Ekklesiastes

Ekklesiastes OT is an ongoing performance project where I process 26 chairs by hammering them flat with a hand sledge while reciting the books of the Bible(OT:Old Testament and NT: New Testament) in order by memory. Each chair is photographed in its original state, hammered on a piece of paper coated with graphite which produces a “shroud” print, branded alphabetically with a letter, and then set aside for future use as a print block, as a sculptural element, or destroyed. The taxonomy of the books of the Bible act as a stand-in for all inherited views of the world. In executing these names through my own body and discharging the energy of that memory through the hammer and into the chair I am reestablishing my relationship to my own belief system.

The Ekklesiastes project is a study of how energy transfers through memory, language, and material. It includes a full range of mediums (video, sculptural, performance, sound, printing and drawing) allowing me to observe and experience the potential agency of the work in different forms. Ekklesiastes works in parallel with the Circumambulation video series and an installation strategy entitled Assembly.

Ekklesiastes is the Greek spelling for the name of 21st book of the old testament and means “one who addresses the assemble.”