Antonia Bechmann / The Prospect of Absolution

"i must be full of joy beyond the age, even though the world has horror of my joy and its grossness cannot understand what I would say."
- John Ruysbroeck the Blessed, 1293-1381

On the 23rd of June an almost fairy-tale like sight awaited the visitors of ARTTRANSPONDER project space in Berlin. A man, dressed in a gown including an embroidered red cloak and a heavy golden crown was standing motionless in the centre of the room with his right hand raised in a blessing gesture. It was the incarnation of the Holy Infant of Prague possessing the body of artist Nicolás Dumit Estévez. What at first appeared as a very colourful mockery soon revealed an astonishing resemblance to the original statue situated in the Church of Our Lady Victorious of Prague. The so called Divine child is a 28 cm tall wax sculpture which dates back to the 14th century and shows a round-faced young Jesus with a mild yet superior expression on his face. It has gone through a long history of travelling during which it is said to have worked countless miracles. During the centuries the dressing and undressing of the Statue in one of his 70 different valuable garments has become an important part of the catholic religious tradition in Prague. This very symbolic act was inspiration and starting point for Estévez performance project In his Shoes.

During the Prague Quadrennial 2007 he decided to impersonate the Holy Infant for the duration of five days. This included coming all the way from the Bronx of NYC to Berlin, where he got dressed in a handmade replication of one of the Infant's garments in the context of a ceremonious performance with the help of independent curator Alanna Lockward. After this, the Holy Infant moved on to the City of Prague where it showed itself to the public. The climax of the performance was the undressing of the Holy Infant that again took place in Berlin and was to be witnessed on the 23rd of June 2007. In the course of the performance, the Spirit of the Holy Infant of Prague left the body of Nicolás Dumit Estévez, again with the help of Alanna Lockward. Undressing him to bare skin and carefully spreading the layers of his robes on the floor, the artist was left exposed in every sense of the word. Full of respect and devotedness Lockward washed him and assisted in removing the Infant's blue contact lenses in an almost ritualistic fashion. The artificiality of the appearance shifted to become the real picture of a mortal human being with all its flaws. She shaved his head and swept the rather large amount of bleached hair off the floor.

From that point on the action was split into three parallel threads. While Nicolás Dumit Estévez, who got dressed into a black suit, began singing what appeared to be a religious chant Alanna started talking. She confessed about the pregnancies she had gone through and one could tell it took an immense effort for her to talk about those experiences. Simultaneously a video dealing silently with different feeding techniques was shown in rear projection and led over to the theme of the performance's final part. Lockward and Estévez started handing out strawberry milkshakes to the audience that in the solemn atmosphere reminded of a freakish form of eucharist.
As quoted earlier, famous Flemish mystic John Ruysbroeck the Blessed had stated a moral principle that might correspond to Estévez’s project.

It is necessary to stand above the age we are living in and to be “joyous”, even though it can be safely assumed life bares no happy endings. In his performance Estévez succeeded in illustrating a form of euphoric belief that is not necessarily limited to a religious dimension. Bringing back hope that can not be explained on a rational level and ensuring the audience it was the true infant of Prague facing them did not speak for a religious commitment, but for the pure will to believe in something that might give relief or comfort from the struggles of life. The performance traded realism for idealism and addressed the issue of humanity much rather than questioning the point of religious icons. The gap between the immortal divine child and the artist shown in the performance can be seen as a metaphor for how life can wax and wane and for how those processes can merge within one single person. Alanna Lockward not only talking about very personal but apparently also secret experiences, seemed like a relief for her, like a making a confession without having sinned. The idea of feeding, nourishing, bringing something to life, whether it is a new born child or the spirit of the Holy Infant shows the audience a promise of redemption even sweeter than the milk it was transported through at the end of the performance. The Divine Child had left his body, but it remained in the room.

The prospect that, filled with problems and questions as life is, an irrational idea, a symbol, or even a fictional incarnation can be helpful maybe not to solve, but to move on. As John Ruysbroeck had already put it centuries before–there are no solutions. But there is comfort.

Antonia Bechmann, 2007

In His Shoes: The More I Honor You the More You Bless me, 2007

On June 2007, I (nicolás) journeyed from my home in the South Bronx to the Czech Republic to embody one of the religious symbols of its capital, the adored Infant of Prague. As such, I wore a hand-made interpretation of one of the seventy-plus vestments in His wardrobe to incarnate the Holy Infant in His worldly place of residence: Prague

In His Shoes: The More I Honor You the More You Bless me was commissioned for Five Alive from Franklin Furnace and for the Prague Quadrennial 2007. Presented in partnership with Art Labour Archives and Artttransponder. Special thanks to Lisa Glauer.

The dressing and the undressing of the Holy Infant were performed with curator Alanna Lockward in Berlin, Germany.