living shrines

Living Shrines was a durational performance presented at Art/Life Institute in Kingston NY, in part curated by Jaguar Mary X. Featuring performers Molly Riddle & Erin Fritts. Ambient live music provided by Galaexius Quasar. 3 performers dressed in green robes and leaf-shaped masks entered into an installation of greenery made with recycled materials, cardboard, canvas, lights, and cut mugwort, a locally invasive plant, Artemisia vulgaris, which is known for its herbal usage to induce lucid dreaming.

The performers moved as slow as possible, entering and staying put for 2 hours, slowly dropping pieces of mugwort around their standing locations. The air was filled with the aroma of mugwort, a spicy musky scent particular to its nature, and ambient musical dreamscapes by Galaexius traveled softly throughout the gallery space. The intention was to create a meditative “living shrine” to the plant that brings us lucid dreams, hopefully inducing lucid daydreams or a lucid dream-reality experience for the viewer.