March 12, 2017 – Sarasota
I’m doing an art project at the Ringling where I get to hang out in the secret cemetery all day. Below is the video I made today (dress rehearsal, 3/12/2017). I have audio files to listen to, too. I get to tell the story of John and Mable Ringling and their haunting. Another group down the way is re-enacting the visitation of a third ghost known to haunt the property — a circus priest who died in the 1920s.
This is what I’m doing this weekend. I get to make art in a secret cemetery. I LOVE this project because I’m making stars and participants are mirroring me (also making wire stars). We are hanging them on the hedge behind the Ringling graves. I have tied them to the idea of the stars — most cultures believe that souls of the dead go to the stars (Maya, Egypt, African, etc). As we make the stars, I am telling different non-Western examples of these heaven-bound souls. Then, I tell the story of the Ringlings (the legend is that they didn’t want to be burned where they are and so their spirits are wandering the
This is what I’m doing this weekend. I get to make art in a secret cemetery. I LOVE this project because I’m making stars and participants are mirroring me (also making wire stars). We are hanging them on the hedge behind the Ringling family graves. I have tied the ghosts to the idea of the stars — most cultures believe that souls of the dead go to the stars (Maya, Egypt, African, etc). As we make the stars, I am telling different non-Western examples of these heaven-bound beliefs. Then, I tell the story of the Ringlings (the legend is that they didn’t want to be burned where they are and so their spirits are wandering the campus looking for a proper resting place). I talk about the ghosts.
Together, the participants and I are LITERALLY making a Milky Way path, a heaven, for them in their secret graveyard. As the stars are completed, they are hung like Christmas ornaments on the hedge that backs the cemetery. Perhaps this will help the Ringling family determine that they DO dwell among the stars — right where they are. It is one of the best connections of urban legend, ghost, and art projects I have EVER done. It really came to fruition for me during the dress rehearsal when I started to see what we were doing — the realization that we in the IPA project were making a path of stars for them. It was a weird and exciting experience. It’s an ultimate fusion of ghosts and art. PERFECT.
The event is for one-on-one interactive experiences. There are three tracks — further down mine is a Bradenton paranormal group reenacting a sighting they believe they had of the third ghost to haunt the property — a circus priest who died int he 1920s. Over 60 performers are at this event, too. It’s pretty incredible.
I think there are tickets still available. Here’s the link on the Ringling, but I think it’ll also take you to the home page. http://ipaexperiments.com/wordpress/experiment-42-000-ringling/s.