Trevor Knott – U.S. – Performance/ Drawing
Trevor Knott is a performance artist, who lives in Minneapolis, U.S. This is his second stay in the residency; he was a participating artist in 2013 edition – Ritual art.
His works are focused on the correlations between ritual in spiritual practices and ritual in studio practices. Other topics in his art are advanced figure drawing; large scale installation work and abstract drawing; wood, metal and ceramic fabrication.
There is something primordial—even elemental—about charcoal, water, and paper that speaks to me on a very fundamental level. This elemental quality strongly resonates with my intense investigations into the Lakota, Buddhist, and other gnostic traditions. Common amongst these traditions is the emphasis on ritual and practice—two things that are quite significant to me. To truly bring these aspects into the work, performance became necessary. With these performances, the audience has direct access to my process, projections, and an active meditation—the essence of drawing as ritual.
Ritual art – Time and space
The Fire Rituals – Prism of Healing
by Trevor Knott, 2015
With this project, I am performing a Series of fire rituals in and around Gorna Lipnitsa in an attempt to create a geometric design that will promote healing and harmony in the environment. The locations I have chosen are key energetic sites around the village that represent different modes of the healing process. These locations are the stream, the landfill, the graveyard, and the northwest hill.
The stream represents birth—we are all born of the water from the mother’s womb, and without it we cannot survive. The landfill represents learning—the struggle of dealing with our mistakes and problems as we journey through this world. The graveyard represents death—the parts of our self that we lay to rest. And the hill represents wisdom—the actualization of the self and when we are most aligned with the forces of the Universe. The central fire is located near the church and represents a site of healing—it is a spiritual process of self-improvement that reveals to us the mysteries of the cosmos and the power hidden within.
Together these locations form the geometry of a prism that encapsulates the village. The intention behind constructing this metaphysical form is to promote within its boundaries a sense of wellbeing, goodwill, and to help ease all healing processes—human or otherwise.
The Cycle of Healing
The movement from fire to fire is reflective of the cycle of life—from birth to learning to death to wisdom. And at the center of it all is the process of healing.
We are born into this world new and open. From there we begin to learn, building our first artifices—constructing the ego. We learn many truths but also many lies. Death can enter our lives in many forms—the most productive of which is the death of the personal ego. It is the deletion of lies from our personality, making way for truth to enter. We may choose to hold onto our old truths while discovering new ones. In doing so, we can find great wisdom. This leads to the birth of the new self, beginning the cycle of life again. This is the process of healing that we spend our lives working through. It is both difficult and beautiful.
The Ritual Performed
Each fire ritual is performed in a specific manner using these steps:
– Build a fire ring out of stones.
– Clear the energy by burning sage.
– Build the rune out of sticks that relates to that specific site. Each rune is made from a combination of symbols from cultures around the world.
– Offer tobacco to the fire to reinforce the intention.
– Allow the fire to transform the rune into energy.
– Offer cedar to the fire to promote healing.
The closing exhibition Ritual art – Time and Space, 22.08.2015, Gorna Lipnitsa
Organizing and Conducting of Ritual Art – Time and Space edition of the Old School residency is financed under BG 08 Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Arts Programme of the EEA Financial Mechanism.
