๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น: ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ซ: ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ, ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ฝ๐บ
๐ง๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐บ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐บ
Originally trained as a sculptor, upstate New York-based seminal performance artist Linda Montano (1942) started working with performance and video in the early 1970s. Informed by her devout Roman Catholic upbringing and two years spent at Maryknoll Convent School, Montanoโs practice has sought to dissolve the divide between art and life by exploring autobiography, ageing and death through durational, spiritual and ritualistic acts and gatherings. An early example of this is the video ๐๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญโ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ (1977), in which she mourns the sudden death of her ex-husband. In a ceremonial manner, she tells her story in a monotone voice reminiscent of Buddhist chanting, while her face is pierced with acupuncture needles. Practices of duration and ritual were further explored in 7 ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ต (1984โ1991), for which she dressed in monochromatic colours, spoke in a specific accent and spent a portion of each day in a coloured room in her home, listening to a particular tone. Each year of this durational performance was additionally in correspondence with the energetic qualities of one of seven chosen chakras.
For ACT X, upon the request of Playbill, Montano revisits ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ 5 ๐๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ด ๐๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฏ ๐๐ต. (๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ), a work from 1990 originally released into the world in the form of a publication. The text, which takes the shape of a hospital journal, logs the last sixteen days of the life of Montanoโs mother Mildred Kelly Montano, who died of colon cancer in 1988. Largely devoid of emotion, structured by day, hour and often by minute, the notes document these final days through medication and food intake, bathroom visits, check-ups by doctors and sounds present. Through adopting a highly orderly and objective mannerโmimicking a supposedly medical way of handling informationโthe work transforms into a meditation on death, providing a ritualistic companion throughout the grieving process. It is often said that death brings with it a loss of words on part of the griever, it being an experience wherein language often fails us. Recited over a Zoom call for the very first time, Montano revisits this text thirty-six years after her motherโs passing, articulating and enunciating the ongoing and continued process of grieving through a trust in language and what it can conjure into being.
๐๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต-๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ- ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐น๐ต-๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ (๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ) ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ฆ. ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ด๐ข๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ. ๐๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ: ๐๐ค๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต, ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ฅ๐ด๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ.
