To build this chapel had to be very much like in the classical age when the architects, the masons , the carpenters, the technicians and many others worked together on the construction of a classy movie theater – we are here to create a space with style and panache, a site of marvel and excitement that will host a new art form: cinema! We are in fact the Lumière-cousins bringing motion pictures to the world of chapels, the Fitzcaraldos of rural Oaxaca that will take on a task worthy the endevours of Titans: to make the second Kinetic Chapel of Performing Pictures in Santa Ana Zegache, Oaxaca, Mexico!
The Kinetic Chapel unleashes the intrinsic motion of sacred images within the context of an outdoor-exhibition space. The capillita (small chapels) are constructed to shelter popular image devotion. As mini-galleries for mixed-media imagery, they do not rely on the curatorial system of the established art world.
The kinetic chapel introduces transformative movement into an established container that otherwise features motionless imagery. While doing our research in Oaxaca, Mexico, we have found examples of electrical illumination within some of the capillitas. We found this both inspiring in its inventiveness as well as encouraging for the continuation of our own work with chapels featuring anmations.
As there are no other ways to display moving images but with electricity, we employ the sun to give us the sufficient energy for the kinetic chapel. Following this occupation with venerative artefacts, renewable energy has become an increasingly important issue for Performing Pictures' work. Venerative objects should generate energy, not consume it!
This is the report by Robert Brečević of how the Kinetic Chapel of Santa Ana Zegache was built.
