Eric Staller is always up to something and I'm tickled to be able to drop these images on all of you.  While speaking with Eric in Amsterdam he showed s a pencil drawing of a new project.

     Well, I'm happy to announce that it looks like Mr. Lonely may be coming for you sooner than you think.  Check out these pics that Eric passed along recently....

     A quiet and subtle reminder of what ultimately awaits us all.  To see one of Eric's other Urban UFO's go to his website! Mr. Lonely operates like Remote Controlled Lovers and is certain to catch people unaware!  No man knows the time......

     Eric's book is called "Out of My Mind".  This may be true about Eric, but his special alchemy is taking people out of their own minds.

      "Takin' it to the streets" as they say.....

     We met up with Eric at his amazing Amsterdam home.  What a sight.  Talk about living outside of what most folks consider an everyday reality!  I saw him for the first time sitting at this window which is literally 10 feet away from the Canal.  He was hard at work as you would expect from such a prolific artist.  When he looked up and saw us I felt a sincere strength in the smile wrinkles around his eyes.  I can vividly recall thinking I could still see the reflections from his light drawings reflected in his eyes. Myself and the crew all felt  graciously honored when he ushered us into his simply stunning artists habitat he calls home.

     Anyway.....what was our visit like?  Outside of time is how I'd explain it.  Eric was a real gonzo experience.  He kept us all on our toes physically and mentally.   His energy is boundless and we had to keep pace with him as he demonstrated why people respond so strongly to his art.  You see, that is what Eric does best...he makes people respond.  Eric reaches out and catches people in the most unexpected times.  He slips into their world unexpected, unannounced and craftily.  But once people see he's there it's way too late to resist.  What the hell am I talking about?  I'll relate an experience we had.

     If you read his book you'll read about an interactive art object he made called Remote-Controlled Lovers.  This is part of his Urban UFO series which is a powerful series that puts art on the streets, in the water, out of the galleries and into the everyday reality of everyone else.  Urban UFO's allow people to have unexpected and uninvited interactions with art and, in turn, with themselves.  Eric took Remote-Controlled Lovers out for us.  He put it into the Canal and started the show.  It was a cloudy and rainy day and there were not very many people on the streets, but Remote-Controlled Lovers acted like a magnet for the folks that were.  It starts slowly...inconspicuously....as the random passerby notices them floating by and points.  They exclaim something to their friend and now there are 2 people bending at the waist over thh bridge railing watching with unresolved expressions on their faces.  It's great to watch the process these people go through to integrate this sight into their immediate reality. 

     The lovers float around elegantly....they gaze and twirl and glide oblivious to the onlookers....eventually people start looking around for some explanation....and pretty soon they see a man in a bright red hat holding a massive remote control unit with a beautiful grin on his face giving them a huge thumbs up.  Smiles.  That's what this is about.  Smiles, joy and a life energy that sometimes is dulled, but is ever-present within whenever we manage to summon it or someone else  conjures it up within us unexpectedly. 

     This was our trip with Eric: Smiles.  

     Eric was gracious enough to take the Lightmobile (Litemo) out for us.  What a treat!!  Watching the Litemo cruise through Amsterdam streets was very very cool.  In relation to Luminary is was like watching moving history.  

     I could write for days about our visit, and I will, but that's all for the moment.....

     Last thing....we had the distinct pleasure of meeting Eric's family: Sietske and baby Billy....All I can say is that Eric is a lucky lucky man.  But, I think Eric makes his own luck as he goes along.  His loving, beautiful family....his amazing home...his joy is a well deserved reward for the energy and joy he has given to so many people throughout the decades and the World.

Peace Eric....

P.S.  You all have GOT to check out the Conference Bike! I hear there is a new model on the way...watch out!...art may catch you unaware on your street one day! 

     "I didn't choose to be an artist; it chose me.  It is a calling, a religious feeling, and a compulsion to peel away layers of a subconscious onion."  This is how Eric Staller starts is book Out of My Mind.  Eric Staller is a renowned artist whose work ranges from the massive to the minute.  Among many other things, he is known for his light painting done NYC from 1974-78 as well as being a grandfather for the Art Car movement. 

     Eric has said, "Art just sat there, no sound, no movement.  And if you found it cool enough to touch it, you got yelled at."  Cool enough to touch it is an apt description of Staller's work. Tactility, interactivity, and humor are all strong elements in Staller's art.  His enthusiasm and optimism help create a feeling of potential for the person experiencing his creations.

      His light painting pictures, sculptures and installations have been well documented and disseminated.  They serve as some of the most significant inspirations for current light artists. He created his light work during a time in NYC that was wild with Studio 54 excess and bold with a sense of invulnerability. He says, "I was also becoming a night person....On the packed dance floor we moved like a hedonistic tribe, sweaty, and ecstatic.  Afterwards, as the sun was coming up, we went to an all-night diner for breakfast."

     Those moments of late night/early morning are present in his light drawings.  In the city that never sleeps Eric made light drawing pictures  that very often take place in empty urban environments devoid of people.  His images seem to be made in the folds of the city, in the places he found with his "compulsion to peel away layers of subconscious."