F U T U R E R I T U A L

F U T U R E R I T U A L was established in 2017 by Joseph Morgan Schofield and Thomas Yeomans. The initial phase of the project took the form of six itinerant performance events, temporarily inhabiting and activating borrowed spaces, with five or six works taking place at each event. The events held space for artists and audiences interested in queerness, ritual, myth, magick, and mysticism to come together, to resist marginalization, to challenge decency, to protest, to process, to dream us forward.

In September 2019, F U T U R E R I T U A L presented a three day programme at Kunstraum and the Live Art Development Agency. The programme was entirely free to attend and included a screening and discussion event, followed by two performance events.

More about the project can be found: https://www.josephmorganschofield.com/fr-london-2019-kunstraum-26

https://performingborders.live/2019/11/14/joseph-morgan-schofield-november-2019/

In my work, I never know what the outcome of my actions will be. I fully immerse myself in the moment of creation, allowing my body to become a vessel that stretches and molds time—or lets time clear and reshape my own memory. Before the performance, I wrote in my diary:

Is my existence constrained by the system I live in?
Does it depend on it?
In what ways must I, or can I, live?
A small gallery space,
White walls,
Closed windows with
Wooden white pallets—
It feels like the society we inhabit.
It all raises questions of belonging,
Of fitting in,
Of molding time—
Or being molded by it.
Me and the rest of us.

I fear falling, fear getting hurt.
I plead with the moment to be on my side.
I will gather white flour,
Pour it into a bowl until it overflows—
As in our times,
Overfilled with the white man’s power.

I will burn the incense we were given
At the Venice International Performance Art Week
By Francesca Carol, a symbol of TRUST.
I want that scent to seep through my skin,
To reach the place where I was most vulnerable,
To take my fears away and let me fall gently
Into a world always out of reach—
The Utopian Dream.
I’ll soak the dress, wash it clean,
Put it back on, and fall again.
I’ll surrender to the moment,
Stand, and look back at the dust,
Constantly shaped and reshaped
By our living bodies.

I’ll remove my black dress
And pin it with two shiny needles
To my shoulders,
In memory of those who
Fought and continue to fight for
Our inner freedom.
I’ll place my body inside the man’s designed and built
Architectural and social frame.

I’ll let the water drip down,
And I’ll hold the weight of memory—
A burden no one can ever truly own.

Photographs @Jemima Yong

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