and Art at the Cave gallery for making the use of this space possible. 

And of course, to the Pacific NW Sculptors who donated materials and for their artistic encouragement.

Photo of Pacific Northwest Sculptors member Aim Axion inside The Belly - an art installation.
Amber Metz (Aim Axon)

Filed Under: Events, Events-Archive, Members, Process, Reviews, Sculptor Tagged With: Amber Metz, Collaboration, Installation Art, International Sculpture Day, Music, Poetry, Sensory Experience Author: Jessica Stroia

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Pacific Northwest Sculptors
4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd #302
Portland, OR 97214
president@pnwsculptors.org

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Tualatin Valley Creates
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