The Destroyer from Eliza Swann
THE DESTROYER
In experimenting with the the body as philosophy in a parallel form, my studio practice has shifted its focus to performance based work in constant remembrance of the following phrase by Antonin Artaud, "In our present state of degeneration it is through the skin that metaphysics must be made to re-enter our minds."
Of particular interest have been questions around the slippage between the simulated and the real inherent in digital space and how we can utilize that to reveal sacred mysteries and emphasize the transformational power of performance practices.
Having lived in ashrams as a devotee of Kali and Shiva and finding myself in London playing the role of video artist I performed as Kali for "The Destroyer" out of a desperate need to connect to cosmologies that worship creative and destructive feminine powers with a healthy appreciation of the female grotesque. What emerged in this improvisational performance alongside my love for Kali was a flattened cartoon violence harkening back to Gallagher's prop comedy and the awkward humor that arose from not knowing how to wield an axe properly or how to represent Kali's timelessness and vastness in my finite body within the realm of a pop video.
Eliza will be performing The Destroyer live in New York City this July 2012 at The Heliopolis Project.
Learn more about the artist's work here: Eliza Swann