I spent some time in a very conservative and religious town in America when I was a teenager.
During my stay in America I was baptized by submersion and supposedly reborn as a Christian.
In the mind of the baptizer, or the believer as they are known, the spirit is supposedly taken on a journey of life, death, and resurrection. This is an ancient historical ritual and
although I do not interpret it in strictly the same sense, my baptism does undoubtedly represent a self transitional journey which affected my physiological being. I believe this to have been a profound experience which has gone on to influence my art.
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I went back to Japan during the summer of 2007 and I found a job as an archaeological excavator. I was digging the ground everyday under strong sunshine.It was 35 degrees and to make matters worse the excavation site was surrounded by metal sheets which contained and amplified the heat.
My colleague told me about this performance art festival called “NIPAF” that takes place twice a year. That is how I first encountered performance art (or live/ action art or whatever it’s called)
I saw many performances by Eastern European and South East Asian artists during the festival.
In a spontaneous moment I had a chance to make a performance of my own. In what was my first ever performance I sat on a square of flour and started washing my body with mud.Because I didn’t have anything to change into, I had to travel home on the train covered in mud. The experience of standing on a busy train caped in mud for over an hour made me aware of the importance of duration and the transitional events that can take place in various spaces and times.
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Since my action is inspired by the superstitions of other cultures and the psychology behind superstitious behaviour, I have been strongly led towards ritualistic and cultural beliefs from diverse array of cultures across the world.
In some cultures as a result of superstitious beliefs, when a pregnant lady goes though childbirth all the doors and windows are opened, and her plats and all the knots in her clothing are undone. This is done to release the tension from the room.
It is believed that the knots of intrinsic energy are untied thus creating a more relaxed and calm environment. The ritualistic action I recreate in my performance tends to be about releasing the restriction from the compressed society I create within myself. I am using the superstitious behaviour to abstract the reality from the truth and to sublimate the truth with illogical beliefs.
Kiki Taira
