Work in Progress: The Voyage of Saint Brendan The Navigator

John Chiaromonte (United States), “Anima Loci-Spirit of Place”

John Chiaromonte’s performative/spiritual practice is rooted in silence, stillness and solitude walked out through rituals/actions within the landscape. In the early morning, he stands at the entrance to a 100’ diameter stone labyrinth he built on his property. He bows, rings the bell and slowly walks to the center of the labyrinth, sits in zazen, then walks out. This “spiritual” practice allows him to address our individual and collective wounds and create through his performance’s “thin places” (Anima Loci-the soul place). In his words: “Our actions enshrine the anima loci, bringing the unseen into physical presence.”, “Celtic Sacred Landscapes”, Niegel Pennick, pg. 13 His process for developing new work is straight forward. To him “During those moments that are not “art” related such wading streams reading the water for prime lies holding trout or bombing mountain roads on my longboard this is when ideas for a piece come to me. From those brief moments of clarity studio time involves creating drawing for movements and the placement objects within the performance environment. Shaping movement into liturgical (the work of the people) actions. Hopefully drawing the audience/viewer/participant into themselves… exposing our common wounds.”