TheRingOfDOOM 00040: Triptych Mystic

The latest TheRingOfDOOM video was filmed on a hilltop in the Mt Baker area. The triptych was made using hand cut Salvador Dalí images as usual. Hoping to cover the gas and food of the journey with the sale of this piece. Thanks for supporting our adventures! We love you!

TheRingOfDOOM 00039: South park grinDline skate session

TheRingOfDOOM and I recently returned to the South Park Seattle skate park designed by Grindline. It looks different every time we go so we’ll definitely be back. So many Seattleites have left their mark here, this place is rad!

TheRingOfDOOM 00038: Black Lives Matter

There’s so much great art in Seattle raising awareness for the Black Lives Matter Movement. I’ve hardly scraped the surface with this video but there will be a Part Deux for sure. This was filmed on July 8, 2020.

TheRingOfDOOM 00037: HALLUCINOGENIC TOREADOR REMIX

This collage was made at the end of 2019 shortly after I returned from my Salvador Dalí pilgrimage. It’s hard not to feel like Dalí approves of this project even though he died in 1989. My art leveled up so much after I photographed the #MFDALÍ collection on his grave in his museum in Figueres, Spain and brought the tiny lips couch to his home in Cadaqués, Spain. TheRingOfDOOM still claims it was all another dream but even though she’s full of wisdom… she’s still only four years old and from another planet. Life is rough on fictional characters that live in pockets and cardboard boxes.

Music hijacked OCnotes & Porter Ray - “Can You Feel That” from Rap Loops II

TheRingOfDOOM 00036: Out Here In Oakland

TheRingOfDOOM and I wandered Oakland when we had a couple days off before selling merch for Sa-Roc on the Rapsody tour before the force that must not be named quarantined us all. Sooo many good tacos there.

Music hijacked with much respect from Juan Rios which I heard on a compilation called NEK 030: retrox novela.

TheRingOfDOOM 00035: Museu DalÍ in Figueres, Spain

Finally releasing the footage from when I brought my MF DALÍ collages to his museum in Figueres, Spain back in November 2019. I think I was hoarding it so I’d still have something epic to release but I can definitely do more epic shit soon enough. It was truly one of the biggest adventures of my life and I know I’ll do more stuff like this again soon. The force that must not be named broke a lot of our hearts but I know it was the impetus for the great change that we all needed. I have a voucher for a ticket to London on deck for when the time is right to go back.

I filmed this whole video on my iPhone 8+ and edited it on the iMovie app. Shoutout to the Museu Dalí staff for letting me in the museum with my collages so I could film this adventure. It would have probably been even funnier to get footage of me doing all this stuff and laughing because that’s one of the best parts of the whole thing. Following my internal compass has always led me toward my happiness. We shall see where it takes me next…

TheRingOfDOOM 00034: I 💜 Bristol

I filmed this iPhone movie when I visited Bristol back in October/November 2019. TheRingOfDOOM and I arrived on Halloween and went to a rave close to my hotel hosted by a crew called Brooklyn Zoo. They had a mostly empty American Hip Hop room in which they of course played “Shook Ones, Pt. 2” cuz Mobb Deep is universal. The Grime room was the most whoa of them all and was packed all night. I frickin’ loved the whole scenario. I left around 1:30am even though it was still going strong because I wanted to get up as early as possible to go photograph the whole city.

It rained A LOT which I loved because the mission was to have TheRingOfDOOM drink Bristol’s water and have a transformation. We were both drenched in the Bristol rain and it was amazing (as seen in TheRingOfDOOM 00024: Bristolian Transformation). Can’t wait to go back, I was to be there for their Street Art Festival UPFEST in May 2020 but the force that must not be named halted all international travel as we all know. It’s rad to know I have a British Airways voucher on deck for when the time is right to go back.

While wandering to my first Banksy, Well Hung Lover (featured in TheRingOfDOOM 00027: Marcel Duchamp’s Tate Modern Portal To Salvador DALÍ’s House) I encountered a Street Art Tour hosted by an old school Graffiti Photographer named John Nation. He introduced me to the tour as a Street Artist and I gave everyone stickers that I was too chicken to put up because I was afraid to get in International trouble. He pointed me in the direction of the Stokes Croft neighborhood in which much of this video was filmed. Seriously love this place.

Theringofdoom 00033: The vulcan of amazonia

I filmed this TheRingOfDOOM video on my iPhone at the foot of Bezos’ Balls back in 2017 when I was squatting in my art studio. I know how lucky I was to have been able to live there and focus on my art and travel for almost a year. It was important to me to be able to follow my internal compass instead of earn money to pay the inflated Seattle rent prices and I’m so glad I did it because I had a lot of art to make and a ton of credit card debt to pay off. Bezos could solve homelessness with the flick of a pen but he’d rather swim in his money like Scrooge McDuck. I’m still working toward creating a path around him for all of us but it’s truly ridiculous to believe I can do it alone. So much more to learn in this life… and so many places I have yet to go.

TheRingofdoom 00032: VeNice beach

TheRingOfDOOM and I visited Venice Beach because my internal compass demanded that I obey the Shepard Fairey advertisement for Beyond The Streets I saw while on tour with Dessa and Monakr. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect because we also got to see one of the last Low End Theory’s with Gifted Gab and Blimes Brixton during our stay. The tacos were memorable to say the least but the Art was even more whoa. Love this place and everyone in it!

TheringofDoom 00031: be water with friends

TheRingOfDOOM and I have been doing our best to follow our internal compass which has led us to some very interesting places already. Shoutout to credit cards for allowing us to do this but we’re ready to level up and and make it sustainable so we can go bigger. The more we explore the Earth, the larger the platform we create for all the artists that we love. Shoutout to Specs Wizard in advance for allowing me to use his song “Call It Rap” as the soundtrack. Gonna go ahead and use whatever music I want for awhile because if Danger Mouse can combine The Beatles The White Album and Jay-Z’s The Black Album to make The Grey Album, we can do anything. Happy to replace any of the soundtracks if any of the artists would like me to. Thanks for all your support so far, we love you!

Here’s the link to our eBay art sale we’re having so that we can fund life and our next adventures.

TheRiNgofdoom 00030: Escape from mind prison

TheRingOfDOOM and I had allowed the isolation from the force that must not be named to cripple us. We’re not meant to go through our lives alone, “we get by with a little help from our friends” (The Beatles). So many lessons to learn from everything we do that polish us into the diamonds that we are. Even the most unsavory of mistakes help to chip off the chunks of dirt surrounding us so we can shine our brightest.

All iPhone everything filmed at Fort Warden in Port Townsend, WA on June 30, 2020. Thank you to Akira Gautama for graciously allowing me to use his beautiful song even though he doesn’t know it yet.

TheRingoFdoom 00029: UnderwaTer spacecruise

TheRingOfDOOM and I recently went on an underwater adventure using two of the same Jacques Cousteau books, scissors, glue sticks, and an iPhone. We both love you and believe in your infinite multidimensional potential and light.

TheRingOfDOOM 00028: Surfing The Seas Of Our Souls

This latest from the MF DALÍ collection was made with Salvador Dalí images, scissors, glue sticks, and an iPhone as usual. TheRingOfDOOM managed to outsurf his own daemons by taking the waterslide of life and reaching for another glass of water. He wants to remind you to hydrate and remember that clean water is a luxury. He’s hoping to join forces with those who are fixing the problem.

I’ve resurrected #100DaysOfTheRingOfDOOMvideos from the depths of its own DOOM and this is Day 7 of the project. It had been overanalyzed way too long because I felt bad for hijacking music from people I respect but I hope they know it’s all love and that I’m happy to replace it if they wish. This song is DJ Shadow’s “You Can’t Go Home Again” from The Private Press album. I saw the tour when it came through The Showbox back in the day; it was a damn good day.

MF DALÍ DREAM STORY Vol. 5 - SkyPuppy & The LongArm Twins

When the larger than life Dr. Longarms and his brother Leerious lured me to their villa with a gifted SkyPuppy, I knew I should be wary. Anytime someone offers you something that shits snowstorms and pisses lightning when angry, you gotta take a closer look at the offer. To be fair, it’s not the SkyPuppy’s fault, he was created by shifts in energy… just like the rest of us. 

Dr. Longarms and his nefariously charming twin brother had found me at one of my book signings in Paris. They offered to use their broad reach of contacts and voluminous villa to provide me with an artist residency/patronage to flesh out the MFDALI project in a fully sponsored, plentiful environment. They claimed that brisk afternoon walks with the SkyPuppy would help to inspire afternoon visions of creativity and that it would be a great bonding time on his turf before I was to bring him home with me. Since my current long-term travel prevents me from having the acreage necessary for such grandiosity, I let them know I’d be happy to spend time with the cloudy canine at their villa but I had to move on solo as my studio in Shoreditch is at miniature scale to save on rent money. They insisted I had the skills to level up at anytime and that I shouldn’t deny myself the friendship of such a paradisiacal puppy because I’m still thinking on a small scale. 

I thought it over briefly and knew I had to embrace the opportunity, I’d heard enough about their kitchen staff’s credentials to know I’d eat like a rapacious regal… so I climbed in their pocket and settled in to remain small for the journey. 

We arrived at the Varicose Villa on a partly cloudy afternoon and I was alarmed to see stoic stratus sky turn to a dangerously delighted doggy in 1.111 seconds. He bounded toward me, licking my face with a tidal wave of slobbery rain leaving a prodigious puddle in its wake. I instantly knew I should have packed differently but was quickly ushered into the guest house to the roaring fireplace near a computerized insta-sew closet of infinite potential. Dr. Longarms and Leerious left me with a cup of hot tea and a dinner appointment in the garden’s gaslit greenhouse in an hour. 

I shit, showered, and shaved before diving into the tremendously tailored outfit of my infinite imagination in an instant and headed down the spiraling staircase to supper. Leerious and Dr. Longarms greeted me and the latter said, “we took it upon ourselves to diagnose your doodoo to determine the dinner menu. Looks like you’re in need of some vegetation so we’re having a stir fry.” My mask couldn’t hide the shock on my clay face at this statement. “We’ve taken it upon ourselves to examine your encephalon with our shower scanners to determine exactly what you need to create the life you want for yourself.” Leerious said.

I sunk into the seat they’d pulled out for me at the table and listened as Dr. Longarms continued… “we know you’re seeking the stability of a patronage and we’d love to provide the perfect position for you at the palace of your pleasure. Thanks to our detailed daily brain scans, all of your needs, wishes, and dreams will be manifested in the moments before you decide you desire them.” 

I couldn’t help but linger on the logical lore of last year’s literature about gaslighting while listening to the shared monologue of Dr. Longarms, Leerious, and the red flags blowing in the wind outside the greenhouse. I’d been in a gaslit room before but it had never been so blindingly lit as to outshine the inner workings of my own brain like this. When the leading doctor of optics and his suspiciously submissive sidekick were telling me what I wanted would autonomously appear before I knew I wanted it, I decided to listen to the rest of their speech before chiming in. 

“Once your brain has sufficiently secreted the last of struggle mode and moved into capital creative mode, your art will make itself as you begin to extract the lessons of your life from the external stressors. We know that determining what one wants from life can be difficult but we’ve gone ahead to multiple dimensions to decide what’s best for you in the long run. You’ll be able to spend your days watching your creative impulses in effortless progress while eating and drinking the finest meals you can imagine with the world’s fluffiest fido as a forever friend.” 

I hadn’t expected the evil of their plan to envelop my existence so egregiously before their speech was over. Turns out the tea I drank upon arrival (or the shave gel) had all eight of the brothers extremities oscillating artificially in unison with the waves mirroring those of the red flags that had begun to beat furiously outside like a drum solo at a death metal show. I casually leaned back in my seat to glance through the glass roof of the greenhouse at the SkyPuppy who was looking at me with alarm and worry. I could sense my personality had already been uploaded to his cloud so I was able to give him a knowing wink before I gave the twins and their spiel my falsely full attention once again. The red flags calmed as if to acknowledge the impetus of affirmation of mutual safety my wink had provided. 

I decided to take a turn about the room so I could stroll and nod as they continued on about the technological advances they’d encapsulated into the indoor and outdoor environment of the establishment. The remote control around their necks poking out of their parka particularly struck my attention as I realized they were telling me my needs would all be met by an all-knowing computer until the end of the information era. Since I’ve had the questionable pleasure of traveling both backwards and forwards in time, I’ve seen the malevolent powers of Siri and Alexa take their tolls on the western world and know where all this is headed. Since the firsthand knowledge of eventual uprising happened in the future, it didn’t yet appear on my brain scans so I was safe to plan my escape for the moment while the overconfident opposition continued their maliciously manipulative monologue.

“The SkyPuppy’s leash controls will mean you also have control of the weather and you’ll be able to write up a storm, sit in the sun, or run in the rain as you see fit.” Leerious rambled on. His alliteration wasn’t nearly as astute as his academically adept accomplice so I gained some traction of clarity in the chasms my mind about my next move as Dr. Longarms continued. “The SkyPuppy has been downloaded with the cuddle genes because we know you’re into that sort of intimacy,” the doctor went on as I casually took note of the gas valve near the fireplace that was the source of power for the entire gaslit greenhouse. “We’ve activated Stupendously Super-Sized SkyPuppy Stature for your first visit to impress you but she can stay sofa-sized to stretch snugglibility as you see suited. You’ll soon find that all your needs are met by the computer system and your SkyPuppy friend… eliminating the need for all future contact with others on Earth.” 

Right around this time, I realized that they weren’t going to stop selling me on this opportunity so I kept nodding as I lingered around the gas valve and then casually rotated it to the right until all the gas-powered lights went out. The SkyPuppy sensed my strategy and used the opportunity to shit a couple lightning bolts at the frame of the greenhouse while simultaneously creating a wind tunnel that transported me to trustworthy territory far from the influence of the gas-lit globe. Since Earth is the most gaslit planet of your galaxy… dwarfing even the great gaseous Jupiter, we ended up at the Enceladus Starport’s bar toasting the exodus and extracting the lessons we learned over pizza and moonwine. 

We decided that leaving Dr. Longarms and Leerius without a victim to torch with their evil would only stop them temporarily and that we must do everything in our power to prevent them from gaslighting their next victim. We hacked into the Varicose Villa’s computer system to record the evidence we’d need to prevent any future fatalities and made a YouTube video. It quickly went viral because Earth’s algorithm is primitive when educated elsewhere and the overreaching authority of Dr. Longarm and his twin brother Leerius White was ended eternally with one three minute video.

TheRingOfDOOM 00027 MARCEL DUCHAMP'S TATE MODERN PORTAL TO SALVADOR DALÍ'S POOL

I went all the way to Portlligat, Spain via light rail, airplane, Underground, train, bus, and by foot to make this video happen and it’s one of the best things I’ve done so far. This is what happens when I follow my internal compass, I would highly recommend it. It is likely my next trip in May is on hold but I still have tons of footage from October/November 2019 to edit into the next videos of TheRingOfDOOM’s YouTube series.

MF DALÍ DREAM STORY Vol. 4 - Dalían Dehydration Dream

You ever get so dehydrated that you dream in Dalían desert? In the days leading up to this dream, I had been spacecruising a nearby triple mooned planet supercharged on coffee and had forgotten that water is the key to this life. I could have taken the portal to a more-hydrated planet but I was having so much fun making turns down the sand dunes that I didn’t even think of it. 

In my dream, I was making sand angels to loofah my outer layers of clay and I could hear someone whistling the ice cream truck song. I thought it must be a figment of my imagination but as the sound got closer, I could smell chocolate and raspberries in the thick air. I’d never seen an ice cream bicycle delivery vehicle before and I was very impressed by the fragrant floating freezer. The vendor approached and greeted me with the standard universal greeting used by intelligent beings everywhere but Earth so I knew I was in for a treat.

My mask’s translator had interpreted the menu for me and I instantly knew Raspberry Sky Ice Cream was in my future. This vendor was from a planet where the use of magic was more commonplace and was often used in digestifs to enhance the evenings of those who consumed them. He informed me that this ice cream would guide me on my path in life and lead me to my next destination. As soon as we made the transaction (I paid in collage art as usual), he bicycled away and I started blissfully devouring the dessert. As I took my last bite, my eyes started to play tricks on me as expected from the trippy treat I’d just eaten. Raspberry pink skies rolled in and the sand dunes started dismantling themselves slowly, weaving their way directly toward the spot I’d recently been sand-angeling as if they were carrying something to me in the ripples. I tried to pretend I wasn’t intimidated by the large waves of sand heading toward me so I just sat there and smiled a stiff clay smile under my mask hoping for the best. Shortly after the moving sand dunes dropped off an empty water bottle at my feet, I woke up and took the portal to a planet known for its plentiful and drinkable spring water.

MF DALÍ DREAM STORY Vol. 3 - Naked Dalían Pep Talk

The dream started with me casually walking along the beach in Portlligat, Spain. As I was marveling in the sound the tiny rocks under my clay feet were making, I noticed a couple cute dogs headed my way. I’m pretty small as you know but dogs still love me… these dogs were instant squad. They arrived at my feet and proceeded to get as low as possible to check me out. We exchanged hellos and then the little one said, “are you TheRingOfDOOM?” I was shocked as I’d only been recognized once before in Chicago but nodded slowly. They squealed with joy and started bounding toward their owner… who I had just noticed for the first time. I could see their human was naked and also was giving a child a piggyback ride. Moments after I noted the man’s extremely interesting moustache, I realized the naked man was Salvador Dali himself and that the child on his back was a mini-him. Seemed extremely odd but since surreal experiences and Dali have been kicking it for decades now, I kept my cool.

As he approached, he greeted me in Spanish and told me he was a big fan of my work. My non-existent clay jaw dropped as he went on detailing the many elements of my work he admired that I thought had gone unnoticed. The mini-him on his back seemed to only say… “yeah, yeah” and kept nodding in agreement with what big Dalí said. Then the big one said, “I know you’re gonna blow up… I can see it already” and started to lift me into the air with his weird Dalian magic. He provided me with a multi-faceted plan for success in my endeavors that was not only do-able but also already in motion. I could see his ideas turn into little balls starting to orbit my imagination so clearly that when I awoke a few seconds later I was able to write the whole plan down in my dream journal. Documenting this dream and all the rest of my Dalían visions is only the beginning...

The #MFDALÍ collage in sticker form at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

TheRingOfDOOM 00026: The Door To Opportunity

The latest in TheRingOfDOOM series was filmed in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. I grew up in the area, left for a decade to work fun jobs seasonally, and have been a Seattle resident since 2007. This has me feeling like I’ve seen almost everything this city has to offer already (I know this is NOT true) which is why most of my videos are filmed elsewhere. My wanderlust is stuck on 11. Thankfully, the Street Artists of the world have helped to make my life a scavenger hunt of awesome and I find something new every time I’m out in the world.

I had seen this on Mows’ instagram a few weeks back and finally went to check it out yesterday. Worth it! Since I’ve declared myself to be a full time artist now, I’m working on actually opening the doors to opportunity instead of just putting it on a To Do list… so visiting this tiny door on the Fremont Bridge was perfectly timed.

TheRingOfDOOM series remains under one minute and instrumental for now but change is when all the best stuff happens.

MF DALÍ DREAM STORY Vol. 2 - A Trip East With Mae West's Lips

I had fallen asleep while watching classic Mae West movies and was not too surprised to see her appear again once my eyes had closed. The dream started with us bickering about something I could not determine because once we started saying “kiss my ass” back and forth, things started to get weird FAST. Once I told her to kiss my ass right back the third time, she did it. Her lips got stuck to my tiny clay ass like the kid who stuck his tongue to the frozen pole in The Christmas Story. I tried to hoverboard away but then her lips seemed to ooze right off her face into a weird goo and then reassemble into a perfectly sculpted lip shaped couch attached to my ass.

The #MFDALÍ collage (sans TheRingOfDOOM) in the Mae West Room at Museu Dalí in Figueres, Spain

My first impulse was to take a seat and think about my next move but I didn’t want to further offend Mae West (still not sure what we were dream fighting about) so I turned around to smile at her in hopes it was all just psychedelic fun. I was terrified to see that her eyes had somehow tripled and started rotating and snaking out in different directions. Then she sneezed. I had not anticipated the incredible force that hurled me across the room to the doorway. If you’ve never been a 3.3” alien stuck to a pair of human-sized lips before, this can be difficult to fathom. I was able to grab onto her hair which had sprouted in the doorway so I didn’t get sneezed all the way outside. Fortunately, the sneeze separated her lips from my ass in the process.

From my hair perch, I was able to scope out the scene in between sneezes and start to time their frequency on the clock that had suddenly appeared on her nose with the help of a muttering bespectacled white rabbit. Once I had noted that the sneezes were all coming 11.1 seconds apart, I knew my next move. 0.1 seconds after a sneeze, I hoverboarded quickly to the top of her new frames and found safety… then I woke up.

I’m guessing this Dalían Dream is telling me to evaluate my surroundings, create a strategy to get where I aim to go, and make it happen without delay… all while sneezing away those who serve to hold me back. Or maybe I just watch too many Mae West movies.

TheRingOfDOOM 00025: Inside Dalí's Portlligat Studio

I’ll be splicing up my Dalí footage for the next few months because it was such a rad experience that I don’t want to be over. This is a dream studio to say the least. Salvador Dali’s moving easel alone would make it swoonworthy for most artists but for me the best part about this room are all the tiny details… like these 80s cassette/8 track players. I’m very curious to know what music he was playing on the radical round radio in the YouTube image… I’m thinking The Cars for some reason but I’m just making this up as I go along (seems like he and Ric Ocasek would have gotten along).

Dalí abandoned this house and the unfinished painting on the easel when Gala died back in 1982 but their magic remains. I was guided through the house with a group of 8 and our multi-lingual guide didn’t seem to think photographing a tiny lips couch next to a Dalí lips couch was funny but still let me do it. One of the German children on the tour thought I was the most interesting thing in Dali’s house so he’ll forever be in TheRingOfDOOM’s posse. Since I had emailed many people affiliated with Spain’s Dalí museums previous to my trip, they knew I was coming but have yet to roll out a welcome mat… I WILL have a collage art show on site somewhere in one of the Dalí museums eventually because I won’t stop trying. I had been at Museu Dalí in Figueres with my collages just two days earlier and was super respectful of their boundaries so I don’t think they were worried. I would love to see the security footage of me inside Dali’s house because that would have likely been the funniest thing about the whole trip.

In hindsight, I can see how filming my excitement about photographing my art inside Dalí museums would have been a wise move but I’m still hesitant to be the star of my own videos. I’ve pledged to myself to start doing that in the next few days because my overwhelming enthusiasm is the best part of the #MFDALÍ project. I’ve just realized that I’ve misinterpreted the mask/airplane metaphor and put someone else’s mask on… what happens next?