Phylicia Ghee

INFO

"INTREPID III" (best experienced full screen w/ headphones)

“I am I am I am, I surrender,” charcoal on 9×9ft paper

Video documentation of ritual performance

Performed on Martha’s Vineyard during Art on the Vine

Oak Bluffs, at Historic Inkwell Beach

August 12, 2018

15:27 minutes (2:58min EXCERPT above)

Voiceover written & spoken by Phylicia Ghee

Video documentation by David Welch

Editing by David Welch

Sound Engineer, Evan Kornblum

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Description:

INTREPID is a ritual performance series in which I am using my body to move in a spiral formation while writing a series of repeated affirmations in charcoal on a 9 by 9' sheet of paper.

This ritual uses movement and repetition to build new framework in the brain and initiate new neural connections.The vision for INTREPID came during a time when I was studying dance, neural plasticity, alchemy, and subatomic particle collisions. When subatomic particles collide, they form spirals. The spiral is also an important family symbol for my grandfather. It is found in the double helix of our DNA, it can be found in nature, both molecularly and galactically; it is also found painted on the walls of our family home and in my Grandfather’s artwork.

A fire in my apartment three years prior to the first performance of INTREPID opened my eyes to exploring charcoal as a tool and as a residue of fire. Charcoal not only carries with it the combustive, alchemical energy of fire into the work, but it also serves as a ritual tool and purifier of water (our bodies being up to 60% water). The affirmations I write in charcoal are transcribed onto my skin.

I have performed INTREPID four times over the past five years. My body, never leaving the paper, slowly erases the words of the affirmations I am writing, and they begin to cover my skin. In this way, I am stepping into my intentions in a very literal way. What I write is ultimately erased, although not completely. The beginning of the spiral of affirmations can still be read faintly. This performance challenges me not only to accept the impermanence of life but also to find and connect with that which is ever present, can never be erased, and never dies. Along with my affirmations, the 9 × 9' paper holds my fingerprints and the unique markings made by my body. This paper holds a story of interconnectedness. A story of who I was and who I became. It is a portrait of myself, my ancestors, and the larger whole.

Photo documentation below: