ASH (2018–2020)
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ASH IS AN INTERNATIONAL (E)MAIL ART PROJECT IN WHICH THREE PEICES OF LOKTA PAPER ARE PLACED ON THE SURFACE OF THE SACRED BAGMATI RIVER; DOWNSTREAM FROM PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE.
(ASH SCORE (2018–2020). CONSIDERED HOLY BY HINDUS AND BUDDHISTS, THE POLLUTED BAGMATI RIVER FLOW THROUGH PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE, WHICH WAS BUILT FOR THE GODHEAD SHIVA (KNOWN AS 'THE DESTROYER'). PASHUPATINATH, LOCATED ON EITHER SIDE OF THE RIVERBANK, AND CONNECTED BY A SERIES OF BRIDGES, IS HELD BY MANY AS ONE OF THE MOST SACRED SITES ON THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT. TO THE EAST OF THE TEMPLE, FORTUNE TELLERS IN SAFFRON, YELLOW AND BURGUNDY, WEARING FACE MASKS AND HOLDING UMBRELLAS FOR SHADE, LINE THE PATHWAYS READY TO PROVIDE PREDICTIONS AND READ PALMS. THEY HOLD RUDRAKSHA BEADS, SURROUND THEMSELVES WITH MARIGOLDS, WOOL, AND SANDALWOOD PASTE, ASTROLOGY CHARTS AND THE NEPAL SAMBAT. DISTINCT FROM THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR, THE NEPAL SAMBAT USES LUNAR MONTHS AND SLAR YEARS, AND IS 56 YEARS AND 8½ MONTHS AHEAD. TO THE WEST OF THE TEMPLE CREMATION PYRES AND GHATS CAN BE FOUND, WITH STEPS LEADING DOWN TO THE WATER'S EDGE. HERE, RELATIVES AND THE DECEASED ARE PREPARED FOR CREMATION; THE WATER USED FOR WASHING AND BATHING, TO SPIRITUALLY CLEANSE THEIR BODIES. REALISED BETWEEN 2018–2020, ASH IS AN INTERNATIONAL (E)MAIL ART PROJECT IN WHICH THREE PEICES OF NEPALESE LOTKA PAPER WERE PLACED ON THE SURFACE OF THE BAGMATI RIVER IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL. INVITED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROJECT THROUGH EMAIL, PARTICIPANTS PERFORMED THE ACTION OF PLACING THEIR PAPER SUBSTRATES AGAINST THE SURFACE OF THE ASHEN GREY AND CLOUDY WATER DOWNSTREAM FROM PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE; AN OPEN-PRYE CREMATION SITE. ONCE THE PAPER HAD DRIED, EACH PARTICIPANT SENT THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE UK, USING THEIR CLOSEST POSTAL SERVICE. ON THEIR ARRIVAL, ONE PEICE WAS SAVED FOR EXHIBITION, THE SECOND WAS REDUCED TO ASH, AND THE THIRD WAS CHEMICALLY ANALYSED THROUGH GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETRY (GC-MS), AND INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY (ICP-MS) (DESTRUCTIVE TESTS THAT QUANTIFIABLY DETERMINE MATERIAL COMPOSITION). OVER THE DURATION OF THE PROJECT, CONTRIBUTIONS WERE RECEIVED FROM ARTISTS SEGAR MANANDHAR AND PRATIMA THAKALI, FROM THE KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY OF ART AND DESIGN, AND NEPALI MUSICIAN ANIL SHAHI. THANKS ALSO GO TO PARTICIPATORY COURIERS: GPO (GENERAL POST OFFICE), NEPAL, AND THE ROYAL MAIL, AND TO PARTICIPATORY SCIENTISTS: KARL HEATON FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK (GC-MS); SIMON REID AND ANDREW HOBSON FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS (ICP-MS); AND ANDREW SMITH FROM SGS LABORATORIES, MIDDLESBROUGH (GC-MS & ICP-MS). THE PAPER'S SPIRITUAL STATUS WAS ALSO CONSIDERED BY BUDDHIST MONKS AT KOPAN MONASTERY; A SCHOOL IN THE GELUG PRACTICE OF TIBETAN MAHAYANA BUDDHISM, AND HOME TO A MONASTIC COMMUNITY. THAT IS, I ASKED THEM TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT, THROUGH THE PROCESS OF THEIR SATURATION ON THE SACRED BAGMATI RIVER, IF THEY HAD BECOME IMBUED WITH THE AURA OF SHIVA, OR IF THIS WAS DISPLACED IN THE PROCESS OF EVAPORATION. FOLLOWING THE ACQUISITION OF THE THREE PAPER SAMPLES, ONE WAS BURNT AND REDUCED TO ASH. FOR THIS, I PLACED THE PIECE OF PAPER INTO A GALVANISED INCINERATOR AND SET IT ON FIRE WITH A SINGLE MATCH. AS THE SUBSTRATE BEGAN TO BURN ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLE CLOUDS OF SMOKE ASCENDED FROM THE BIN, AND AN ORANGE FLOW FROM THE INTERIOR FIRE RADIATED THOUGH OXEGYN HOLES THAT LINED THE CYLINDER. |
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