Anachronistic Rites of the Mundane - A.R.M.
“I am the most holy of holys, I am an a-holy, I am the most holy”
Performed as part of Tom Sarver's Art Olympics, featuring fellow collaborators David Pohl and Kate Hansen.
Influenced by films such as Meetings of Remarkable Men, The Color of Pomengranates, The Turin Horse and Hara Kiri, the name Anachronistic Rites of the Mundane emerged and a vision that calls into play the mundanity of not only everyday life, but at times the mundanity of art making grew and became clearer.
I wanted to highlight the ritualistic manner in which we do things, everyday things, artistic things.
Feed the dog. Water the plants. Drink Coffee. Sweep the floor. Stretch the canvas. Make the marks.
So, I created a script, an outline of actions and approaches, wherein we would follow our mundane patterns but veer drastically in fighting the rigidity of the pattern. Our end goal was to create a space, a "conclave" of sorts in which to sit and meditate.
In the script, I outlined the spaces:
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Suitcase Station – center stage right
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Artifacts Depot-center stage left.
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Exaltation Area-upstage right
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Libations Area- right center and left center
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Conclave-Center
I then further outlined our movements as such:
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Ceremonial Entrance - entered playing a Thai reed instrument.
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Opening Ceremony - our Artistic Statement-“I am the most holy of holys, I am an a-holy, I am the most holy” Sung and repeated.
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Retrieving of the Magical Amulets- removing our bagged items from the suitcase.
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The Cleansing - cleansing of the space and feet.
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The Emergence - Kate and David covered in cloth and stapled to the floor to cut their way out of.
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Reviewing the Artifacts- review items provided by Art Olympics, accept and reject. Use the acceptable items.
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Twisting of Time - use of timers to schedule eating and drinking of coffee times.
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Building the Conclave - create a conclave and sit in it till the end.
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In between, we consulted the Ouija board to gain insight for our next direction.