The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck, using only my departed father's leftover art supplies. The images in the deck deal with the same "reality" that I wrote about in my sci-fi novel of the same name, THE WHITE FEATHERED OCTOPUS. "Within the book, there is a section about humanity’s first contact with intelligent life, the Emergent Mothers—a "race" of octopod creatures that float about a meter off the ground and communicate with a biological thought-crystal hologram projection. There, at Ice Station Liger on the Moon of an Extra Solar Planet, two clones of Gus Grissom from a mix-matched collector's set of the original Mercury Seven Astronauts have sex with the creature and the three fuse into a new single entity, which becomes the new human race, the Alphaflight'n Primitives. They are the next phase of reality." The images of that adventure are recorded on the only paper the Deke Slauton clone had left a deck of playing cards that the cosmic rays had bleached clean. The new race of Humanity that branches out into Hyperspace, the newrace needs 12 members to create one child. They must form a Zodiac Circle with a 13th who is the Midwife. Now you too can take place in the RITE of OOLAR! |
The White Feathered Octopus Tarot DeckThe White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck​The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck ​ 2018/© 2013, 78 cards x 2.75 x 4.75 inches the Tarot from the 23rd Century complete with a Tuck Box for storage and easy access. ​The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck ​ 2018/© 2013, 78 cards x 2.75 x 4.75 inches the Tarot from the 23rd Century complete with a Tuck Box for storage and easy access. Instructions for The 13 player Multi-Mystical Tarot Spread. Great for Parties. the Tarot from the 23rd Century complete with a Tuck Box for storage and easy access. The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck Printed at directly from the Ink, watercolor, liquid paper on gloss playing card stock, drawings, exhibited at at Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in 2013.  The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck, using only my departed father's leftover art supplies. The images in the deck deal with the same "reality" that I wrote about in my sci-fi novel of the same name, THE WHITE FEATHERED OCTOPUS. ​ "Within the book, there is a section about humanity’s first contact with intelligent life, the Emergent Mothers—a "race" of octopod creatures that float about a meter off the ground and communicate with a biological thought-crystal hologram projection. There, at Ice Station Liger on the Moon of an Extra Solar Planet, two clones of Gus Grissom from a mix-matched collector's set of the original Mercury Seven Astronauts have sex with the creature and the three fuse into a new single entity, which becomes the new human race, the Alphaflight'n Primitives. They are the next phase of reality.​" The images of that adventure are recorded on the only paper the Deke Slauton clone had left a deck of playing cards that the cosmic rays had bleached clean. The new race of Humanity that branches out into Hyperspace, the newrace needs 12 members to create one child. They must form a Zodiac Circle with a 13th who is the Midwife. Now you too can take place in the RITE of OOLAR! |
Printed at directly from the Ink, watercolor, liquid paper on gloss playing card stock, drawings, exhibited at at Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in 2013.
"Jason Robert Bell’s performance The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck operates on the other side of this theme by presenting a self-‐concocted ritual based on a system in which all signifying material is undifferentiated. Bell begins by having twelve participants, twelve surrogates of zodiac signs, join hands in a circle. The lights of the gallery dim and electronic music plays loudly from speakers around the space. At this point, the artist is sticking esoteric cards to the foreheads of his participants with spit while crossing his eyes in what convincingly appears to be divine epilepsy. Once finished, he flings cards sporting iconography from a variety of decks onto the floor and begins feverishly vocalizing thoughts regarding the purpose of this ritual. Included in this schizophrenic oration is mention of human beings existing as living embodiments of the information in hard drives, as well as several quick references to the mysticism of the Kabbalah.
Jason Robert Bell, from The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck
Bell’s performance is the realization of a paranoid condition that emerges when multiple structures of signification are blended into one another. A univocal purpose of this ritual itself is almost impossible to arrive to on the part of the viewer. Yet the hysterical speech of the artist seems determined to announce a solid meaning for the actions performed. Bell is convinced of the mystical relevance of his own paranoiac accumulation of symbols. This sincerity in the face of complete madness is what distinguishes The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck from a bloated canon of performance art built around personalized ritual. In the past, a number of artists have devised ritualistic performances as a way of formulating an analysis for the act of ritual itself, ultimately creating artworks that defer genuineness in favor of critical leverage. Bell’s piece at Gallery 400 is a step beyond this apathetic practice; while the audience may never sincerely believe in the “divine” meaning Bell taps into, Bell himself does and convinces us well of his faith....
Jason Robert Bell, from The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck
Bell’s performance is the realization of a paranoid condition that emerges when multiple structures of signification are blended into one another. A univocal purpose of this ritual itself is almost impossible to arrive to on the part of the viewer. Yet the hysterical speech of the artist seems determined to announce a solid meaning for the actions performed. Bell is convinced of the mystical relevance of his own paranoiac accumulation of symbols. This sincerity in the face of complete madness is what distinguishes The White Feathered Octopus Tarot Deck from a bloated canon of performance art built around personalized ritual. In the past, a number of artists have devised ritualistic performances as a way of formulating an analysis for the act of ritual itself, ultimately creating artworks that defer genuineness in favor of critical leverage. Bell’s piece at Gallery 400 is a step beyond this apathetic practice; while the audience may never sincerely believe in the “divine” meaning Bell taps into, Bell himself does and convinces us well of his faith....
Tarot del Gabrielle
Created in 2005, Brooklyn, NY - color aid paper and found paper mounted on card.
These piece were created as personal gift for a loved one who was leaving my life. I tried to sum up all of our experiences with the Tarot.
Windyonion Tarot
JASON ROBERT BELL
8.5"x11", ink, crayon, and watercolor on paper, mounted on card.
The drawings were done over the spring and summer of 1994, right before my senior year of Art School.
They started off as a parody of the The Rider Waite Tarot, the most widely recognized Tarot deck. But little by little the project took on a life of it's own, and I really tried to discover new forms and ideas within this old system of symbols.
These drawings were made without any sketches or redos, whatever I started with I went with.