An art installation and film by Joel Tauber
Seven Attempts to Make a Ritual is a 7-channel video installation that chronicles Tauber’s attempts to place himself inside the Earth in particular ways in order to achieve a mystical experience. The project can also be seen (in a more condensed form) as a 24-minute film.
Hole #1
Death Valley, CA
November 3, 2000
1. At dawn, begin driving to the site from Los Angeles.
2. Make a six-foot fox hole.
3. Enter it naked.
4. Fill up the hole with dirt.
5. Meditate.
6. At nightfall, leave the hole.
7. Ask my friend Jason Mahanes to help me film the event.
Hole #2
6,000 Feet Above Sea Level
Angeles National Forest
November 24, 2000
1. Make a reclining chair hole.
2. Do not cover myself with dirt when I am inside the hole because the weight of the Earth is too heavy (I had to be pulled out of the first hole).
3. Look up—not out—when meditating.
4. Ask Jason to help me film, but when I am in the hole, tell him to leave the area.
Hole #5
Mojave Desert, CA
March 18, 2001
1. Go alone.
2. Mount a small video camera onto a helmet. Wear the helmet the entire time.
3. Dig a huge hole.
4. Take off my clothes—except for the helmet—after I finish digging (it is warm enough now).
5. Never look outside the hole.
6. Contemplate the interiority of the hole.
Hole #6
Abandoned Gold Mine
Mojave Desert, CA
April 1, 2001
1. Go alone.
2. Do not dig a hole. I feel guilty about scarring the ground with my shovel.
3. Enter a hole that was made by other people (a mine shaft).
4. Carry a small camera in one hand and a lantern in the other.
5. Talk to myself.
6. Stay in the mine for at least 8 hours.
Seven Attempts To Make A Ritual has been shown at the Spertus Museum (Chicago, IL, USA), the Rose Art Museum (Waltham, MA, USA), the Rocky Mountain School of Photography (Missoula, MT, USA), the Kunstverein Hildesheim (Hildesheim, Germany), Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects (Los Angeles, CA, USA), and the Adamski Gallery (Berlin, Germany).