Gallery hours: 11am to 7pm, Friday–Sunday Opening: Friday, Sept 14th 7pm to 10pm in conjunction with Williamsburg 2nd Fridays.

The House of Dreams is a psychomanteum recreated as an installation by the artist and owner of Skink Ink, Philip Riley. The psychomanteum is a modern revival of the ancient Greek oracle at Ephyra where supplicants went to see visions of the dead. It was brought into the 20th century by the American psychologist, MD and author Raymond Moody, as part of his research into near death and past life experience. This psychomanteum was originally created from descriptions of Moody’s prototype as way to deal with a personal grief but the experience proved interesting enough that the artist chose to bring it to a wider audience. This installation incorporates artworks, prints and chosen artifacts within a unique artist built divinatory space within the gallery.

In this the age of the ‘God particle’ —the name of which perfectly embodies our modern paradox—we are locked into a scientific and materialist world view yet catch ourselves searching for something larger, some higher truth that supplies meaning and purpose. Building on a life long interest in the role of science as the provider of answers and displacer of religious authority the artist uses this show to turn the same premise around and take a look as some answers that science cannot provide. This artwork is intended to generate discussion about spirit within our empirical framework though to sidestep the antagonism between entrenched religion and ‘Dawkinsian’ atheism by keeping the concept of spirit in the realm of direct personal experience as opposed to established belief.

There will be a schedule of events such as talks, healings and meditations in the gallery to further this discussion. These will include; gong baths and sound healings from ethno-musicologist/composer Alexandre Tannous as well as from psychologist Emily Horowitz, a discussion of astrology with chart readings by Elisabeth Grace, a healing session and discussion of traditional south American shamanic practise from Jesus Eagle of Cusco, Peru. Throughout the exhibition The House of Dreams will be open to the viewing public as an exhibition and art installation, and also available for private visionary sessions for individuals on a by appointment basis.