And perhaps experiencing works
through spontaneous action ap-
peals to a person’s own sense
of discovery in ways that expe-
riencing artwork through the
established modes of observing
and seeing often don’t. Exposure
to art, even if it’s not recognized
as art, provides the ability to see,
hear, and sense creative expres-
sions, and creates an opportunity
to interpret and be transformed by
art, which is integral to nurturing
healthy human conditions. That
experience can transcend space,
whether its institutional, civic, or
even digital space, which is why
public art—and in general, access
to the arts—is so vital to the fab-
ric of our lives and our landscape,
whether it’s urban, suburban, or rural.
Indeed, and modern neuroscience is con-
sistently proving your points about these
benefi ts. Returning to trauma, innovative
scientists recognize what indigenous
peoples and artists already know: art is
therapeutic. Art therapy interventions
encourage abstract thinking, which de-
velops new experiences of safety. The
research in these fi elds is reassuring us
that awakening our primal knowledge
can affect greater change, rather than…
Rather than just creating awareness, it’s actu-
ally having a visceral effect on the being.
Totally! Embodiment is a condition for
bringing awareness into consciousness.
Incidentally, RoseLee Goldberg says art-
ists return to performance art when they
become frustrated with other mediums.
When painting or photography doesn’t
work, they use their bodies to answer
internal questions. The
same principle goes with
activism. It’s shamanic.
It’s going back to that idea
of informing or knowing
the body and its function
through doing. Through ac-
tivating our primal nature,
performance is a primal ac-
tivity.
Yeah! The primal world-
view participates with everything. Public
art and activism illustrate this perspec-
tive; their rituals permeate barriers.
The level of participation, activism, and social
justice movements occurring now is critically
Orlando Arts & Culture, v. 2.6
Of Covenant and Oath, inkjet photographic print film still
important to the art that being produced to-
day. I’m thinking about the essay where you
referenced Marshall McLuhan’s point about
marching back into the future—just that idea
that we have our whole future ahead of us
and generations behind us are looking to
the future generations to fi nd solutions to so
many vital issues, and art is one vehicle in this
shamanistic ritual. offering a diverse range of cultural programs
through a collaborative and feminist curatori-
al perspective.
When streams of past/future meet in the
present, the collective mind shifts. You
mentioned dual realities; art integrates
them. To quote McLuhan again, “the me-
dium is the message,” so this resurgence
in active participation is signifi cant. You
provide a platform for these messages at
USFCAM, thereby making fi ssures in the
boundaries between oppressive spaces
and liberated ones. As does the collective
you participate in, Cunsthaus.
I like to think I am exploring ways to work
transcend boundaries. We just celebrated our Yeah, cooking in an alchemical vessel.
So, thinking about cooking things up, I’m
excited you will be presenting a participa-
tory-based performance at Cunsthaus this
summer. Can you talk about the project and
what issues you are addressing through the
work?
You’re navigating liminal spaces, like
bees! Curation functions like ether
wherein all natural elements exist.
It’s almost like the amalgamation of the
senses.
Thanks, I’m grateful for Cunsthaus. The
performance, 100 pitchers (ofHoney), is
inspired by a poem, deals with a fatal ep-
idemic experienced through bee popula-
tions, and provides a communal initiation
through remembering their importance
to the ecosystem.
So the performance encourages audience par-
ticipation in the ritual itself? Informing knowl-
edge through the act of experience?
Absolutely, it’s a modern cult ritual in be-
coming bee-conscious. Honey is the lens
we’ll use, not unlike your glasses!
fi rst year at Cunsthaus, a space adjacent to
Tempus Projects in Tampa. Modeled after the
German Kunsthaus, the members are artists,
art historians, curators, and cultural produc-
ers who are united through the mission of
Micheal Hooker’s show will be at
Cunsthaus from July 22 - Aug 19.
4636 N. Florida Ave, Tampa, Fl.
You can see more at:
Tempus-Projects.com/Cunsthaus
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