INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BODY OF A GOD
The Act of Decay / thoughts on the performance processes of : Ascension and Purge and Intermittence by : Pedro Inock

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The sun is gone by now, I am not sleepy, nor am I tired. I knew I have had too much coffee for one day. I had this laborious work ahead of me and I found it to be a good idea to pump my body with stimulants, in order to get it done. The result, as said, was a state of restlessness. I knew it, I could feel a vein hopping in my temporal lobe, as well as an occasional twitch in both my arms and ngers. I tried eating something [to counter the effects] but I was slightly nauseated, and I just felt like throwing up after a few bites. Well, that blood I felt pumping in a troubled, continuous cycle, was a gentle reminder that the life of this esh of mine resides precisely in that blood.

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Part I On ascension [shortened] Performance work for Ascension and Purge

Seems obvious, but what came afterwards wasn’t. We all know there has been this divine and ritualistic approach to this issue, from ancient civiliza- tions to our own contemporary pop culture. One that considers blood to be a vital divine element (the nourishment of many god-like creatures), one which animates the body, being this the reason why it was, and still is a taboo in so many cultures around the world. We can infer–and making use of the Draculean myth- that the act of drinking blood may carry us to a divine plane, and the act of sacri ce through blood spilling, as a rite of ascension and puri cation. On the other hand, when the blood comes out of a wound, it means distress, in a physiological and hormonal approach it means fertili- ty, but when this same blood is vomited –among the symptomatic diagnose of illness- it can be understood as a purge, a humanization(...)

What if, one tries to ingest this same blood –assuming that blood works as a substance that contains an individual’s most profound personality traits-, and yet, he is unable to keep it inside? What if our own body rejects this pabulum? Can we see this as semi-ascension, or an incomplete process? Is it possible to gather something from this operation, to reach a larger comprehensiveness on one’s humanity in this process of a eeting “glimpse of divinity”?

By now the nature of this performative act is already settled and the tools are lined up. Some sort of mechanical object will pump a determined liquid into one’s body, via the subject’s mouth. It won’t be of importance if this liquid is real blood - and since the metaphor of its power and magical abilities is granted by history and men- the purpose is “solely” the reaction to the liquid’s intake and sequent exit.
A mechanical pump will be used to thrust the liquid, and the struggle is evident due to the amount of pressure and liquid being spilled, even knowing the subject can quit whenever he feels like, there is a commitment to hold as long as possible in order to achieve a state of receptiveness to any process that may arise during the time being.
This hazardous –choke friendly- sequence of gestures, intends to pose some questions on the nature of self, and the unseen

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Part I On ascension [shortened] Performance work for Ascension and Purge video, 6’00’’, stereo 2016