Ice Staffordshire

These ice sculptures are modeled after Staffordshire ceramic dogs my mother collects. Seeing them in the impermanent material of ice reminds me of the fragility of her and the power of objects--whether as surrogates or collectibles.

This ice sculpture is dedicated to a Staffordshire Terrier, referred to as Scrappy, I helped a friend rescue. Scrappy seemed unusually aware, keen to people and situations. My friend kept the dog as his own. I longed for this dog or at least to know her condition and location. Neither the friend nor his father would tell me what happened to her...

Entwined

Entwined is a performance of hair giving. It was performed on November 19 (the Friday before Thanksgiving) with a group I have worked with as a Healing Artist for approximately a year and a half. To bound our relationship even tighter, I offered everyone in the group a lock of hair they could cut off and keep as a memento of me and a passing on of power.


Above: We are discussing Victorian traditions of hair saving, exchanging and hair work. In some cultures and stories the sharing of hair is a sharing of power. Hair is also significant as a part of the body which will not rot.


Reading 19th century sayings such as "when this lock of hair you do see, think of me."




Above: A selection is made from the nape of the neck.




Above: A participant gives me a lock of their hair.

Photography courtesy of Crystal Owens.

Water Break

Water Break: pick-up truck, tarp, water, release
Action took place at El Rincon Social in Houston, Texas on Sunday, November 14.

Truck before:


Unidentified woman near water hose/umbilical cord as the truck is being filled with water.



Water Break:


Red Sheet placenta was released as well.

Memento Mori---water globes

Some other connections...

Below is a series of water globes from 2009, all containing memento mori landscape scenes. These scenes were all documented within 15 miles from where I grew up in east Texas. Images included: Dead Man Road, Buzzards, a cemetery, a burnt forest, a clear cut forest, and a home destroyed by Hurricane Rita. The globes were "activated" by audience members spinning them and stirring their contents. The objects themselves referenced snow globes as collectibles and tokens of memorabilia.

Above image taken at Blaffer Museum.

Rebirth / Breaking of the Water

"Rebirth" is a ritual event to take place at El Rincon Social on Sunday, November 14 from 5pm to 10pm. A truck bed filled with blessed fluid will be on hand into which participants may be buried/submerged and reborn as part of a ritual of beginning anew.

The evening will end with "The Breaking of the Water" from the truck onto the earth.

This event is open to participants and observers.

Living Eulogy/Wake Workshop with School of Latitudes

Hair that won’t rot even when I’m gone…objects that I can’t take with me yet I mourn when they are lost…comfort in funeral food…the writing of living eulogies to explore being alive…and planning living wakes of ritual, honor, celebration and wonder.

Wake is an interactive performance project comprised of explorations of death rituals including the writing of (living) eulogies and hosting of (living) wakes. The mission of the project is to encourage participants to (but not limited to) review life through the contemplation of death and to connect to the present.

On Thursday, September 16, eleven members of labotanica’s School of Latitudes participated in a private living eulogy workshop at the home of one of the latituders. Presented are images from that event…










For more information, or to participate in a Wake-related event, please contact Emily at emily@emilysloan.com

Wash Day

Wash is a performance about cleansing, ritual and intimacy. A full day at Gallery 1724 in Houston, Texas was devoted to the washing of hair including anointing with oils. There were twenty participants and numerous observers. It was a nicely paced day of washing and talking. During Wash, conversations included memories of September 11, 2001, memories of having their hair washed by their mothers, and the love and pampering of having their hair washed by someone else. We also discussed comparisons to foot washing and baptism, vulnerability, and the intimacy of touch, particularly to the head.

The performance was documented through photographs and sound.




Above photo courtesy of Dean Liscum and Sophie Simons.



Photos courtesy of: Heather Korb, Dean Liscum, Merilee Minshew, Sophie Simons, and Emily Sloan.

Floor before, with foils...
Floor after, foils with imprint from traffic...

Wash, September 11, 2010, 9am to 5pm

Wash is a one day performance of the washing of hair to take place on Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 9am to 5pm at Gallery 1724, 1724 Bissonnet St. (between Dunlay and Woodhead), Houston, Texas, 77005.

Wash will be performed by Emily Sloan and the participating audience.

“It is the ritual situation which makes the hair “powerful”, not the hair which makes the ritual powerful.” --E. R. Leach

This event is free and open to the public.

National Museum of Funeral History

This morning I visited the National Museum of Funeral History. I viewed many caskets, coffins, funerary vehicles, and mourning objects.

It was a treat to see some hair jewelry and hair wreaths and to learn about door badges. The experience of the many objects especially those from the Egyptian and Mexican funeral traditions were very beautiful in their relation to death whether as a life-long process or celebration.



Victorian-era home with the parlor set for mourning. Note the covered mirror above the mantel and the black fabric draped over the picture on the wall indicating the deceased. Mirrors are covered so the spirit of the deceased does not get trapped within and so mourners do not see their reflections and become the next to pass.

Victorian mourning dresses made especially to be worn during burial. Behind the dresses are photographs of a live woman modeling the dresses to be worn after death.

Hair shadow box (above). The hair shadow box is a mourning device. Unlike the body, hair does not rot. In the 19th century, mourners would often save hair and have it fashioned into an object/keepsake.


A highlight was the Funeral Bus. Here is my recollection of the story of the bus: The Funeral Bus was on the road in San Francisco in the 1920's. The driver sat up front with the deceased behind him and the pall bearers and mourners in the back of the bus. During a trip up a steep hill, the back-heavy bus tipped and sent all the passengers including the deceased on a roll. The embarrassed funeral home owner retired the bus. For about a year it was the home of a ranch hand, then it was renovated and is now in the Museum.

A frilly casket.

Frilly casket detail (above). The caskets at the Museum are for display purposes only. Some of them were unused and/or unsold at one time. I don’t know about all of them though. For example, there is a casket for three at the Museum. A couple commissioned it whose child had passed away. They planned to kill themselves and all three be buried together. They decided to not kill themselves and years later wanted their money back from the casket maker. Needless to say, he did not return their money as it was already made, and he had been storing it for years. (above)

Colorful, almost cake-like grave sites from Mexico.