Ritual is a robotic installation. It resurrects a compulsion throughout human history - to search for purpose, meaning and power through rites both sacred and profane.

Rite and ceremony are reimagined into a mechanical, soulless manoeuvre. The audience is invited in small groups, to observe and move amongst the robotic clergy while they conduct their obsessive movements. They consist of two blocks, reminiscent of Kubrick’s monoliths or ancient menhirs. They are larger than man and move across the room following the raking path of the sun. They move incredibly slowly and steadily, with immense torque. They feel unstoppable,like planets, man-made juggernauts. They are both mesmerizing and discomforting. Occasionally they strike a bell, drum or other object and create from within them a rhythmic beat which further heightens the ritualistic experience.

Ritual is originally motivated by the secret fraternities of Europe and the United States, in particular the secret order of the Oddfellow’s and their ceremonies. This developed into a broader interest in the human ritual. It takes knowledge from anthropology and behavioral science, in particular from the book ritual, politics and power by Kertzer. The work plays to a hysterical and dystopian view of technology and the draws parallels between the mysterious nature of sects and the veils of complexity surrounding Ai and automation.

This installation was made possible in generous part by the Corsicana visitor’s bureau.