Summer Learning Community // Student Film Projects
Instructors Doc Kelley & Chris Robinson meditating with students during a weekly Zoom meeting.
This past summer Doc Kelley (Psychedelic Sangha co-founder, part-time New School professor) and the singer-songwriter Chris Robinson (Black Crowes, CRB) teamed up to co-teach "Film as Alchemical Magick;" a Summer Learning Community hosted by The New School’s Eugene Lang College located in New York City.
Affectionally dubbed "Summer Freak Skool," the course of study included occult themed films by Kenneth Anger, Harry Everett Smith, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Sergei Parajanov, and Brian Butler.
Once a week for six weeks (July-August), students and friends met online for guided meditation and thoughtful discussion on the films. Students were assigned weekly "Prescriptions" for asynchronous viewing experiences. Prescriptions included instructions for DIY home meditation and ritual, links to films and readings, as well as recommendations for imbuing the experience with magick. Students were also charged with creating their own inspired occult short-films (see below).
Special thanks to course assistant Jonathan Moodie. "Moodie" is the editor of Paisley Gate blog. As course assistant he tracked down obscure films and readings. He also created the montage of student projects below.
