From the category archives:

Ritual and other cultural domains

Ritual Irony?

12 January 2010

In these two videos Kate MacGarry has followed Marcus Coates as he “shamanically” embodies animals and performs bird calls. Is he serious? Ironic? Merely playing? Both? Is this bad ritual? Bad theater? Good ritual? Good theatre? Installation art? And, aside from the genre question, do such events really matter to anyone other than the artists/shaman? [...]

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Rehearsal for the Raising of the Cross

19 April 2009

The webmasters have invited the artist and several others to discuss these images. What is, or might be, their relevance to ritual or its study? Would they enhance a ritual? Detract from it? Would it depend on what kind of ritual? Are the images ”artistic” or ”liturgical?” What’s the difference, if any? How might, or ought, a student of [...]

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