The Master Cleanser John Kleckner

 

"Matisse, like nearly all the other very modern Frenchmen, feels that pull toward physical distortion, that sickening malevolent desire to present the nude (especially women) so vulgarized, so hideously at odds with nature, as to suggest in spite of the technical mastery of his art, first of all the loathesome and the abnormal, and both with a marvel of execution and a bewildering cleverness that somehow fills one with a distaste for art and life."

– Alfred Stieglitz

 

"The freedom all to be Lords of our own tiny skull-sized Kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation."

 

– David Foster Wallace

 

There are certainly men who would occupy the shaman's shoes.
If we don't find peace and enlightenment, it's not the shaman's fault.
There may be endless demand for visionaries who will point us towards self-discipline. There may be endless demand for well-packaged cures: not necessarily medicine, but preferably holistic, organic, raw and non-GMO. And not regulated by the FDA, yet. Is a successful shaman (excuse me, Shaman) one to be avoided.

 

Perhaps it has been long enough since the experiments of the Vietnam War era collapsed that we can take the edge off our judgmental biases and see gurus and cults for what they want to be, not what we think they are. Or does anyone who traffics in the innocence of the seeker deserve a swift trip down the well at Spahn Ranch.

 

Why are bottomless wells so terrifying. One minute you're all body mass and consciousness, and the next, you've crossed over to the great beyond. His work is full of holes. Peepholes, orifices, steaming entrails, swiss cheese highways, dusty viewfinders. Things a willing shaft can prod. Wistful holes. Things on which we concentrate. If the overloaded demands on our attention were to cease and desist, maybe we wouldn't need them. But maybe we always will.

 

Stanley Burroughs is less famous than his 1950's self-published "The Master Cleanser," but this American dietician/revolutionary was no less controversial in his day than poor, misunderstood Wilhelm Reich. More enthusiastic pamphlet than diet book in today's vernacular, Burroughs' lasting gift to the world is a no-nonsense prescription for the so-called "lemonade diet," a toxin-eliminating fast. Vilified even half a century after its release-- most often by the kind of doctor that is willing to appear on television-- the book reduces the centuries-old tradition of seasonal fasting to a more user-friendly, American approach, one that reportedly promotes natural healing over more invasive Western medical tactics. Which is perhaps why Burroughs was tried for felony counts of murder and practicing medicine without a license during his lifetime. Unlike Reich, he was permitted to continue his practice. Later branching out into color therapy, reflexology and aggressive nudism, he died at 87. Despite its humble beginnings, The Master Cleanse is firmly rooted on the Mt. Olympus of Diets with its more famous but less extreme brethren Atkins, South Beach, Cabbage Soup, Subway, and The Zone.

 

The Master Cleanser will be on view at Peres Projects (2766 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034) through December 19, 2009. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, from 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M and by appointment.