What we believe is obviously shaped by what we observe, but what we perceive is also shaped by our beliefs. In our age of internet misinformation it is often difficult to know what's true or false, and we create our own narratives in an attempt to bring purpose and meaning to an ever-changing, complex world. 


A recent survey revealed that many people believe in conspiracy theories such as the assassination of JFK wasn't done by one person (48%), secrets about aliens are hidden in Area 51 (27%), the Illuminati are covertly ruling the world (21%), the government is using chemtrails to manipulate us (19%), and Earth is flat (3%). And then there are those, like MKUltra, that have been well documented and proven horrifyingly true. 


For this project, I sought to explore the reasoning behind these narratives and produce evocative images that capture their emotional essence.


Ether

Mkultra 233/250

CONSPIRACY: Believing is Seeing

A lone rabbit is seen cavorting about in a post-armageddon world. Although it’s not clear exactly what transpired, scenes of abandoned factories hint at an industrially triggered climate disaster. Traveling through swirling trans-dimensional portals, the rabbit presides over scenes of mayhem and destruction. Evidence of the rabbit's role throughout history emerges in ancient documents, from Eastern block printing to Mughal Empire paintings to Medieval parchments, and mythic dot paintings. The rabbit has always been with us.

RABBIT TAKEOVER  is based on my irascible, aggressive, much-loved pet rabbit Pickles, who sadly passed away as this was being developed.

NOTE: Opensea compresses images: original files are 2048x2048. You can download from IPFS.


Diesel

RABBIT TAKEOVER by Anne Spalter

Wrapped Ether

The Factories

In the distant future climate change has made Earth uninhabitable.

In desperation the remaining people on earth build a series of spaceships and try to depart the planet. Some fail at launch and go down in flames. Others warp to the past and engage with steampunk battleships, or warp to the future to face highly evolved deadly plants.

Research on the plants reveals a way forward: using the powerful psychedelic powers of plant extracts, the ships open neon hyperspace tunnels and travel to a distant earth future. Some land in the frozen north, some land in the tropical equator, and some land in the desert.

Seeing the spiritual purity of the new settlers, angels arrive and raise the humans to a new level of psychic oneness.