This AI thing is very worrisome. I am realizing that the great Collective Consciousness may be an idiot. Ergo, the Cosmic Consciousness too?

"Hubris," I snort with derision. Sweet ol' Mother Nature clocks us out with a circadian rhythm. Sun time is in our DNA. How dare some power-mad, dull-minded politician advocate for legislation to force an un-natural life schedule upon the people.

The very first Immutable Law of Humanity is: Do Not Mess With Mother Nature. Why is this even a topic or a discussion?

When one makes art, your mind relaxes and the barriers drop. Thoughts meander. You never know what's going to pop-up in the ol' cerebellum.

This Vegas project keeps taking me back to my earliest influences and premises. Childhood stuff. Meaningful joys. That place is a minefield. Touchy. I keep stepping on IEDs.

The starring role that keeps taking the stage is SoCal. The land of my birth. The experiences that are etched on my fingertips. Every day brings a bloody catharsis. Uninvited, Mom keeps rising from the dead. Like Odysseus, I have not been home in a very, very long time.

I'm so grateful to have been born and raised in Southern California. It was a playground. Populated by fresh WWII veterans, eager to homestead. The aerospace industry had scattered small, innovative businesses throughout the southland. Satellites to polymers. Ditto Hollywood. You could realize whatever you dreamed.

Damn near everyone was literally trying to go faster or fly higher. Bigger better waves. Hang gliding was invented in my hometown. Surf and ski. Everyone was making, restoring or creating something.

Where else would one find a rocket powered skateboard? A Character Boat Parade? Where else could Light and Space have come from? Finish Fetish? The art car and the lowrider?

I'm telling you all of this as an apology. I have not had time to write a proper Dispatch this week. Therefore, I hope to entertain and educate you about the State of the Arts in Las Vegas with a recent essay for the Vegas crowd.

There are many changes coming to Las Vegas. Two hotel empires, MGM and Caesars are getting new owners. Trophy investing. MGM has always been a Vegas company; it may be the last.

Yesterday I realized that, except for the last year and three-quarters of my life, I have never lived further than 18 miles from a body of salt water. I'm a desert cuss now.

CAPITAL, CLOUT AND CHARM

I need to introduce myself. And I am not sure how to do it simply.

In a recent essay, I announced a new body of work, which had brought me to Las Vegas. I owe you a transparent explanation of my intentions, practices, chops and belief. In short, we will attempt to wedge a vibrant arts and culture hospitality faction into the hostile sports-lands of Las Vegas. I will need your help to pull this off.

Las Vegas is very much a western desert town. If you squint away the neon, concrete and plastic, you can see the dusty watering hole, the natural springs that became the town's first attraction. Townsfolk don't take kindly to meddlin' strangers in Las Vegas, unless they are the paying kind.

Without dough or supporters, the Las Vegas arts community needs to win on Charm. That's all we got. As grandma advised, you need two out of the three C's to find any success in this life: Capital, Clout and Charm. The Las Vegas arts community needs to start smiling brighter than a neon jersey.

I haven't met everyone. In my many conversations with Las Vegas artists, I have heard a consensus of desire for the future of the community and the individual artist.

I have the chops for this assignment. An upcoming essay will present my bona fides to you. Actions speak loudest with less words.

Simply, Las Vegas seeks gamblers and sports fans. You can bet on sports, but not on the arts. An upcoming essay titled "What We Got" will detail the harsh realities of the land on which we stand and what we got to work with.

We want to add a new audience, the arts + culture demographic, to Las Vegas. Heads in beds is what the establishment wants. We will cater to and fulfill their desires, which are very different than the sports fan. Las Vegas is always in need of a new paying audience. Hard fact: Las Vega$ has tourism woes. Hotel ownership is no longer local. Can we save the town?

We will be doing what the establishment will not. A great deal of money and campaigning was spent on the search to attract sports teams and fancy F1 to Las Vegas. In many ways, we are going to do the same thing. We are creating our very own destination marketing campaign.

Without the ability to throw money around, our plan can only be organic and from the heart. That's our currency.

We are living in fascinating and incredible times. Up is down. No one knows who and what to believe. Such a weather report can only be interpreted as a Call to Action for the Arts. The world should be our oyster. Las Vegas is the fascinating American-made attraction. Surely their arts community must be equally as vibrant.

~ Gordy Grundy

Art Report Today .com