The action happened for the duration of the event, several hours in which Arnell engaged in the realization of various rituals in the dark: periodically lighting matches, burning her body’s hair with them, playing with a boiled egg, writing with white chalk over white walls and grey floors. The artist was naked except for two white tank tops. In the beginning only the sound of chalk on walls and floor filled the room. Later on in the performance, sitting on a chair, the Arnell lit match after match, burning off body hair starting from her toes, legs, arms, armpits, chest and pubic hair.
Forms of hair removal are practiced for a number of reasons, including cultural, sexual, medical and religious. Things are burning, in Detroit, in the world. People put things on fire for many reasons – heating, insurance, love, survival, uprisings against established authority and abuse of power, or as a mean of using power. Buildings, cars, forests, bodies are burning everyday, in war times, in all times.
In order to access, Possession Principle, Flames of Protection participants of Enduring Sometimes Warring had to access the basement via dark stairs, only partially illuminated by the burning matches and burning hair.
Possession Principle, Flames of Protection (2012). Action, which took place as part of Enduring Sometimes Warring (2012), curated by Ulrika Gomm and Clara López Menéndez at INCA Institute, Detroit.
Possession Principle, Flames of Protection (2012), video, 2:54 min. Videographers: Ulrika Gomm and Clara López Menéndez