e(hoes

mt athos proskenema

oaris — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 16:41:12 GMT

this weekend, my father and i visited the monastery of paul just underneat the 6000 ft summit cone of mt. athos in n. greece. the abbot is a spiritual guide to my father, and I have grown to enjoy deep conversations with him. it is very difficult to convey the experiences of visiting those monasteries and the remarkable monks that hold donw a version of harmony for the soul unique and unknown to most. this picture is from departing. we were blessed with impeccable weather, and the place showed us her divine beauty.

Abode of the Gods

oaris — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:10:29 GMT

Yesterday I flooded with mental loops and knew I had to break away from the concrete city's confusing energy (Thessaloniki) and head out to mamma... luckily the day was so crisp that across the Thermaykos Bay, Mt. Olympus was crystal clear. This is an unusual thing, as the bay attracts and emits a lot of haze that keeps Greece's hightes peak (at 2,919m / 9,570 feet) hidden away. Standing only 45 miles in front of this massive mountain rising from the Northern Aegean sea is breathtaking, especially since the view is to the West and the sunset was more than gorgeous. The double peak - Mythikas on the left and Stefani on the rigiht - has been dubbed "the throne of Zeus." I climbed this mountain in my senior year in my greek-american high school, and later with friends during a wild summer adventure. I felt calm and grounded. I felt supported and loved. The beauty of our planet is our ground zero for figuring out our purpose here. I highly recommend that when in doubt, get away and go see beautiful places. I am sure that as long as we go beyond any traces of our "civilization," everything is beautiful and harmonious. Peace to all Aris

Introducing the new OrbitalMonkey!

oaris — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:14:40 GMT

EveryONE, please acknowledge my dear brother Mr.Z as a full partner in OrbitalMonkeys. Zach and I met at the FourC Full Moon Gathering, and we have since been shown great adventures of creative vision and deep care for our community that we love so much. We will join forces to advance the vision of harmony.in.tension, spaceshaping, lucid imaging, and sound creation. he is a twin soul with a huge heart, positive attitude, relentless devotion to what moves him, and a all-round nice guy. I am so happy that the OM idea is growing in this new direction. Honoring the past, and being true to our present, we activate a brilliant future. Blessed Be! Aris OM

fly away

oaris — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:17:18 GMT

as the wings lifted us off pdx and over the gorge, she - wy`east - was whispering to me that i will return, for she loves me. this mountain helped me so much, helped me recover my fearlessness and my courage to leap into my fear and learn to ride my path - both literally on skis and figuratively in my mind's realm. this departure has been the most difficult ever. i weeped and weeped with no stopping. now that i have been to the other places that shaped my life, i know that this, this lovely portal~land, is my hOMe. This is the place i discovered the path to the Self, where I trained my mind and my heart to be the galactic goofball that i am, and the very place my creative voice was heard. i love everyone so much that i can only cry. i cannot say how much I will miss this place and all of you. i think those of you who are tuned in, know. please hold space and sooner than later we will reunite. the universe wishes me to accomplish another away-mission, so I will humbly oblige. till the next time i land back here, please know that i carry all of it and all of you in my heart. blessed be. aho. ar¡is

arizona

oaris — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 00:59:15 GMT

it is always humbling to experience the arizona sonoran desert... I am visiting my alma mater and it is gorgeous - albeit dry. "the desrt is a spiritual cathartic" —Frank Lloyd Wright

e e cummings

oaris — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:51:50 GMT

since feeling is first who pays any attention to the syntax of things will never wholly kiss you; wholly to be a fool while Spring is in the world my blood approves, and kisses are a far better fate than wisdom lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry --the best gesture of my brain is less than your eyelids' flutter which says we are for eachother: then laugh, leaning back in my arms for life's not a paragraph And death i think is no parenthesis

phos

oaris — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 17:29:13 GMT

to the chosen brotherhood of phos )light( I surrender my ego fears until 10sion pulled it all away from center only to connect to other tight endings - for the ultimate resolution that brings harmonization of tension > spatial harmony. what part of me is it that gets restless when I feel more tensioned than the rest of my brotherhood? the center? the endings? or is it an illusion all together? patience - in Greek "hypomony" means to hold something UP - or to position yourself underneath something very important so that IT maintains its position, while YOU serve it humbly. this is my lesson.

.,

oaris — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:25:29 GMT

i have a sudden surge of optimism and hope tonight. realignment is brought by the thrid moon of service and bonding...

revel-ev-ation

oaris — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:52:16 GMT

tensioning those buggers - the fabrics - has become more than symbolic any more. it is utterly descriptive. how else can i make sense of how profound it is to make harmony out of tension? tension is bad - we are pounded - and we must release it often, or else we burst or something of the like. these fabrics taught me something entirely else, and entirely elusive: tension can just be balanced. not released, but relieved and grounded. not thrown out there, not snapping and slingshoting, but simply being worked INTO a pattern with itself. a beauitiful pattern at that. now call me a stoner or whatever, but I am onto something here. these installations don't just shape space... they make space tell us a story. our own story. space becomes a mirror of our very collective psyche - or psychosis. it is impossibly wonderful that i got to do this again after so long. more installations are lining up and more are going to be telling us this story.

galloping prog house mix by monki

oaris — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 19:28:59 GMT

www.orbitalmonkeys.com/mt/ may it shake your booty and move your soul happy greg

OM site finalized in v.5

oaris — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 09:35:38 GMT

I wanted to let you know that www.orbitalmonkeys.com is now complete in the current version's vision and scope. You will find a subtle change in the UserInterface components, smoother transitions, and more content. The size of the site has been shrunk considerably with the help of Actionscript 2.0, and the loading should now be a breeze. However, the entire design is both elusive and mysterious, so if you are used to easy navigation, etc, watch your step, err click! This is done on purpose, to honor the nature of the work. Please check it out and let me know if you notice anything funny. Peace _aris();

love is mysterious

oaris — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 22:29:45 GMT

i was asked to design the flyer for the upcoming event in Portland's Pioneer Square, called LoveRally, put on by The Groove Enhancement Project. At the time - about two weeks ago - I felt the urge to use this satellite image of the mississippi delta next to the big huge heart arising from the water... Melissa declined the artwork as irreleveant at the time, and I was really having a hard time to explain why I saw it... Then Katrina hit. I am still speechless. Even the redesigned fliers seem to relate... the scale was changed form the focus of the delta back to the entire planet, and the tree of life - an image I have never worked with before due to its significance and overuse - now assumes a global message. I pray these are guidances all of us share. To see the redesigned flyers: www.orbitalmonkeys.com/proofs/loverallyB1.jpg www.orbitalmonkeys.com/proofs/loverallyB2.jpg

diggin up

oaris — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 14:42:34 GMT

believe it or not, this is me, about 8 years ago, in compulsory military service in greece... guarding a chopper corps of engineers o dear i am glad i am opening them ol' boxes

balance

oaris — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 12:46:55 GMT

i thought... even in the circular movement of experience there is progression, shifting, a morphing of perception returning to a place of experience, i thought further, means to both re-face it, but also re-evaluate it yet i have been facing a fear... the fear regressing into this past energy - if it is possible recently clarity surfaced again, in the heat of the night, in the joy of a beach afternoon i realized that i stepped into this period of my life - returning to Greece - with solemn faith that I am progressing and not regressing, though i kinda HAD to get back here the initial experience here offered me little to support this faith so I have been opening old boxes to find out what i have been running from all this time there is a lot but it is not impossible i know and honor my subconscious for guiding me through my own egotistical resistance this is no longer about regressing or progressing it is about balancing the energy that i locked up in a box (and which was haunting me) with the present energy of release, love and kindness as i had released so much old energy while in Portland, and I felt clear and strong, now I must accomplish this here as well, so that I can have a complete whole of a self... once you know that you are a lot more than your mental habits, the true self arises to reveal itself peace and seawashed stones

OM site: major upgrade

oaris — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 20:59:55 GMT

www.orbitalmonkeys.com has been aching for fixing some bugs, completing the galleries, and allaround improving the navigation by improving the speed of loading. this flash site is now 97% complete, or at least till I see something new again! Please check it out and let me know if it does funny things! while, you're at it, enjoy the fresh photos of spaceshaping installations. muchas aris

Day Out Of Time

oaris — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:54:17 GMT

Greetings and love, you fun people... Today, and for one day only, both the OM site and the Telektonon page will be hosting the newest art piece that I have created in honor of Day Out Of Time (Blue Crystal Night). www.orbitalmonkeys.com/sathari/ This is a hybrid piece that started in the regular mode of digital image-crafting, and was completed in Flash, where elements of its geometry became movement. I am exploring this new direction, particularly as I am moving towards the merging of the two OM worlds of Spaceshaping and Graphix iinto one art of ProjectedVisuals on fields of TensileFabrics. I would appreciate any feedback. Be peace Aris

first swim in five years

oaris — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 23:20:44 GMT

this weekend has been refreshing... i hadn't enjoyed the greek aegean sea in the northern shores of halkidiki in over five years. this is where i plunged this morning. thank god this is possible for me right now. i might just sleep tonight!

grounding

oaris — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 00:48:46 GMT

do you give your feet the care and love they deserve? Bathe them in salts, give them massages, reiki... Just imagine what those amazing bones and muscles and tissues do for us during a life time. i always had a kind relationship with my feet. they do have to balance an enormous 6'6" frame and they aren't all that big (13)

procession

oaris — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 09:56:00 GMT

a community of villagers holding candles, in solemn mood, with the sound of bells tolling slowly, walks about the small lake village for a good hour. it is the deep of the spring dusk, and we are following a flower-studded epitaphios. this is the funeral of christ on friday before easter (great friday/good friday). possibly the most reflective day of the greek orthodox year. the day we touch our very mortality. the chanting that night is the most beautiful of the entire body of byzantine music. deep in this mood lies the hope of return to light, and each one holds that hope in the little candle burning in our hands.

energy

oaris — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 15:01:11 GMT

*

oaris — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 08:20:32 GMT

sleepless

oaris — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 08:07:10 GMT

it is weeks now that i cannot sleep at night. since i returned to greece in april, my body is almost completely deregulated. i now have a first-hand experience of the saying "fish out of its waters" it has been years that this kind of stress took over, and presently I am not sure how to deal with it. culture shocks of this magnitude may prove hazardous to your health!