Alex Grey’s “Build Entheon” Project and the Future of Art

It’s hard to tell what the next ten years will bring. With the homogeneous and mainstream state that the internet has taken, content has reached a point of so much diversity that there’s no telling where things will go. In the subject of art, it’s especially volatile.

Since art has persevered as the prime form of self expression over the years, it has transformed today in our post-Internet society. Now that we are so connected we have the opportunity to skip the layers of middlemen that used to exist in the past, and because of this more clear, concise,risky and grand ideas come to light.

Alex Greys’s Build Entheon Project

If you haven’t heard of Alex Grey, look him up. He is a visionary artist who has been around for some time and you have probably seen his art at some point. It is psychedelic as much as it is traditional and natural. His art is a sort of neo-renaissance take on the human consciousness, especially when that consciousness is under the influence of psychedelic drugs. Early users of drugs such as MDMA, DMT, LSD, he and his wife/fellow artist Allyson Grey thought of this church idea on their first MDMA trip; a 12,000 square foot exhibition of the world’s craziest works from the Visionary Art movement.

The project, thought not originally intended to be a church, is cathedralesque and will many of the amenities and services of a cathedral, such as stained glass and actual wedding ceremonies.

Though not the only new church to be redefining what it means to be a religion, this church is a special one. It’s one of exploring the creative force that drives the Universe and trying to channel that into a positive thing for our global community.

Funded by a KickStarter campaign primarily fueled by a few Joe Rogan Experience podcast episodes, the church is being build by a 3D model cast designed by a 3D sculptor named Ryan Tottle who also worked on Frozen and Zootopia and will outlive its creators. Sparked by the idea to take away the word “religion” from the fundamentalists, the church’s entrance is a sculptural relief of a much more universally conscious version of Adam and Eve’s story.

With churches like this coming to reality it is quickly becoming apparent that art is one of the strongest forces in this Universe, being in our socially constructed ideas of commerce, media, and happiness, or in more Universal terms. When will our minds be collectively conscious? Will the singularity bring that or will art? The answer is probably both, and with that we can perhaps start to rebuild our relationships with ourselves as a humanity and be at peace again.