Imagine for a moment that you could stop the flow of time, that you could slow down the accelerated pace of this life that we do not live, but consume, always from one experience to another, continuously exhausted and dissatisfied. Doesn't it feel like time is foreign to us, that we have no control over it, that it is uninhabitable?
The philosopher Byung-Chul Han, in his book The Disappearance of Rituals, speaks of inhabiting time as if it were a home: "time that rushes without interruption is not inhabitable." Ritual is a temporal anchor that helps us inhabit time, to linger and enjoy each moment.
As an artist, I have always wondered: Can art be an anchor that allows us to linger in the present moment? My experience is that it can be, especially when we practice it as a ritual.
Autumn heals the wounds of the sun on our skin, it takes us back again to the interior of our homes…
Alicia in her study
Nowadays many rituals have been abandoned, but some remain as small treasures that have been passed down from generation to generation, as is the case with the matcha tea ceremony or Japanese calligraphy shodō (the way of writing).
To me, the idea of the ritual always reminds me of autumn, with its slow pace and restorative quality. Autumn heals the wounds of the sun on our skin, brings us back into the interior of our homes, is the season of harvest and preserves, and the moment of reconnection with our inner self. That is why I believe it is the best time of the year to gather our yearly experiences and transform them into creative projects.
My name is Alicia Gomar and when Phoenix Arts Europe asked me for a text talking about myself to present the autumn station, I thought, what better presentation than to share with you my own artistic ritual, which is my connection with life and nature? I hope it can serve as inspiration for you to create your own artistic ritual and lead you to enjoy the gift of inhabiting your time.
