AUM (a)
Stuart RINGHOLT: artist
AUM—awareness, understanding, meditation—is a staged process used in therapy and derived by Veeresh Denny Yuson-Sánchez, the founder of alternative lifestyle school Humaniversity. According to Humaniversity website the practice is a ‘social meditation that combines movement, role playing and vocal expression’, and practicing it helps you ‘learn about your emotions, release your stress and reclaim the joy of being alive’. In Ringholt’s video a couple re-enact this process. They yell and scream at each other, cry and laugh, then hug with deep affection. Theirs is a way of working through the difficulties in order to come out at the other end with love and kindness. For us observing, it can be an anxious, emotional, but also a cathartic process.
As an extension of AUM, Anger workshops was conceived in 2008 as an ongoing project, and to date has been presented at various venues including major international art exhibitions like Sydney biennale and documenta. Under Ringholt’s strict guidance, the participants undergo what he described as a series of compressions which include experiencing physical strain and yelling, and positioning of the body in order to create anger; as Ringholt says ‘to get angry the whole body needs to be first tensioned and tightened both physically and emotionally.’ This tensioning is followed by a five-minute physical compression: a hug.
As an extension of AUM, Anger workshops was conceived in 2008 as an ongoing project, and to date has been presented at various venues including major international art exhibitions like Sydney biennale and documenta. Under Ringholt’s strict guidance, the participants undergo what he described as a series of compressions which include experiencing physical strain and yelling, and positioning of the body in order to create anger; as Ringholt says ‘to get angry the whole body needs to be first tensioned and tightened both physically and emotionally.’ This tensioning is followed by a five-minute physical compression: a hug.
Title
AUM (a)
Anger Workshops (b)
Anger Workshops (b)
Artist/Maker and role
Stuart RINGHOLT: artist
Date
2007
2012
2012
Medium
video, edition of 5 poster
Measurements
video: 28 mins: 27 secs
poster: 127.0 x 176.0 cm
poster: 127.0 x 176.0 cm
Credit line
Purchased through The Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation: TomorrowFund, 2012
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
2012/0100.a-b