Cow-dung Performance

August 2008
Skowhegan, ME

Project Description:
This performance was a private act about connecting to the Maine landscape, specifically the cow pasture around the artists' studios at Skowhegan. The piece grew out of contemplating my place in the landscape of memory, in particular, memories of my childhood in Africa. My previous art practice reflected on my own temporal (nomadic) position in a natural or urban landscape and dealt with the possibilities of the hut as a metaphor for the individual within a community. Many African indigenous people traditionally used cow-dung as a practical material in building their homes and as a sacred material in many rituals. It was therefore a literal step for me to cover my body with cow dung in this private ritual.