ungeziefer

Shown at Chelsea College of Arts, May 2023

Ungeziefer is an investigation into the dynamics of power. Ungeziefer 1's is an interactive installation, whose main inspiration comes from the Revival table - which refers to a table decorated with spiritual offerings of food and candles, to be used as part of a Revivalist ritual. Revivalism is a Jamaican religion which evolved from movements within the slave trade which appropriated their masters European form of Christianity and reinterpreted it within their own anti-slavery meanings; it combines elements of both African spirituality and Christianity. The table ritual attempts to feed the partakers ancestral spirits, and involves "breaking" the table and feasting upon it's contents. ​​

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Taking inspiration from this tradition, Ungeziefer 1's main aim is to process the complexity of religion, which has been used both as a tool for colonialism and motivation against it. The installation encourages viewers to step onto a giant plate and share in the table's feast as they gaze upon objects/words pertaining to animal gods, Jesus, Beyoncé, sacrifice and a desire to be consumed and to consume. The unsacrificable vermin, ravenously hungry for revenge, lays beneath the table in wait, licking it’s lips, ready to make it’s first sacrifice of it’s own. Unknowingly, you have become the army blanket.

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