Paying homage to Mother Earth for all she grants us. We leave messages of gratitude and offerings.
When we dance the earth trembles. When our steps fall on the earth we feel the shudder of life beneath us, and the earth feels the beating of our hearts, and we become one with the earth. We shall not sever ourselves from the earth. We must chant our being, and we must dance in time with the rhythms of the earth. We must keep the earth.
N. Scott Momaday, excerpt from Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land.
Clay Earth temples WIP
Creating 100 ‘Earth Temples’ molded on the image of the termite mound, I propose a space to acknowledge, and honor Earth, creating an installation of these termite mounds - mother earth’s architecture that connects upper, middle, and lower worlds.
These termite mounds, surrounded by sufficient space for quiet contemplation, shall represent an earth temple that will serve as a (secular and/or multi-faith) site for offerings of gratitude; as well as a place for visitors to ground into the earth. The audience could be invited to participate and include their own offerings, write messages, and bring objects to add to the install. I also propose a sound installation that will offer resonant harmonies, sounds created by instruments most often found in healing ceremonies, aspiring to encourage the audience into a contemplative stillness, and invite them to stay a while.
I envisage mounds (made of terracotta clay, 7cm to 15cm in height) to be displayed on a platform approximately 4 metres in length and 50cm wide, which would have cushions along the front to encourage kneeling and interaction. There will be nooks within the mounds to hold these messages and offerings. An additional shelf or platform would be required to house pen and paper for the audience contribution.
Small objects and ephemera will also be left around the base of the mounds that guests can utilise as offerings. These might include shells, rocks, flowers, butterflies, a small bowl of rice, a bowl of water, fruits, candles, incense, and personal trinkets (dependent on any restrictions). There will also be a requirement for a suspended or internal speaker for the sound installation. The backdrops will be created using frottage on canvas, with images of palm, linking to our local environment. Frottage makes visible the energy of the Earth as we interact with her.
Preliminary sketch of installation ‘Earthen Temples’
Backdrop of frottage, charcoal on canvas
charcoal on canvas
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