RITUAL OF MILLENNIUM'S END

By Jack Bowman and Nikki

I kept a journal of the performance plus I always had a backpacking journal. The following are from these two handwritten journals.

DRAWINGS IN THE PERFORMANCE JOURNAL

TEXT FROM THE PERFORMANCE JOURNAL

     We prepared for the Ritual of the 21st Century by building a campfire, measuring out the triangles necessary for us to fit into.

     At 12:00 midnight, as the day turned to the 27th of July 1993 Nikki, already nude, walked over to the ritual area and marked off the triangles with yellow chalk.  She then sat in the east triangle (I had prior to midnight marked off my triangle with a burning stick) Her triangle was on stone, mine was on earth.

Nikki then picked up the transparent tetrahedron and started rotating it as I shined a flashlight on to the bottom of the tetrahedron. A triangle of light appeared on the cliff walls and on the surrounding rocks and trees.  The light even shot behind Nikki. It was like an encounter with another presence with the triangle of white light moving all around us.  It as more eerie than an encounter with an other worldly alien.  It was a god thing - a god thing - a real god thing-. Then Nikki put the dome flash inside the tetrahedron. I shot the flash (in front of her - held in to her - held above her head) with the remote infrared.  I then gave Nikki an egg.  She broke it on the top of the tetrahedron and the egg white ran down the three sides.  She placed the egg on the top of the tetrahedron. I licked the two sides closest to me.  I licked the egg.

We then walked over to the campfire, Nikki still nude, me clothed.  We put sticks into the until they were glowing red.  I gave Nikki a sheet of flash paper. She ignited it with the glowing stick by thrusting it into the paper.  I ignited one the same way. Nikki ignited two more for a total of 4 (the sides of the tetrahedron).  Nikki then picked up the fox horn and blew it for a long continuous sound of about ten seconds.

It was 12:15 - the performance was over. It is not (as I write this 12:51, 27 July 1993)

TEXT FROM BACKPACK JOURNAL July 25, 26, 27, 1993

This part was recorded August 1, 1993

     I think it rained the night of the 25th. But no rain gets to the cliff.

     At 2:00 A.M. on the night of the 26 a pack rat (Eastern woodland rat) came to the outskirts of the camp.  About 15 feet from where we slept.  Then came back at about 4:00 A.M. .

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE PERFORMANCE

MANIFESTO OF MILLENNIUM'S END RITUAL

written 5 July 1993

As the millennium ends, man has found himself at a threshold.

He has controlled and built and manipulated the world for 10,000 years.

He is about to realize that, at best, he is a very ugly god.

He is beginning to realize that he is, and has always been, a most beautiful animal.

He is about to give up his godly quest and is searching for that which makes him human.

I have found the beautiful animal. He is here in the forest, whether it be urban or primal. He is here in his nakedness.

VIDEO LINKS FOR THE LAST PERFORMANCE OF MILLENNIUM'S END RITUAL

Cleveland Performance Art Festival, April 3, 1994

The audio is titled "Techno Insects on a Hot Summer night".  I created it.

Retro Punk X, in Chapter 8 refers to the first performance and has a lot of information as well as photographs from the performance and the surrounding area. page8retropunkx.htm .

The Evolution Bible came out of the need that was addressed in this performance.  For information about how to become the Evolutionary Species; READ IT http://www.capjacks.com/bible/

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