The Carnal Mystery of Washing Grapes

“The Carnal Mystery of Washing Grapes,” 2020, multichannel video installation with immersive sound, Cube Gallery, Alfred University

In a velvet robe, I wash grapes in a waterfall until the force of the water disintegrates them entirely. Over and over, I approach the waterfall with less and less grapes, until one lone grape on a bare spindle remains. This remaining grape, although stripped down to the dregs, is presented with even more care than the abundant, fresh cluster: this is all I have left to give, and I offer it with pleasure. Ultimately a communication with the intelligences of water, sun, and rock, the ceremonial washing/offering references ancient rituals devoted to the mystery cult of Dionysus, the androgynous god of ecstasy that liberated his followers from self-conscious fears and oppressive powers through the devotional pleasures of the earth.

Columns pull out fragments of the landscape, slightly quivering and moving out of the frame. The projections pull across the architecture of the gallery, disrupting the neat containment of ritual site.

Land acknowledgement: this video was made on Susquehannock indigenous lands in Western New York.