To hear with my eyes, 2017, installation and performance, leather, brass, steel, cedar tree, water,
dimensions variable, 20 minutes
Photo: Andre Morin, Aurélie Cenno & Clemens Habicht
PALAIS DE TOKYO, PARIS
FEB 2 - MAY 8, 2017
FEB 2 - MAY 8, 2017
Curated by Daria de Beauvais
Commissioned by Palais de Tokyo and SAM Art projects, Paris
Sculptures which have the capacity to bring about altered states of consciousness in To Hear With My Eyes allow us to feel their underlying power. Each day, silhouettes dressed all in black come to activate these objects, following the precepts theorised by anthropologist Felicitas D. Goodman about alterations in consciousness achieved through 'Ritual Body Postures'. Repetition, in gesture and in vision, is at the heart of Mel O’Callaghan’s work - and allows us to access meditative states. The artist invents rituals that are at once physical and conceptual, and present the visitor with the opportunity to not only continually transform their relationship to the work but also to the world.
Daria de Beauvais
Performers: Helena de Laurens, Laura Lee, Esmé Planchon, Paul Robear, mediators from Palais de Tokyo & students from Parsons Paris The New School
Performance Coordinators: Azul Diaz & Katia Porro
This performance incorporates the research and techniques of Dr Felicitas D. Goodman and was developed in collaboration with Paul Robear, and Laura Lee, Directors of Cuyamungue: The Felicitas D. Goodman Institute, Santa Fé, New Mexico, USA
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its funding and advisory body; & Parsons Paris The New School