INTERNATIONAL PANELING/May 2023
Photo from Light Year, March 2017 show by Igor Kalitvencev. Work by Daniela Kostova | In The Jaws Of Merman. Photo by Julienne Schaer.
NYC’s “LIGHT YEAR” Projected Video Art Program Coming to an End Soon
LIGHT YEAR
by Leo Kuelbs
Brooklyn
(Updated from an article appearing in International Paneling; October 2022)
Since 2015, the LIGHT YEAR program has appeared every first Thursday on the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO, NYC. After eight-plus years, LIGHT YEAR is coming to an end, with the 98th show in June as the last scheduled appearance. But, two final shows may be added (either online or on the bridge) to get the project to 100. In any case, it’s been an amazing experience, shared by over 1000 creative collaborators.
The LIGHT YEAR project was conceived and initiated by myself, in late 2014, along with the support of my colleagues Farkas Fulop, of Glowing Bulbs and John Ensor Parker. Once the concept was agreed upon by the three of us, the DUMBO Business Improvement District and the NYC Dept. of Transportation gave the show their blessings and by April of 2015, I had purchased the projectors and we were ready for our first show in May of that year.
The idea for LIGHT YEAR was hatched in Leicester, England, during a trip to United VJs’ Full dome Festival. After screenings and seminars in a 70s era planetarium, I would check regarding the progress on the explosive New York Festival of Lights. As I watched via my phone, I noticed that the event was massively packed and that, since our successful mapping-based presentations on the Manhattan Bridge (Immersive Surfaces in 2011 and Codex Dynamic in 2012), word of mouth had spread and there was massive pent-up demand. Both Parker and Fulop were contributing to NYFoL in major ways, while I helped with curating the large works on the bridge’s anchorage.
The crowd was so large that the York St subway stop was closed in order to help get the excess people out of the station. In short, it was a great and edgy surprise. But much more than anyone could have anticipated.
In the short trip back to London, the idea for a monthly single channel show came about. Partly, to be keep the “light art” connection going on the bridge and in the neighborhood, but also to have a continual, though more modest presence for the year of 2015, which the United Nation’s deemed, “The Year of Light and Light Art.” Also, a bar and plan for musical programming in the Manhattan Bridge’s archway, as well as open studios and gallery openings took shape for each month’s First Thursday. And LIGHT YEAR fit well with that.
Much has changed since 2015 and its time for the programming to evolve, along with the neighborhood.
The show went on after the initial year, through the COVID time, when we were obliged to explore a greater online experience since the site was shut down, and finally into this new era. Much has changed since 2015 and it’s time for the programming to evolve, along with the neighborhood. The post LIGHT YEAR 100 plans are wide open. And the whole process is under the NYC Department of Transportation and the DUMBO Business Improvement District. But until then, we have another few months of programming to go. Including a new Digital Fairy Tales presentation in May and a presentation by Waterfall Mansion in June. Also, you can check out the continuation of the DUMBOGLOW series of publicly presented videos each first Thursday, at Jay and Water St in DUMBO.
Besides the bridge and LIGHT YEAR’s online presence, the show has expanded to Berlin (SCOPE BLN) Toronto (The Drey) and IFAC in Athens, Greece. This expanded scope with its social media presence has helped make the LIGHT YEAR platform, and light art on the Manhattan Bridge a common meme.
Finish lines sharpen focus and sweeten memories. We hope to see old friends and new in the upcoming year, at whatever site you can manage. We look forward to that and thank everyone who has been a part of LIGHT YEAR to this point and onto the 100th episode!
Shorty of the Month: "Orbits," by Kristian Pedersen + Elke Brauweiler; from Digital Fairy Tales: Album Two
As spring cautiously approaches, we thought it would be a nice time to check out this celestial treat! “Orbits,” by artists Kristian Pederson, with sound by Elke Brauweiler, uses old German fairy tales as its basis. The sun and the moon are rarely together, nor do they agree very much. But when an eclipse comes, all is forgiven and the relationship is renewed! Check out this tasty treat as we get ready for spring to spring!
Springtime in Metropolises: Beyond Food, Shopping & Party
Art in Public Spaces has Taken Over the Cityscape
by Dirk Lehr
Berlin
When I recently went through my photo library, I noticed for the first time how many pictures there are that show art in public spaces. It's everywhere and in the most surprising places. Walking through the city, here and there one notices a work of art, stops, rejoices and photographs it. But how many there actually are and where you can find them is really surprising.
Once you start thinking about where you've seen public art, the list gets longer and longer. Even though she mostly just stands there, she is not static, she interacts with the light, the environment, space and time and most importantly with the viewer. She practically stands in his way and asks him to flirt with her. Art not displayed in buildings, but right where the people are, the city as an exhibition space, maybe the best place in the world for them.
Public art works by Lichtenstein in Barcelona, Keith Haring and Robert Indiana in Berlin, Niki de Saint Phalle, Zurich. Image by Lehr
Here in Berlin alone there is a work of art on every corner. A huge sculpture by Keith Haring at Potsdamer Platz. In front of the Neue Nationalgalerie, a LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana and on the opposite side a monumental work by Alexander Calder. Not far from there, on the Hallesches Ufer, you pass a cube sculpture by Sol LeWitt. On the way to Kurfürstendamm, where a silver-coloured, shiny metal sculpture by the artist couple Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff opens up in the middle of the street, you pass a huge Bernart Venet rust sculpture at the junction with Urania, not far from the famous KaDeWe department store.
I was even able to admire his work myself in the middle of Kampen on Sylt, Germany's northernmost island, also known as Germany's Hamptons. There is an imposing Eduardo Chillida in front of the Federal Chancellery, a huge Tony Cragg infront of the Lower House of German Parliament, a small work by Jenny Holzer is emblazoned on a concrete pillar next to the Old National Gallery and the balancing act by Stephan Balkenhol in front of the Axel Springer headquater, one of Germanys biggest media houses. And Banksy left his mark many years ago on his Berlin tour with a flower thrower and three ghetto blaster rats in Schöneberg.
In Düsseldorf, home of the well-known art academy of the same name, there is a filigree, dynamic sculpture by the sculptor Norbert Kricke on the banks of the Rhine river and in the neighboring city of Cologne, Claes Oldenburg stuck an upside-down ice cream cone on the corner of the roof of a shopping gallery. In Kassel, hometown of the famous Documenta, he threw an oversized pickaxe on the banks of the Fulda river.
And if you arrive at Milan Airport, board the Malpensa Express in the direction of the city center and go to the exit at Milan Cadorna station, you are greeted by a meter-high Oldenburg sewing needle with a colorful thread twined around it. An unmissable reference to the importance of fashion to the city. A little north of here, on Lake Garda, a street artist has immortalized himself on a harbor wall in Desenzano del Garda - was it Invader?
Everyone who is drawn outside again at the beginning of spring and lured to travel should keep their eyes open. Art is always and everywhere, you just have to stop for a moment.
In Barcelona stands the monumental sculpture La Cara de Barcelona by Roy Lichtenstein and on the beach of the Spanish metropolis one encounters The Wounded Star, a stacking sculpture by Rebecca Horn. In Paris, not far from the Center Pompidou, you can admire the colorful figures by Niki de Saint Phalle as well as at the main train station in Zurich. There, somewhat hidden, one of her Nana's hangs on the ceiling and watches the travellers. Everyone who is drawn outside again at the beginning of spring and lured to travel should keep their eyes open. Art is always and everywhere, you just have to stop for a moment.
3 Questions with…Nina Sobell!
Introduction:
Well, it’s been about 8 months in the making, but we are finally ready to present our video interview with the great Nina Sobell. If you are not familiar with her work, Nina is a key figure in the second wave (80s) of video artists, as well as performance. Lots of amazing videos documenting performances as well as straight-up videos and re-enactments of memories, Sobell’s work is deeply soulful, often sad, sometimes absurd and strangely funny. Very human stuff spanning a number of years. But, let’s let Nina tell the story….
The Questions:
1. Hello Nina! You are considered a pioneer in the video art field. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and some career highlights? Also, where are you currently calling home?
2. You do more than just video art. Can you tell us about other mediums you work in and how the different mediums interact with each other?
3. How do you think your work and art, in general, can make a positive impact on the greater scene in these challenging times? And, what are you looking forward to?
Image by Thomas D. Rotenberg
The Underlying Promise of Crypto
by Mark Bailey
Minneapolis
Bittrex, my preferred crypto exchange since 2016, has announced that it's winding down US operations. The news came as a shock. It turns out that regulators made it impossible for the exchange to continue to operate in my country. Lately the Securities and Exchange Commission has been shaking down exchanges like Kraken for settlements amounting to tens of millions of dollars. These settlements are basically protection money, paid to government goons. Bittrex has always led the industry in regulatory compliance, but they're unwilling to support the SEC's new protection racket.
In a larger sense, it seems the crypto world is finally under serious attack in the US. This was bound to happen eventually and here we are. Allowing centralized exchanges to dominate trade at all was probably a strategic mistake. But it remains technically feasible for networks of people to establish alternative exchange mechanisms, circumventing the centralized exchanges and thwarting attempts at government overreach.
One thing I used Bittrex for regularly was selling Hive tokens that I earned from blogging. Now, I'll have to sell my Hive through decentralized exchanges. These take a slightly larger cut and don't provide convenient tax documentation. They're not ideal, but they work.
The underlying promise of crypto is the promise of financial empowerment; of money without banks or governments. Too many people seem to have have lost sight of that.
The underlying promise of crypto is the promise of financial empowerment; of money without banks or governments. Too many people seem to have have lost sight of that. I don't know why all of these bankers think crypto will just become part of their legacy system. Nor do I understand how regulators can be so shortsighted, shaking down the industry for relatively small settlement sums when they could realize far greater proceeds from simply taxing crypto appropriately.
One possible explanation is that the government isn't being shortsighted. In the US and EU, the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) is well underway. CBDCs are a form of electronic money that gives bankers and governments complete, fine-grained control of user funds. Imagine having your funds frozen because you attended a political demonstration or posted something subversive on Twitter. CBDCs could be programmed to automate such repression. Many believe that governments are going after crypto in order to make way for the new CBDCs.
In addition to the government interference, the crypto industry is currently riding out instability in the banking and tech sectors. Consequently, the price of bitcoin might rise, plummet, or fluctuate wildly. This unpredictability is amplified by the unknown impact of increasingly advanced AI programs trading on exchanges. Automated trading programs have been around for a long time, but the tech is advancing quickly, and may soon begin behaving in unanticipated ways.
Overall, I'm a little sad that Bittrex closed its doors to me after all these years. It's the end of an era, brought about by ill-considered regulator shenanigans. Fortunately, the decentralized finance infrastructure already in place allows people like me to keep trading, albeit in markets with slightly less favorable rates. Crypto isn't going anywhere, but it might become harder to use for a while.
Image by Pieper
Hope for Spring? Let’s Try!
by Leo Kuelbs
Berlin
We here at International Paneling have been advised that sometimes we look a little too much at the dark side of life. Sadly, there’s just so much darkness to see these days. Without forgetting about our friends all over the world who are suffering from/in cataclysmic situations, I will venture now to peruse a little bit of sunshine. What might that sunshine be, you ask? Well, I am going to keep it simple. What I am looking forward to is the simplicity of some sun and warmth.
I laugh when I think about how some politicians in Texas and Florida, especially, credit themselves for excellent leadership during the virus times. Dude! It’s always hot and sunny there!
Yes, just looking forward to spring and the end of a long winter after a series of long winters and tough years. I don’t even need a beach. Nope. Just some hours of sun and enough consistent warmth so I don’t have to worry about a sneaky, late cold or COVID experience. In Berlin, the sun will shine, then it will rain, then the temperature will drop—all in a few minutes. My winter jacket has been put away, then re-introduced about six times, by now. The nights are cold, the wind is wet and almost always blowing, even when below freezing. So, just give me that sweet sunshine! I will get super drunk on vitamin D once it is possible. Sun! Vitamin D. I laugh when I think about how some politicians in Texas and Florida, especially, credit themselves for excellent leadership during the virus times. Dude! It’s always hot and sunny there! It’s not you! It's the place..!
I digress. I am simply looking forward to spring and maybe adding more musical performance in my personal life. Writing music again? The older I get the more difficult it is to see why anyone would want to hear what I have to say about anything. When I was younger, I just didn’t have any idea that people might not want to hear my music. They just had to deal with it. I remember about 15 years ago, I was in NYC and a white guy from Minnesota was playing a n acoustic gig with some 30-something literary types, all from MN. BTW: None of them are still in NYC, they all have families now and nice jobs, all from pretty wealthy backgrounds…Anyway, this guy played really well, but his songs, his perspectives left me cold. There wasn’t a lot of pain, or interesting perspectives. Mostly appreciation of trees and stuff like that. It grossed me out a little bit. What does this guy’s G-C-D life have to do with anything I give a shit about? Basically, I already know this stuff, as our backgrounds are pretty similar. Maybe his family had more money and he felt a little bit of entitlement to some kind of greater appreciation than me, but that’s about it. So, I haven’t written so much since about then. Why? I have been a bit stuck.
Recently, I bought a nice cheap new Gretsch guitar though and a friend (Horster) told me, “There may some songs locked in that thing for you to go get.” So, that’s something positive that I am also looking forward to. Whether it happens or not, the idea of creating some new music in the springtime, as the sun shines more and the balcony becomes a hours long option, is like a nice healthy little flower growing somewhere inside of me. Hopefully not the kind of growth that requires medical care! Yikes, don’t get me going about the state of health care, especially in America. That’s a bummer trip. But, let’s save that for later. For now, let me think of sun, rosé spritzers, boat rides and seeing my family and some friends back in Minnesota before it gets REALLY hot. Rock and roll and spring/summer sunshine. That’s it for now. Trying to stay focused….
Image by Thomas D. Rotenberg
Can ChatGPT Write Articles for You?
by Adrian Pocobelli
Berlin
Perhaps you noticed the blander-than-usual tone of last month's article. Well, as astute readers might have guessed, I was experimenting with ChatGPT. I was even a little impressed with myself at first—what if I took a few paragraphs of a transcript from a YouTube video I made and used ChatGPT to create a fully-formed article? And I have to admit, on the first pass, I was blown away by the results. I thought to myself, "I could write five articles a day with this technique." Feeling slightly guilty, however, I made sure to heavily edit the article and add my own touches here and there, but the core, or labor, of the article was formed by an AI chatbot.
Perhaps what's most interesting, however, is what happened in the following weeks. As time marched on, the whole thing started to feel a little lame, and even the editor of this magazine mentioned that the article using AI felt slightly off. And I came to realize that this was not the easy fix I thought it was, and that all of the personality, insight, and observation that I try to infuse in what I write was not there, and was replaced with Wikipedia-scraped 'facts' that were not that different from going to Wikipedia itself. So, if that's the case, why write at all? And worse, this stale content had my name on it. Increasingly, the promise of using ChatGPT to write my articles for me began to feel like a Faustian bargain.
Maybe it wasn't so much that I was using ChatGPT to help write my article, but how I was using it. ChatGPT is an excellent copy editor, so with further experimentation, I began to realize that the better way to use it was to write the article in my own voice and my own words first—in other words, use my labor—and then use AI to revise the work. And then, once that was done, go back in manually to revise the AI revisions to make sure that my personality had not been erased from the smoother AI-edited article. And this, my friends, is where I am in my AI-assisted journey: Use AI to enhance your labor, not replace it.
—This article only used ChatGPT to fix punctuation and formatting.
Mythologies of the American West in Germany
Photographer Sandra Ratkovic, along with curator, Boris Kostadinov, explore this special relationship in the new show “MYTH USA,” in Berlin
by Leo Kuelbs
images courtesy of the artist
The Berlin-based photographer and conceptual artist, Sandra Ratkovic, has been presenting works all over Europe in the last several years. Ratkovic usually adopts a concept or an issue (BREXIT, for instance), travels to an appropriate place, then interviews and makes portraits of her subjects as she records their responses. Her friendly, non-judgmental demeanor is crucial to her practice and the empathy this creates is reflected in her work. There are clearly elements of care and honest curiosity in her images which also create connection all the way through to the viewers.
Ratkovic’s latest show, “MYTH USA,” uses the German reaction to the Old West, as seen mostly in Movies and television of the 50s and 60s, as a perspective to peer deeper within the greater post-WWII psyche of a nation. “MYTH USA is curated by Boris Kostadinov and presented at the new LEVELS Gallery in Berlin, until the end of May 2023. International Paneling caught up with Sandra in the run-up to the show.
INTERNATIONAL PANELING: Can you tell us a little bit about the concept behind your show MYTH USA ?
SANDRA RATKOVIC: I started the project in 2019. There is a Western village in Berlin which I have always wanted to visit, as I find the whole phenomena of Western villages very interesting and also a bit bizarre.
So I contacted the director and mayor of this Western village and asked him if I could come by and take some photos of him and the village.
The whole experience was fascinating. I was amazed at how precisely and passionately American history is re-built and re-enacted in those Western villages in Germany.
So I decided to visit more Western towns in Germany, and to find out more about what fascinates people about the whole Western and Cowboy theme, and why people feel a need to re-enact those historical Western themes and values.
I was also interested in how different (or maybe similar) the real USA is from what these people celebrate as American heritage.
So I tried to explore this topic by taking photos of the USA „today” and juxtapose the images. I travelled to the USA twice, to Miami and New York, to work further on the project.
BORIS KOSTADINOV: My interpretation of the project is that it is a kind of study of a cultural phenomenon, and it appeared after Sandra Ratkovic's visits to the USA. Being German, she knows very well the phenomenon that arose in West Germany in the 20th century and which was defined by the
fetishization of the American West in the 19th century. In the 1970s and 80s, the so-called "Western cities" in Western Germany were created.These theme parks or fantasy places that function like an urban community, complete with mayors, saloons, prisons, churches, and even cemeteries. They offer visitors the opportunity to relive historical battles and reenact heroism, all in the name of recreational fun. Sandra juxtaposes her photos of this Made in Germany & “America,” and the real American reality. The result is more than curious, amusing or aesthetically remarkable, but at the same time raises serious historical and social issues, which in the future could be presented in a specially prepared publication.
IP: The German type of fascination for the OLD WEST in the USA is really its own thing. How would you (both) describe it? Also, Boris is Bulgarian and Sandra, you are half Croatian, correct? Does this kind of interest in cowboys and Indians exist in other countries, as well?
SR: In Croatia, the Western Town phenomena is not as widespread as it is in Germany. However, the first Western Towns were built there too during the last years.
What connects Croatia with the Western topic is the fact that most of the famous Winnetou-movies were filmed in Croatia in the 1960s. The filmmakers, who were partly German, chose the beautiful landscapes of Croatia`s National Parks such as Plitvice Senj and Paklenica as the filming locations of these world-famous cowboy movies.
BK: For me, as a Bulgarian born during the Cold War, another phenomenon is very interesting. Although in those years American films were not shown very often in Bulgaria and American music was not widely listened to, or even jeans were not sold (since they were defined by socialist propaganda as “harmful Western influence” - at the same time books were published, which, in the same way as it had in West Germany, romanticized the old American West.
These trends were not only in Bulgaria but also in the whole of Eastern Europe from the 70s and 80s. We can also observe them in the former Yugoslavia, where westerns were very popular. In fact, perhaps this whole wave started in East Germany, where the books of the writer Karl May became very popular among socialist teenagers. It was his adventure novels, where the main characters were cowboys and American Indians, that were also translated into Bulgarian and were a great success in my childhood.
It will be interesting if we try to answer what this paradox is due to. My opinion is that this is another type of romantic reading of the American past, but this time through the prism of communist doctrine. Most likely, through such novels, animations and comics in the former communist countries, an idealized, kitsch and totally fictional idea of the heroism and morality of the people of the American West of the 19th century was created. All this I think was done to contrast the “depravity” and “decline” promoted later with the imposition of advanced capitalism and the consumerist model in the US.
IP: You two have worked together before. What are some projects you have worked together on in the past and what's coming up for both of you?
SR: Boris Kostadinov is curating a lot of wonderful art shows and locations. I had the chance to show some work at FLUCA, Cultural Pavillion of Austria in Plovdiv, which he curated.
Last year, I exhibited my photo project Street Art on the Countryside at Scope BLN, a space in Berlin that Boris is running and curating. I really appreciate Boris amazing sense of art and composition, his vast art history knowledge and also his great sense of humour which makes working with him always very enjoyable.
BK: I am really happy that Boris is curating the upcoming exhibition at Levels Berlin and I am looking forward to it. I remember with pleasure the exhibition In and out of EU by Sandra Ratkovic which we presented in 2019 in FLUCA during Plovdiv - European Capital of Culture. Our next joint project was the presentation of her solo exhibition and the photo book Street Art in the Countryside at Scope BLN gallery in 2022.
For her current exhibition at LEVELS, we have jointly selected the pairs from the featured photographs. I am personally very pleased with the result. I hope that soon we will have the opportunity to work on a joint project again, because Sandra, in addition to being a remarkable photographer, is also an extremely interesting person and a good friend.
Nora Schattauer, Chromgruen61, 2019, 30x20 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Artist in Focus: Nora Schattauer
by Dirk Lehr
The Cologne based artist Nora Schattauer initially worked as a sculptor with amorphous materials such as wax and rubber before turning to painting, to which she has remained true to this day.
She is known for her painterly drawings, which are based on an innovative technique with mineral salt solutions and which deal with questions of development, the dissolution of boundaries and interactions. Schattauer applies salts and acids to paper in a controlled manner, creating a pattern that forms a framework. The substances react with the paper and thus elude artistic control. A momentum of its own develops, which the artist consciously leaves to the symbiosis of the materials. Nevertheless, empirical values make the image result, which appears to be random, controllable.
Nora Schattauer, GF29, 2018, 80x60 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Like Cy Twombly for example, who toyed with the notion of the unintentional, Schattauer also influences chance.
Like Cy Twombly for example, who toyed with the notion of the unintentional, Schattauer also influences chance. Twombly's works appear as unforeseen, completely accidental painting results. He demonstrates that even a deliberately random stroke is controlled by will and is therefore not accidental. Schattauer's works also give the impression that the artist only acted as a source of inspiration, but that the result is more or less unpredictable. While Twombly proves that there are no intentional coincidences, Schattauer shows that coincidence can be controlled and is by no means an autonomous process that only arises of its own accord. Her works appear orderly and tidy, almost systematic and quite concrete. The softening and deliquescence resulting from the chemical reaction with the paper takes away the severity inherent in patterns such as grids, making them appear very conciliatory. The longer you engage with them, the more meditative they become. Fragile structures become visible, partially transparent.
Her pictures, which appear abstract at first glance, always reveal something concrete. The patterns and grains are sometimes reminiscent of cells that only become visible through a microscope or of signs of aging and weathering on surfaces. Schattauer's works therefore seem familiar to the viewer. They inevitably provoke associations by comparing them with our memory. She is looking for forms and structures that can become a life's work. The possibilities are limitless. No pattern is like the other, a grid is not just a grid. It is the anatomy of controlled coincidence that makes Schattauer's work so special.
The War Goes on in Ukraine…
by #headacheeartlaboratory
Kiev
Warning: Some images are pretty graphic.
Image by ANANI
Cryptid Mushroom Delivers Stern Critique
“I thought it was the Zombie Apocalypse!”
By LJ Larva
Berlin
Just last week, a local man was surprised to hear voices in a cemetery in Mitte, Berlin. “I thought it was the Zombie Apocalypse!” said Harold Friday, a freelance-expat. “I admit I was a little tipsy, but I heard a voice, clear as day say, ‘Humanity sucks!’ I turned to see who it was and there was not a living soul to be seen! Then I asked, ‘Wha..? Who said that?’ Nothing. I kept walking, and I heard it again. ‘Humanity sucks!’ Then I noticed this mushroom in this old tree. It seemed to be smiling…” Herr Friday seemed shaken and stared off into space, before continuing on. ‘Humanity sucks!’ it said again and its smile turned into a frown. I gathered my empties and moved on! Fast!”
This incident raises many interesting questions. The first is, why is this mushroom speaking English while seemingly living in Germany? Judging by its size, this mushroom must be many thousands of years old, so why not German? We asked Cryptid expert, Jack Dingleberry, this question. “Well, cryptids can travel through different realities, so I think the answer is somewhere in there.” Interesting. An inter-reality traveling mushroom speaking English and living in Germany. No wonder he has some serious anger issues!
“I think the Mayans and the aliens had some communication issues regarding how the different species interact with time,” he said. “That lead to a dissonance in the cosmic web and this angry mushroom is clearly the result.”
Another question is why speak now? Is the end of the world coming? Dingleberry went on to explain that it may have to do with the return of the aliens and problems with the Mayan calendar. “I think the Mayans and the aliens had some communication issues regarding how the different species interact with time,” he said. “That lead to a dissonance in the cosmic web and this angry mushroom is clearly the result.” Wow! This is a very interesting story!
We here at International Paneling are open and inclusive to all types of existence. INCLUDING TALKING MUSHROOMS! We feel as though the various governmental organizations should cajole this cryptic cryptid mushroom in hopes of befriending it and then learn its secrets! Then the mushroom should be destroyed, possibly eaten, in the hopes of absorbing its fungal wisdom and insights. This method of interaction with unknown elements is typical for humanity and has been the go-to method for thousands of years: befriend, learn, control, destroy. Why stop now?
In any case, we will keep you up to date on all the latest in paranormal and alien-related news! If you have an encounter of any of the five kinds, or just thoughts about aliens, please let us know. Try sending your stories via the mental/spiritual communication web or email us instead.