Bight of the Twin (2014) by HAZEL HILL McCARTHY III

Bight of the Twin
Hazel Hill McCarty III, USA, 2014

 

In the search for the origin of Vodun in Ouidah, Benin, GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE is serendipitously initiated into the ‘Twin Fetish’.

 

Bight of the Twin (2014) by HAZEL HILL McCARTHY III

Cultural engineer, GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE is serendipitously initiated into the ‘Twin Fetish’ – a practice within Vodun that honors twins. Through a series of ceremonies, GENESIS reaffirms an eternal bond with h/er late wife and Pandrogyne partner, LADY JAYE BREYER P-ORRIGDE. This is a deeply interdimensional connection of alternative Western culture in tangent with ancient African ritual. In this story we begin to see the link between Pangrogyny and the ‘Twin Fetish’, an activation of a complete state, and in fact the true fundamentals of Vodun religion.

In Benin, which has the highest national average of twins per birth*, twins carry a sacred meaning. When one twin passes away, the living twin remembers its spirit by carrying around a small, carved replica of their dead brother or sister. The deceased twin is described as ‘having gone to the forest to look for wood’. This engaged and very public approach to grief and loss is in stark contrast to the closeted Victorian values that Western culture has been saddled with.

Transcending assumptions of what it means to be “gendered”, lead character, GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE, embodies a re-union and re-solution of male and female, seeking to perfect a hermaphroditic state through Pandrogyny. GENESIS and LADY JAYE underwent a series of surgical procedures to become gender-neutral human beings that looked identical to one another. In 2007 LADY JAYE passed away and « dropped h/er body ». Since that time GENESIS has continued to represent the amalgam BREYER P-ORRIDGE in the material world while LADY JAYE represents the amalgam BREYER P-ORRIDGE in the immaterial world creating an ongoing inter-dimensional collaboration.

By exploring their non/all-gender we begin to see the link between Pangrogyny and the ‘Twin Fetish’. As the French anthropologist, MICHEL CARTRY, wrote in 1973, “Twins are a reminder and an incarnation of the mythical ideal. It is as though they are representatives of a state of ontological perfection, a state which the non-twins have completely lost. The first living creatures were couples of twins of opposite sexes. The loss of twin hood… is the price that man had to pay for a sin committed by one of the ancestors. But the birth of twins is a reminder of that happy condition, and that is why it is celebrated everywhere with joy ».

* Jeroen Smits, Christiaan Monden. Twinning across the Developing World. PLoS ONE, 2011

 

ABOUT VODUN

The term Vodun from the Fon verbs vo “to rest” and dun “to draw water,” referencing the necessity to remain calm when facing whatever difficulties may lie in one’s path. (Suzanne Preston Blier, African Vodun. Art, Psychology, and Power, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995, p. 39 and 40.)

Vodun means « spirit »; a divine essence that governs the Earth, a hierarchy that ranges in power from major deities governing the forces of nature and human society to the spirits of individual streams, trees, and rocks, as well as dozens of ethnic vodun, defenders of a certain clan, tribe, or nation.

Vodun has over 4 million followers throughout Benin and in 1996 it was recognized as a national religion.

 

kickstarter.com/projects/827802640/bight-of-the-twin

Vestalia, Midsommar, Litha, Samradh, Alban Hefin, Solstitium, Solstice d’été MMXIV

Affaires courantes :


HASHED OUT EP MMXIV sur l'Oeil du tigre

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV

Design du HASHED OUTSelf-titled-six-songs-one-sided-silkscreened-b-side-12 »-EP-ltd-300 paru sur L’Œil du tigre (ODT-020) le 14 juin dernier.


Logo du band par PIERRE-MARC DUGUAY. Illustration LOVIS CORINTH. À partir d’un détail de ‘Cain’ (1911), Sérigraphie ODTHQ.


HASHED OUT_ep_MMXIV photo MARTIN BLONDEAU

Photo MARTIN BLONDEAU


HASHED OUT EP MMXIV ltd 75

HASHED OUT ep MMXIV

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV b-side ltd ed
HASHED OUT EP MMXIV b-side

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV b-side initial propositions

Propositions initiales pour le b-side


HASHED OUT EP MMXIV t-shirts

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV t-shirt

HASHED OUT EP MMXIV pins

Solstice ÉTÉ MMXIV, St-Henri, Montréal p.Q.

Solstice ÉTÉ MMXIV, St-Henri, Montréal p.Q.

Solstice ÉTÉ MMXIV, St-Henri, Montréal p.Q.

Solstice ÉTÉ MMXIV, St-Henri, Montréal p.Q.

PROCESSION à la Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montréal p.Q.

La Nativité (1995) par GILLES MIHALCEAN

GILLES MIHALCEAN, La Nativité, 1995, plâtre ciré, bois, cire et peau de vache, 212 x 250,5 x 207 cm, MACM, Photo Richard Max-Tremblay


PROCESSION – UNE RÉFLEXION SUR LA PRÉSENCE DE L’ICONOGRAPHIE RELIGIEUSE DANS L’ART ACTUEL AU QUÉBEC

Désormais affranchis des « peurs multiformes » qui hantaient les jeunes artistes de l’époque du Refus global, certains artistes contemporains se sont réapproprié tout un vocabulaire plastique propre à la religion. Il n’est plus question ici de propagande, de message, de conversion ou de commandite. Quelles sont donc alors les motivations profondes de ces artistes? Pourquoi ces symboles religieux que l’on dirait « passéistes » continuent-ils de les hanter, particulièrement ici, au Québec?


PAUL BOURGAULT (1967), Crucifixion, 2012, collage, acrylique et huile sur toile

PAUL BOURGAULT, Crucifixion, 2012, collage, acrylique et huile sur toile


GILLES MIHALCEAN, détail de Livres religieux (3), 2003, collages (images religieuses)

GILLES MIHALCEAN, détail de Livres religieux (3), 2003, collages (images religieuses).


JENNIFER SMALL, Indulgence, 2013, verre, métal, plastique

JENNIFER SMALL, Indulgence, 2013, verre, métal, plastique.


JENNIFER SMALL, détail de A Thousand Prayers for Anna, 2011, mixed media

JENNIFER SMALL, détail de A Thousand Prayers for Anna, 2011, mixed media.


Le Caillou (1991) GILLES MIHALCEAN

GILLES MIHALCEAN, Le Caillou, 1991, plâtre peint, ronce de noyer, fer, soufre, 170 x 190 x 200 cm. Photo Louis Lussier


PROCESSION est une exposition multidisciplinaire qui nous fera découvrir (ou redécouvrir) le langage plastique religieux ancré au sein de démarches artistiques actuelles étonnantes.


Avec le concours des artistes JENNIFER SMALL (on en parlait ici), GILLES MIHALCEAN, FRANÇOIS MATHIEU, PAUL BOURGAULT, MARIE-CLAUDE BOUTHILLIER et GEORGES AUDET. Commissaire ROBERT DUFOUR.



PROCESSION
Une réflexion sur la présence de l’iconographie religieuse dans l’art actuel au Québec
Du 19 juin 2014 au 7 septembre 2014


Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
3755, rue Botrel
Montréal (Québec) H4A 3G8


***


«Sacrement, la grâce sacramentelle de la pénitence» à Mange ta ville (November 12, 2009)

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940-2014)

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940-2014)

‘L’artiste suisse H.R. Giger est mort, lundi 12 mai, à l’âge de 74 ans.’



H.R. Giger Revealed
David N. Jahn, Czech Republic, 2009, 52 min


‘The film offers a unique insight into the world of Giger‘s creation and his private life. In addition to the interview with the artist himself, a considerable part of the documentary is formed by interviews with personalities such as Ernst Fuchs, Stanislav Grof and Debbie Harry. Though the authors do not avoid particular developmental periods of Giger‘s work, the main purpose was not to create the artist’s biography. In this case, it is more likely considered to be an authentic perspective on the peculiar world of this Swiss surrealist artist’




H.R. Giger’s Art in Motion
Petr Luksan, Czech Republic, 2010, 30 min


‘It is the first time you will be able to see Giger‘s paintings processed digitally in high resolution quality, 3D animated and together with original film music and surround sound. Watch ten moving image collages, where we used over 200 diapositives which cover the most important periods of his work. Each of those collages will be presented in an abstract story, which will tell us more about Giger‘s life and artistic work’


'The Spell IV' Painting by H.R. Giger

"Satan I" - Painting by H.R. Giger, used as the album art for Celtic Frost's "To Mega Therion"

A modern pope gets old school on the Devil

VATICAN CITY — A darling of liberal Catholics and an advocate of inclusion and forgiveness, Pope Francis is hardly known for fire and brimstone.


Yet, in his words and deeds, the new pope is locked in an epic battle with the oldest enemy of God and creation: The Devil.


After his little more than a year atop the Throne of St. Peter, Francis’s teachings on Satan are already regarded as the most old school of any pope since at least Paul VI, whose papacy in the 1960s and 1970s fully embraced the notion of hellish forces plotting to deliver mankind unto damnation.


Largely under the radar, theologians and Vatican insiders say, Francis has not only dwelled far more on Satan in sermons and speeches than his recent predecessors have, but also sought to rekindle the Devil’s image as a supernatural entity with the forces­ of evil at his beck and call.


Last year, for instance, Francis laid hands on a man in a wheelchair who claimed to be possessed by demons, in what many saw as an impromptu act of cleansing. A few months later, he praised a group long viewed by some as the crazy uncles of the Roman Catholic Church — the International Association of Exorcists — for “helping people who suffer and are in need of liberation.”


“ ‘But Father, how old-fashioned you are to speak about the Devil in the 21st century,’ ” Francis, quoting those who have noted his frequent mentions of the Devil, said last month while presiding over Mass at the Vatican’s chapel in St. Martha’s House. He warned those gathered on that chilly morning to be vigilant and not be fooled by the hidden face of Satan in the modern world. “Look out because the Devil is present,” he said.


Since its foundation, the church has taught the existence of the Devil. But in recent decades, progressive priests and bishops, particularly in the United States and Western Europe, have tended to couch Satan in more allegorical terms. Evil became less the wicked plan of the master of hell than the nasty byproduct of humanity’s free will. Even Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a lofty German theologian, often painted evil with a broad brush.


Enter the plain-talking first pope from Latin America, where mystical views of Satan still hold sway in broad areas of the region. During his time as cardinal of Buenos Aires before rising to the papacy, Francis was known for stark warnings against “the tempter” and “the father of lies.” Now, his focus on the Devil is raising eyebrows even within the normally unquestioning walls of Vatican City.


“Pope Francis never stops talking about the Devil; it’s constant,” said one senior bishop in Vatican City who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. “Had Pope Benedict done this, the media would have clobbered him.”


Yet, as with so many of his actions, Francis may simply be correctly reading the winds of the Catholic Church.



Rising demand for exorcists


Although it is difficult to measure, Vatican officials talk about a resurgence of mystical rites in the church, including exorcism — or the alleged act of evicting demons from a living host. Cardinals in Milan; Turin, Italy; and Madrid, for instance, recently moved to expand the number of exorcists in their dioceses to cope with what they have categorized as surging demand.


But by focusing on old-school interpretations of the Devil, some progressive theologians complain, the pope is undermining his reputation as a leader who in so many other ways appears to be more in step with modern society than his predecessor.


“He is opening the door to superstition,” said Vito Mancuso, a Catholic theologian and writer.


Among the things lurking behind that door is the alleged gateway to hell guarded by the small cluster of officially anointed exorcists of the Roman Catholic Church.


By most accounts, the ranks of official exorcists number between 500 and 600 in a global church of more than 1 billion Catholics, with the vast majority operating in Latin America and Eastern Europe. This week, at the ninth and largest Vatican-sanctioned convention on exorcism, attendees gushed about the fresh recognition being afforded the field.


Almost 200 delegates — most of them priests and nuns — from more than two dozen nations talked about how Satanic cults are spreading like wildfire in the age of the Internet.


The new pope, exorcists say, has become their champion in the face of modern skeptics, many of them within the Catholic faith. Officially, those claiming to be possessed must first undergo psychiatric evaluations. But exorcists say that liberal Catholic bishops have often rejected their services even after such due diligence.


“The sad truth is that there are many bishops and priests in our church who do not really believe in the Devil,” said the Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the 89-year-old priest who is perhaps the closest thing the church has to a Hollywood-style exorcist. “I believe Pope Francis is speaking to them. Because when you don’t believe, the Devil wins.”


During the conference, the Rev. Cesar Truqui, an exorcist based in Switzerland, recounted one experience he had aboard a Swissair flight. “Two lesbians,” he said, had sat behind him on the plane. Soon afterward, he said, he felt Satan’s presence. As he silently sought to repel the evil spirit through prayer, one of the women, he said, began growling demonically and threw chocolates at his head.


Asked how he knew the woman was possessed, he said that “once you hear a Satanic growl, you never forget it. It’s like smelling Margherita pizza for the first time. It’s something you never forget.”


From his small room in a south Rome rectory fitted with a hospital bed, Amorth praised Francis for so fully embracing the biblical notion of the Devil as the personified overlord of hell.


Unlike in the movies, he said, the process of driving demons out typically takes multiple sessions over many years.



An exorcist in action


In a rare glimpse of an official exorcism last week, in a white-tiled room outfitted with images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, Amorth wrapped his purple sash around a Neapolitan housewife in her 40s who said she was afflicted by multiple demons. He then began chanting in Latin, commanding the devils inside her to reveal themselves.


“Tell me your name!” he demanded.


“No, no,” hissed the woman, shaking her head and speaking in an altered voice as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. “I will not!”


“Tell me your name!” he kept repeating, until finally she spat out, “Asmodeus,” the name of an ancient demon and hellish spokesman.


“How many are you?” he yelled, repeating the question as she grunted and shook her head violently.


Finally, she defiantly said, “We are five!”


After his bout with the demons, the diminutive Amorth simply shrugged.


“That,” he said, “was a light one.”


Following the session, the woman and her husband, who gave their names only as Antonella and Michele, said they had been going through a living hell for years. They had begged bishops to authorize an exorcism when Antonella began having uncontrollable fits after receiving Holy Communion and became violent around religious prayers. But they were repeatedly denied.


It was only after they were referred to Amorth and began sessions four years ago, Antonella said, that her condition finally began to improve.


“The Devil exists, and thanks to this treatment, I have gotten back my faith,” she said. “I think Pope Francis is telling us it’s okay to believe.”



Anthony Faiola
The Washington Post