COCA:
Indexterity Show Febuary-April 2001
Curated By Daniel Kany
This is My Body

As an artist I attempt to visually and intellectually interpret sociological trends, historical movements, and everyday visions of the world I perceive around me.

This is My Body was first shown in Febuary 2001 at Seattle's COCA (Center on Contemporary Art) in a group show. It is the result of a concept which was germinated when I was informed by a chilango (Mexican slang for someone from Mexico City) that the Aztec Dancers who dance in the Zocalo, dance with the expectation that their dancing will cause the Cathedral to fall and the Templo Mayor to rise up again. Of course this is not the only reason people dance there, but this perception struck me strongly. The Cathedral currently sits across from the ruins of Templo Mayor, the religious and ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan. This is the site where Cortes imprisoned and later killed Montezuma, the King of the Aztec Empire in 1519 and 1521. Some of the stones from the old temple were used to construct the current Cathedral which is a larger than the one originally built in that location.

When I originally visually conceived this piece in 1998, I was struck by the hypocracy I found in my memories of the way history was taught to me with the emphasis of the blood-thirstiness of the "natives" with little mention of the greatness of their culture and advancement of civilization, astronomy, and agriculture. The Great Pyramids of Egypt were held in such high esteem in the "official" history I received in public and private schools of my youth, with virtually no mention of the great pyramids of Chitzen Itza, Uxmaal, Teotehucan, or Tikal.

Although I am unbaptized, I have always been interested in religion and spirituality. Thus while attending a private Catholic high school, I was fascinated by the ritual and the religion classes that were so new and foreign to me. A concept which interested me greatly was that of the Holy Eucharist. Specifically, the Catholic Church strictly believes that when people are eating the unleavened bread and drinking the wine during the spiritual highlight of the mass, they are actually eating the body and drinking the blood of their Savior, or conduit to God, as described in the Catholic church. The similarity of the blood and human sacrifice aspect of both religions struck me as my world view expanded having studied International Studiesthe world struck me This is My Body gets its name from this part of the Catholic ritual.

My personal anger at hypocracy of history and the Catholic Church was the original sentiment of this piece, but as time passed and while doing research on the Internet on this theme I found two extremely interesting articles written by the Pope John Paul II. One was written during Lent of the Jubilee Year 2000 entitled Universal Prayer: Confession of Sins and Asking for Forgiveness March 12, 2000 And the other was a Letter to Artists On the Place and Significance of Art dated April 4, 1999.

The Pope's own generosity and the way he spoke from the heart in both of these texts, brought about a much more positive sentiment for the piece. I used both these texts along with Aztec dancers in Mexico City, images from inside the Cathedral at Mexico City, and other dancers such as a Spanish Flamenco dancer in Guanauato, Mexico and Hindu educational dancers in Somnathapur India, along with other images of conquest in Hyde Park in London, England.

The mix itself was created live in a jam with myself and Jason MacLeod aka DJ Advent on December 22, 2000, and the piece was finalized in Febuary 2001, with much thought for it taking place on a trip to Barcelona in Febuary, 2001.

As a side note, I had perhaps a half dozen dreams of the cross I had built with six televisions falling down during the creation of it and during the show. So when the Nisqually Earthquake hit Seattle on Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent the first year of the new Millennium, all I could think about was did my cross fall. One hour later I went and examined the show and was grateful to see that it was still standing and in tact.

If you are a gallery owner or collector and interested in this installation for exhibition or purchase, please contact me at travis@nio.com or phone 206 285 2324.

All video was shot originally by Travis Winn The text of the homily and letter from the Pope were respectfully mixed as well.


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Full 46 Minute Video From This is My Body Video Installation at COCA Feb-April 2001.

Video Was Mixed Live on December 22, 2000 at NIO Media LAB with Video By Travis Winn and Audio Mixed by DJ ADVENT.

Viewing this video via the internet in no way compares to the installation experience of 6 monitors with the music in the shape of the crucifix.



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Self-Portrait in front of
Installation.
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"None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when like the artists of every age captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you..."

From:

Pope John Paul II
Letter to Artists
On the Place and Significance of Art (April 4, 1999, Easter Sunday)

Also, mixed in is:

One was written during Lent of the Jubilee Year 2000 entitled Universal Prayer: Confession of Sins and Asking for Forgiveness March 12, 2000