Island

About

Constructed as multiple, unfolding chapters, of a novel, the exhibition Island captures various moments in Aldous Huxley?s novel from 1962, somewhat a counterpart to A Brave New World written thirty years earlier.
In the enclavic and psychic setting of Pala new criteria for ?value? lie in harmony, personal fulfillment, arts, architecture and the imagination. Ecentric solutions are found to old social problems, one regulator being the use of psychedelic drugs, tantra, rock climbing, multiple family structures, and collective and individual healing sessions.
Island celebrates both the psychedelic Sixties, the dissolution of conventional Western mores and identities and the rise of new forms of awareness. As novel, it is also a cautionary tale of the mindless exploitation of resources allied to the capitalization of spirituality.
The exhibition follows the transformative steps of Bloomsbury-born protagonist Will Farnaby, observer, actor and catalyst. Within Island, Will?s transformation is loosely organized around the intertwined experiences of crash, awakening, abundance, and self-betrayal.
The first pivotal word Farnaby hears on the island is ?Attention? the initial awakening of a journey towards the ?here and now.?