HORSE CEREMONY
HORSE CEREMONY was performed at 1:00pm on December 1st, 2023 on the roof of a queer themed student cooperative known as Oscar Wilde/Johnson River House in Berkeley, California. This ceremony was attended by approximately 20 guests dressed in all black for the occasion. Many of these accomplices were not friends of the horse, but the artist. The others were residents of the house, or neigh-bors, who heard the commotion and decided to join in on the conspiracy. After everyone found their way to the roof and a clumsy introduction was made, the scene quickly devolved into chaos. The people didn’t want art, they came for blood. Or polyester stuffing, in this instance. And the time soon came. The sidewalk was clear, music was playing, orders were shouted, and with a small crowd of bloodthirsty onlookers armed with iPhone cameras, the horse was launched off the roof to un-meet its maker. The crowd jeered, but only for a moment, before the marauders charged down three flights of stairs to kick, stomp, tear, and smash what was left of the horse. The whole ordeal was about 30 minutes. It was a smash hit.
The aftermath of HORSE CEREMONY is survived most accurately by video. This video is a strange and distorted depiction of the event in all of its chaotic, messy glory. With muffled, pitched down audio and video clips that rotate, reverse, and change speed, the result is something close to a fever dream that is only resolved in its final shot, a mostly undistorted clip that pans over the final remains of the horse and zooms in on what is left of its head. HORSE CEREMONY in its entirety is an act of absurdity. Like most art, it serves no function. This project is a humorous exploration that denies an artifact respect, instead subjecting it to destruction. It is about bringing people together to witness and participate in this destruction, and activating an artwork for a brief moment of excitement however finite.