Herradura Tequila holds a barrel art competition every year where artists are invited to transform a used wooden tequila distillery barrel into a masterpiece. In 2014 Herradura approached and invited Jaelah to participate in the Austin-based competition. The day after Jaelah signed on to be a participant in the contest she began a 10 day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. There, she spent 100 hours in seated meditation: a process of purification. The Herradura ethos of “patience in the product” resonated deeply for the artist. Blue agave takes 7 years to mature before harvest. The carbon in the charred interiors of the barrel extracts impurities, and over time, a fine tequila is distilled. As the barrel opens, time itself is demonstrated, mimicking the blue agave plant or the sacred lotus flower blossoming. Our linear understanding of time comes into question as the barrel rotation alternates between clockwise and counter-clockwise— pausing for a transcendent moment of stillness when it is fully open. Like a breath changing direction, we find presence in the stillness. Being present in this moment, when the barrel is completely open and still, is the only time you will see the magic agave seeds, the seeds of life, fully illuminated at the center. Kinect won third place.