Rising from the Ashes

Happy New Year! Busy New Year, at least.

Scratching 20 minutes in between work, house-purchasing and picking the kids up from school.

I’ve got another video posted, this one is of the nativity play. This begins to raise difficult questions: Is this visual art at all? Isn’t it just theatre, with attendant props, set, musical support and script? Should this be on a visual arts blog at all? Especially considering my rant against the 2010 Turner Prize winner, published in AN last Feb.

My own answer to this is as follows: I work across multiple art forms, I’m certainly not ashamed of that, and the visual is a very important, if not core, aspect of that.

On the one hand, this is “A Sacred Ritual”. It’s not a participatory visual art piece inspired by ritual, it’s not a piece of participatory theatre inspired by ritual, it’s not a piece of participatory music inspired by ritual. The poetry (not yet published) is not following Kurt Schwitters as ritualised poetry. It is sacred poetry for a ritual.

On the other hand, this isn’t ritual at all.

Let’s look at Catherine Bell’s 6 characteristics of ritual activity: Traditionalism, invariance, rule-bound, formality, sacred symbolism, performance:

The only sense in which this is traditional is that it throws many traditions together and mangles them.

There are no rules, although there is a little formality brought in by the fact that many participants are quite scared and are desperately looking for formal rules to follow.

There is little invariance here. I’ve never done this before, the only invariance between this and previous events is the use of a central fire, and 4 “quarters” to begin and end the ceremony.

There appears to be sacred symbolism, in the form of the goddess of the wheel of the year. But is the goddess of the wheel of the year (Dea Rotorum Anni) sacred? You won’t find her in any history books or archaeological museums. I made her up. She has no tradition, ancient or modern, prehistoric or revived, New World or Old.

There is performance, that is what you will see in this video. Whether the previous video, the burning of a painting, counts as performance, I’m not sure. I don’t think it does, as there are no active human participants in that bit.

So, in Bell’s formulation of ritual: Not “Is it ritual?”, but rather “How ritually is it?”, it’s hardly ritual at all. It only ticks one of the 6 boxes. Yet, anyone looking at this will immediately count it as ritual.

This is why I think this can be explained as visual art. First, it is visual. Second, it contains masses of art. Third, it follows in the footsteps of all those conceptual artists who have taken a subject and deconstructed it, subverted it, and raised questions about its nature and essence.

And yet it isn’t art. It’s not “being presented” in a context, it’s not challenging the participants to think about the world differently. Maybe these videos, and this blog, are doing that, but the event in itself is not.

So, what is it? All contributions welcome!

You will never see a school nativity play in the same way again

Oh ye gods, it’s Christmas the day after tomorrow. Actually, looking at the clock, I realise it’s Christmas tomorrow.

Spent the day rushing from one place to another trying to organise Xmas presents. I keep this kind of thing to a minimum, I only buy for my kids and my partner, but even so I seem to make it incredibly stressful and unpleasant. Got very wet, and grumpy.

Christmas Day itself is to be a mammoth logistical task of getting my children and Chris’s child from one parent to the other and back again. Somewhere in the middle of it all there’ll be some present-opening, cooking and eating. I doubt there’ll be much opportunity for the traditional piss-up, which I’m glad about. Of all the days to be drunk, Christmas Day always seems to be the worst.

Had a big row with a friend, who thinks I ought to befriend a particular guru who advocates spiritual teachers having sexual relations with their disciples. I’ve seen too many women’s lives ruined by such controlling, manipulative, self-satisfying egotists, why does anyone even speak to these people, let alone adore them?

Took some time out for a bit of fun with photoshop and a couple of stills from the midwinter celebration.

Yes!! It’s happened! It’s all over bar the documentation … after Xmas life will be back to normal:

The children no longer have to squash into bed between a fire sculpture on one side and a box of fuses, explosive ingredients, rope and chicken-wire on the other. They are mightily pleased!

I can go back to running my business during the hours of daylight, rather than madly trying to fit all the event preparation into the short winter days.

I can take some luxurious time to practice music, and return once more to the delightful company of the Oxford Improvisers.

Broadly, I would rate the event as successful. Only one invitee refused to come on account of the invite being too disrespectful to his spiritual beliefs. Only two people walked out offended. About 30 people attended, not as many as I’d hoped, but more than I’d feared!

The content was more challenging, more political, and more self-consciously contemporary than my previous events. Hitherto I have largely kept to themes of commonality, inclusion and unity.

Although I still addressed traditional spiritual and personal themes, the incorporation of a genetically engineered female baby into the nativity play, and a dance led by “Lady Gaga” (aka my friend Cass) to “Born this Way”, took the event some distance away from New Age traditions, and more towards the agitprop of Welfare State International.

The remnants of the fire sculpture itself occupy an awkward gap between Sacred Object and formal artefact. It is a genuine outsider, having neither a sacred temple in which to be housed, nor a formal outcome such as Susan Hiller’s relics. It will simply fall to pieces and be forgotten.

Technically, enough things went wrong for me to learn useful stuff for the future, but enough still went right for people to really enjoy it.

The nipples were a bit disappointing. Watch the video carefully and you’ll see them glowing, but only for a few precious moments.

Below is the first video that I’ve managed to get uploaded. Other stills and videos to be published in the New Year, after the ordeal of Xmas.

Here is a link to more video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNmBtcihyWE&feature=email

Happy Christmas everyone.

She has a little pocket on her belly into which folks posted their New Year hopes, wishes, resolutions, etc. for transformation into ethereal energies

Tomorrow! Beginning to panic!

The fire sculpture is progressing to schedule. Last week the kids helped me to paint flameproof varnish on the wooden frame. I’m not sure how well this stuff works, I’ve never tried it before, but several pyro enthusiasts assure me it will stop the frame “going up”, though won’t stop it from scorching. Oh, scorch marks will simply add authenticity to the remnants when I auction them off as “artefacts”. Ha ha.

Yesterday, Chris brought in the beautiful “baby sun” she has made, for incorporation into the fire sculpture. We attached it onto the wooden frame. This was the last item preventing the permanent fixing of the shroud to the frame, which we proceeded to do. “No Nipples” exclaims Chris. Ah, now, this will be rectified in style, you’ll have to wait for the video to find out how.

Today we’ve been preparing the anchor points for the fire rope. The latter, with fuses already tied on, is now soaking in a bucket of paraffin, and should be ready to tie on first thing tomorrow, when the sculpture will be fixed in place in the performance space. Once that’s done, it’s just a question of tying together a little network of fuses at the back of the sculpture, and then getting my son to make up a 10 metre super-fast fuse for remote ignition. OK, I could use electric igniters or even wireless igniters, which are probably cheaper, but fuse is much more fun!

Today has been about setting up the performance space. Up until 1976 this was a tennis court, now a wonderfully flat little wooded area. In the morning a friend and supporter joined us to help with clearing off leaves, which disguised various hazards such as rocks, small logs, broken glass and other nasties. Then remaking steps down to the area, and mowing down nettles while Chris put together some simple lanterns. I wanted to make some really nice hand-painted lanterns, but time has run out – glass jam jars will have to suffice. Finally we erected the gazebos which form a primitive stage area for the “nativity play”.

Afternoon, I found myself on my own again, struggling to hang a flood-lamp so as to illuminate the steps down to the stage area without dazzling everyone. Also, untangling fairy lights.

Which brings us up to this evening, and the preparation of the fire rope and fuses, and then touching up the photos to post here.

Tomorrow is going to be very busy. The event starts at 5. The one and only rehearsal of the play, poetry, dance and music happens at 4. Before then I’ve got to get the house sorted for the party afterwards, and for guests who are staying overnight. And get the lighting finished. And get the decorations in place round the performance area. And get the video and camera equipment set up. My son has promised to abscond from his Mum’s to help with this. And, of course, the whole point of this event: Put the fire sculpture in place.

This should be possible, given the promise of further help from Chris and a couple more friends/supporters after lunch.

Given the demands of work – I’ve been putting all my customers off for the last couple of weeks, so masses of computer work to get done before Xmas – and Christmas itself – I haven’t done anything about presents yet – and taking the kids on holiday for New Year – and the increasingly complicated process of buying this house – I’m unlikely to get any of the photos or videos processed and online before the end of January.