Shiva Photonics

& Dancing Shiva Lights

Personnel:
Tim Hodgson
Jon Brodel.

SHIVA PHOTONICS original influences stem from American late 60's west coast events particularly Kesey's "Acid Tests" and arts happenings like Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable

More directly, the liquid lightshow techniques derive from early Pink Floyd lightshows & "wet shows" such as Sahara Farm and Cosmic circus liquid cinema in 1969/70.

The slide art collection has grown continuously since 1982, when it reformed as the Dancing Shiva Lightshow to launch the Magic Mushroom Band.

It performed at Stonehenge festivals, usually in the Tibet tent and has accompanied various bands including Underworld, Ozric Tentacles, Nik Turner's Inner City Unit and Dr.& The Medics.

It was also a central feature of the Alice in Wonderland Psychedelic Film Festivals and Magical Mystery Trips.

Shows have been performed for Quintessence the 60's Psychedelic club in Piccadilly, and the now legendary performance of the Experimental Sound Field at Glastonbury Festival 1992.

SHIVA PHOTONICS combine multi~imaging, Kaleidoscopics, stereoscopics, live liquid lightshow, multiple effects and sequencing methods, Digital, video and laser Technologies and other more archaic methods with a very highly developed sense of positive psychedelic visual stimulation.

Tim Hodgson - July 2002

From Jon Brodel:

I got into doing light shows after moving to Sunninghill in 1969.

I started tripping weekly and noticed that my trips were much better where there was a light show. Sent to live with my father in Kent age 16 where there was NOT any Psychedelic scene at Dartford College, I took Fridays off to score at Kensington Market and then provided visual entertainment accompanying the bands put on by the Student union at weekends using a college Overhead Projector and biological dyes borrowed from the science department.

I had bought an Album called Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic inevitable Velvet Underground which had a photo of a light show on the cover in 1967 and later went to Windsor College which put on bands in the common room some nights where a guy called Keith Atkins showed me how to make liquid bubbly slides.

Santana Three had a light show picture on the cover (Single Winged Turquoise Bird) and I saw some other photos of light shows from West coast USA back then.

Later I saw a few light shows at college gigs, festivals like Phun City, clubs like Roundhouse, Lyceum Ballroom, The Temple etc.

Bands I worked with:

Originally it was whatever the student Union had booked that was doing the circuit in 1970.

My psychedelic experience had set me on a mission and after attending college courses in 3D design and Animation in the UK and Holography in NY I built my own holography studio in Sunninghill in 1980.

I was working as a self employed Artist running my own company "Laser Picture Studio" when Porridge (Porij) a biker from Bracknell heard I'd done light shows and explained his friends were getting a band together (Magic Mushroom Band) but the guitarist Gary they wanted wouldn't join unless they had a light show.

I did light shows for the Magic Mushroom Band with projectors bought from profits of my hologram sales for about 2 years until the 2nd guitarist hooked up with my girlfriend.

I became unwelcome overnight and they tried to steal my light show equipment.

I had also done a few light shows for Ozric Tentacles over this period including their 1st public performance at Stonehenge.

This split coincided with the 1st Alice in Wonderland event at the Scala Cinema in Kings Cross, advertised in the NME to be staring a guest appearance by Naz Nomad which lead friend Mark Smith and I to take the light show up there on the off chance of a free night out.

Christian Paris says in his book "Jon Brodel just turned up at the 1st gig and we couldn't get rid of him after that"

The truth is that he phoned and invited me every time . I didn't do it for money or fame, it was a gift of light to psychedelic consciousness.

I did light shows for Nik Turners Inner City Unit a few times in the 80's including once when he played with Hawkwind in Slough.

I had joined his Sphinx Tour driving crew around the free festival circuit in 1977 when John Andrews was doing lights.

My lightshow originally was run single handed from behind a stack of tables. Later as the Alice in Wonderland events expanded beyond the single stage, other people keen to be involved started to light other areas.

One I remember called "Dead Dog in the Middle of the Road Light show" and others first did other rooms at the Magical Mystery event in an abandoned Butlins holiday camp in Clacton.

I never really worked with another "light show" except once at the Brixton Academy "Environmental Sound Field" Gig, with John Andrews, various crews running video projectors, computer graphics guy, scan lights and stuff from other lighting guys. No room to work.

Total chaos. Had a bad trip that night.

Haven't done many lightshows since....LOL

A Magic Mushroom Band member's girl friend who saw my copy of "The Tao of Physics" with "Dancing Shiva" in cloud chamber on cover that I liked and spoke of suggested the name. "The Dancing Shiva Lightshow".

I changed the name to "Shiva Photonics" when I stopped doing the Magic Mushroom Band light show and just did occasional Ozrics, ICU, and special events with the Alice in Wonderland psychedelic revival. Running a display holography business was very time consuming too.
-
The Light Show was formd in 1970 with no name and no equipment.

1980 for Magic Mushroom Band > expanded for Alice in Wonderland.
1990 with Tim Hodgson > expanded immensely and performed for numerous varied events.
2005 with Mark Smith adapted for hanging > Kailash & Synergy Clubs + various Squat Parties

Of these various incarnations of the light show . the Light show that built all of the sophisticated equipment was after the police raid that destroyed my holography business and caused the death of my wife.

I was now unemployed with no friends, but I saw at the Ascot boot fair the guy who after carrying the projectors all over Stonehenge site with Magic Mushroom Band searching unsuccessfully for a stage that would let them play, said to me: "If you ever want help with your light show let me know".

So I gave him my phone number and he came most every day for years to work in my garage on projectors . We did many gigs with increasing better organized equipment for about ten years.

The only regulars have been Porridge (Porij) with Magic Mushroom Band gigs.

Tim Hodgson thank you for an immense amount of work building and performing with lots of equipment and when I was badly depressed, with Mark Smith all night hanging about at squat parties in unusual places in London, where we "Hung" the projectors and just left them running, then took drugs that made us feel better.

1 started with one overhead projector clock glass and colour food dyes + glycerol etc. Added a slide projector for bubbly slides. Because the were obtainable and looked OK.

Phase 2 - Built shelves for 4 slide projectors modified with triacs and ran them with disco light chaser + Aldis Tutor II with cassettes. Added 4 more slide projectors on racks and couple more effects projectors then swapped to carousel projectors projectors - Courtesy of Wiz & Goodman Hassid Casualty/Amazing Waldo's Fungicidal Dreamboat/Crystal Ship light shows not repairing their projectors but trading my working projector racks for their broken carousel projectors. ((then the police raid of my holography studio happened))

Phase 3 - With Tim Hodgson. Converted a lot of broken projectors into a fantastic light show projected from a modified scaffold tower at many and various gig I don't remember all of..

The early light shows involved standard AV equipment such as OHP's and slide projectors used in non standard ways (with liquids and dyes) - Later modifications and constructions used non standard fans and transformers in projectors and plumbing pipes and scrap Xerox machine parts for mirrored and kaleidoscope lenses.

I have made detailed explanations of how to do this with many pictures and comments in interlinked albums on my facebook page and visited by other light show artists with comments.

Started with on projector then 2. 2nd time 5 up to 12, 3rd time 15 up to 35 ish, 4th time some were adaptable for hanging but as no repairs were done the number used gradually diminished.

Ended up with probably 30-40 projctors, some sold, best ones all need servicing now after sitting in a garage for 20 years.

Remember Happy Birthday Roman .. at Chislehurst Caves ..?
Oh haven't you heard that story.?

It's a tale from the time of the Magical Mystery Trips.

An opportunity occurred when I was offered a drink by Christian and Clive of the Doctor and the Medics "backstage" at the Chislehurst Caves event

It was Romans birthday...

When I had been making my first Hologram to sell - Kali's Amulet - which came to be known as The Skull Hologram, several years before in 1982. I had thought much during the long nights of the holography process about the legacy and associations involved with Skull imagery, which of course includes "The Damned". I thought at the time these guys would probably like this skull hologram image and it all came back to me in my trip at Chislehurst Caves.

I did not have one of those special clear glass ones I made several years before, but I had been taking out some framed holograms with the light-show and putting up a little display of holograms for sale on the back of the light-show tower whenever possible and although there had not been room for it at Chislehurst.

The boxes of holograms were with the light-show at the other end of the caves.

I was really enjoying where I was but this had to be done.

So I went way down to the other end of the caves, as you can imagine a real trip through all those partying people, and got a framed Skull Hologram, wrapped it in something and brought it back and gave it to Roman ..

When he asked who is this from? I replied... "All of Us"
.. Ha..! .. Priceless..!
.. all of us includes you too..!
.. so Love that gift of light everyone..!

P.S. Where did you get your Lightshow Christian..? ... Well that's another story...lol...

After The 3rd Windsor Festival Basil Brooks (Zorch) . Tony Andrews (Turbo-sound) and John Andrews (Acidica) all moved into the Brooks family's Churt Cottage near where I was at college.

John Andrews drew the Mandala Slide artwork (and others) in black ink on 6" square white card and stayed in my flat during the week when I was doing photography so I could sneak him into the college and we used the big copy camera to shoot and develop 4x5" lithographic film that has been cut down to make Square 35mm Super-slides like the hologram was made from.

If you have that Acidica Yin Yang Mandala slide amongst the slides John Andrews gave you then it is the one we made in 1974.

However I am slightly confused because my understanding is that John Andrews gave his slides to someone called "Judge" in the 80's, some of which were given to me later, despite the fact that I already had copies of them all from when he allowed me to make copies of them all in 1976, although he really didn't want to ha ha ha and I can't imagine him ever allowing anyone else to copy them.

I still have the Mandala Slide artwork (and others) we shot that day.

When I was delivering some more of my holograms to the "Bath Holography Show" Shop in 1982 we were chatting and I said if a guy says he drew that Mandala please give him one for free and I will replace it.

They said he had chatted to them and had bought one last week. Its a nice image.