This work is born out of my research of writing from `altered states of consciousness and my experiences of my relationship as a writer with the liminal (threshold). I wish to further explore some of the ideas that came out of my written research project; specifically the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and his notion of becoming, in this case writing as a process of becoming.
This performance is both an experiment and a drawing together of my writing practice and my shamanic practice. It draws on my previous work in Mexico where I explored the liminal as a context for writing and from my work with “the dark” as a tool of initiation.
Darkness and the (un)seen are themes that reoccur in my work as well as the boundaries between sleeping and waking and the writing that emerges from these states. In Shamanic tradition darkness forms a part of many initiation ceremonies both as a fear to be overcome and as a form of sensory deprivation to induce hallucinations and promote non-visual “seeing”, or perception of the “non-ordinary”. This has been a focus in my shamanic practice and the last couple of years have seen me taking part in a burial ceremony, cave meditation and a three-day blindfolded vision quest. This piece is a culmination of this work as well as an ongoing practice of writing in dark spaces.
This practice has brought up questions for me around authorship and “voice(s)” and in my final performance at Dartington I hope to embrace both “The Death of the author” and in Deleuzian terms all the voices of “the pack”.
“The pack is a mobile multiplicity, spreading through contagion and bounded by anomaly.”
-Deleuze and Guattari “A thousand plateaus”
I have also been looking at the automatic writings of Susan Hiller, particularly her work “sisters of Menon” and find a strong resonance in my work with her statement; “Identity is always a collaboration. The self is multiple, I am a location; a focus.”
This work also explores the relationship between ritual and performance and the role of the writer as shaman or “mediator” or again, in Deluzian terms; the “anomalous”. Underlying this is of course a questioning of the role of the audience/reader and In my presentation of this very vulnerable and open process in such a performative space I hope to engage the audience in a dialogue of these roles.
Following my performance I will open the box and invite the audience to come inside and view the outcomes (or at least a snapshot) of this process and continue this dialogue. I will be in the box until 15.00 to talk with anyone who is interested about my/their/our experiences of the piece.
This is a video made from film footage of the performance, (i left a camera in the space with an invitation to film) time lapse footage of the canvases and an interview immediately following the performance. - with thanks to Mae Karthauser for the interview and for staying up all night with me! thanks also to Jonathan Street for help with lighting/technology, and other night owls who stayed up for the duration of the performance!
