About the Art
The title for this artwork is a phrase snagged from Matthew Banks... I like the ring it has to it. Anyways, here's my depiction of that phrase. This art is basically a foil to "The Greenhouse," just as "Thermospheric" was a foil to "Swallowed." Where the Stickpeople were separated from nature before, these Stickpeople are in the midst of it, enjoying it, fascinated by it, or just reveling in it. The background, mostly covered by objects in the foreground, was originally a collage of many pictures of nature, all there for the Stickpeople to admire. I liked the atmospheric look I ended up with, but I thought I needed some more solid elements of nature--an aurora, a hill, a couple trees, and a cloud--in addition to the grassy knoll the Stickpeople are on. A few stars can be seen in the upper right hand corner...

However, the real stars are evident down on earth. Each little glowing flare represents "oneness"... most people have found it by connecting with another--the love between a couple, between father and daughter, between two philosophers, between playful friends, between siblings, and the list goes on... But two of the Stickpeople have found that this oneness can emit from one's self alone--jumping dude and dramatic guy [after informally dubbing them that in an IM, I can't shake those names for them]. Jumping dude is just ecstastic with the way his physical body can allow him to almost believe his soul can outrun it or outjump it... while dramatic guy is either awed by the beauty of the world, or looking up to the deities...

Ah, the deities. I included them, along with their glowing points which may influence those below, as a nod to the value of spirituality. I'm not a religious person, but I have much good to say about spirituality. Whether you see it as love or oneness (or both, since they may be the same thing anyways (love, Banks)), it is something all-encompassing, all-powerful, all-influencing. The belief that there is more out there than what we know may just help us cope with what we have. I included many different types of "gods" up there--the Fates, a cat, a cow, male and female, and infant, etc... and on the right, a single, larger being (hello, monotheism). The reason they are all up there together is that I think they could all exist, and if so, they probably have a lot to do with our lives down on earth. Some people see the beautiful things in their life as "god's love" and that sort of thing... Perhaps that's true (perhaps not, as well, but hey it's a possibility), so I included deities as a possible source of love and connection, which are really all that really matters when you get down to it, in my opinion. And that is the purpose of this art--to show love and connection... and how beautiful they can be.

More on the theme of Oneness
I don't think there's all that much more explaining to do with this one, for so much of it lies within each person's unique heart, so I'll just try and help the following inspiring quotes flow along...
First, a brief comment to the wonder of the sky, such a prominent being in the natural world:

"I looked up at the sky and saw such a wide view as though from a ship at sea, when there is no silhouette of land bordering the sky. Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in outer space" (Albuquerque).
-Matthew Banks, Blue Man

Ah, for nature is not just a thing to be tamed, for it's beauty and sustenance holds much more for us as human beings. Perhaps we have an innate need for it...

"It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to land can exist without love, respect, and admiration for land, and a high regard for its value. By value, I of course mean something far broader than mere economic value; I mean value in the philosophical sense" (380).
-Aldo Leopald

But nature could not possibly cover all the bases... the "bases" possibly being:

"The need is for felt experience—intense, immediate, direct, subtle, unified, warm, vivid, rhythmic" (Motherwell).
-Robert Motherwell

Perhaps we also need more human connections, more to share our joys and findings with... Meaningful relations which make us feel complete...

"The people on this tour are pretty amazing....always a laugh and inspiration coming from somewhere...its just a great environment where everyone seems to really love what they are doing.....that is a rare and beautiful thing" (on the road).
-Tom Galassi, Blue Man

...and perhaps we also need a suitable environment for these connections to happen...

"This whole movement is such a great playground for everyone to either remember how to play or to play harder and deeper than ever. I'm playing, learning, remembering, laughing, holding, letting go, loving, accepting, jumping, hip thrusting, thanking, spine tingling, and over joy joy-ing" (houston).
-Matthew Banks, Blue Man, on being a part of the Complex Tour

And all of these things, together, they may allow us to find what it is we are really looking for:

"Aren't we all fans of being unabashedly excited, of making connections with others and of reacquainting ourselves with life's vividness[?] Aren't we all fans of catching the rich, visceral moments that are hidden in the cracks of our mundane affairs? We will quote Joseph Campbell and then end this long babbling;
'People say that what we are all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive'" (why).
-CMP, Blue Man Group Founders

...and once we find what we are looking for... Alas, oneness has arrived:

"This universe postulates multiple dimensions.
Harmonized synchronicity.
Oneness is formed from union,
and its abundance is our choice.
Clear minds and calm hearts
lead us into light,
and deliver us peaceful health.
This kingdom is ours and us.
We are all one,
and Love is all there is" (from Biloxi).
-Matthew Banks, Blue Man, after the Complex Tour ended