Infinite Crescendo

As a model in Paris in the ‘90s, Sibyl Buck walked all the legendary runways and was photographed by the greats. But those things didn’t click into place until she took the risky move of being herself. Her agency wanted her to be pretty, but she wanted to be Sibyl: fire engine red hair (before everyone was doing that) and old flannel shirts and piercings. Turns out, the world wanted the real Sibyl, too. Now, facilitating Regenerati...

Beginning with conceptual themes and abstract ideas and moving from there to intuitively sourced imagery, Brooklyn-based artist David B. Smith constructs soft, colorful sculptures that both relate to and resist the glitchy white noise of the omnipresent world. David’s cozy but also dizzying installations often become environments for live sound in real time, and he and Carly share an affinity for inviting audiences to use their voi...

Making good on our promise to continue honoring mothers this month, Carly sat down with Lita Albuquerque—who’s been making art of the body, earth, and universe since the 70s—and her dancer and choreographer daughter Jasmine Albuquerque. In a dialogue that moves from Malibu to Tunisia to the outer planets, and from everyday parenting to cosmology, culture, and conceptual art, the women touch on the micro and macro of expression, tog...

This episode isn’t one of our usual Conversations, but the first of a series of what we call Reflections, in which we embrace the ever-present opportunity to find gratitude for all mothers—perfect and imperfect, absent and present, received and chosen, familial and spiritual, God Mothers and step mothers. Carly reflects on her own difficult but beautiful relationship as a daughter and as a mother; the wild love, the raw edges, the ...

In a world that values clearly defined brands (personal and otherwise) but also rewards jack-of-all-trades who jump from one modality to the next, creative growth can be tricky. As Australia-born filmmaker and vocalist Kelsie Moore attests to here, our continual unfolding will ask us to stay open. Our offerings will only take the shapes they’re meant to take if we allow them the space and freedom to expand and shift. These lessons ...

As if it’s not enough that artist Elena Stonaker’s finely sculpted and intricately beaded fabric pieces are like, “big arms to hold you,” she presents them in sonic, immersive spaces that foster a new world feeling and a powerful sense of discovery and connection. In fact, that act of bringing people together with sound, sensation, and shared experience is a kind of parallel to Infinite Crescendo—which isn’t surprising given that E...

Somewhere in the middle of this organic and wide-ranging conversation between two very close friends, Manhattan-based fashion designer and sustainability pioneer Mara Hoffman evokes “that joke of tricking ourselves into believing that some things are spiritual and some things aren’t.” The joke, of course, is that everything we touch and do and see is part of our being, our unfolding, our ripening: The money, and the money wounds. T...

When Detroit-based poet Jacqueline Suskin asked the universe, “Can I have a reminder of everything that I’m doing with my life?,” the lines that came streaming through became “My Poetic Purpose.” We’ve been fortunate to use the lyrical, empowering, and universal totem as a bookend for many of our breathwork sessions and retreats since then. A teacher and channeler, Jacqueline has often written on the spot for seekers, for community...

When Colorado-born singer-songwriter Josephine Foster woke up one morning to a cascade of pain that grew into a persistent clatter of ringing and other noises in her ears, she eventually felt “possessed, like with a demon.” Playing and making music was out of the question, although she found she was able to hum and chant and create vibrational sounding. Through her healing journey, which is generously shared here, she was unable to...

On recalling his initial ascent into ambient music in the ‘70s, spiritual pioneer Laraaji remembers knowing that he “wanted to make music that would help people fall into the cosmic memory of our unity.” With both wholly freed intuition and extensive research across religion, music theory, neuroscience, and more, his explorations are known for their meditative delivery and curative tones. In this conversation, which was recorded at...

In which we share who we are, what our work is about, and why we love to do it, and how we think about this journey we’re all on—together. Welcome; we’re Carly and Paul, and these Infinite Crescendo Conversations are the gateway to a world of sensory-rich experiences in healing, growth, and connection. Before we begin sharing them—and before we begin sharing the Arcs and Microjourneys that can unfold from there—we wanted to put our...