ENTER THE FREE SOUL
This was my Parsons BFA Thesis show, it was an immersive installation utilizing the five senses. Before the show opened, I performed a ritual by myself to fully activate the space as a spiritual and artistic shrine, I referenced the many cultures and religions that are represented in my family. It was not a shrine to one particular culture or religion, but a broader shrine to the similarities before vastly different cultures and devotional practices. Of the many cultures I was raised with, this shrine can find its roots in Saami and Cornish imagery and mythology. The concept of a “free soul state” is a Saami-coined term to describe the trance-like state that Noaide (shamans) would enter. For people outside of the culture a free soul state could be best understood as an elevated consciousness.
Comprised of live greenery, Durst C-print photos and a sculptural shrine on the back wall. To enter the installation you move past a curtain of live hanging vines and enter a different dimension through accessing your “free soul state”. A variety of Saami joiks I curated played and I encouraged visitors to take their time in the installation, through sitting and meditating or praying or dancing and moving to the music.
The shrine was an ever-changing sculpture, one constantly being broken down and rebuilt and having offerings added to it by various visitors to my studio during the weeks I worked on it. I encouraged visitors at the opening to bring an offering of any kind to leave at the shrine, in exchange I gave participating viewers Mugwort tea. One traditional use of mugwort is to cause vivid dreams through its property as an extremely mild hallucinogen.
To hear the playlist, open the Spotify app and follow Juliana Gagné’s playlist: ENTER THE FREE SOUL
