冥幣 Funeral Paper Digital Afterlife Ritual

NOWHERE / NOW WHERE / NOW HERE

Viareggio, Italy 2017 / poem by Diego Bertelli / music by Ryan Ferreira

Commissioned by BAU Contenitore di Cultura Contemporanea, Italy

In an exhibit based on the concept of circular design, this performance illuminates the invisible “circle” of the Buddhist concept of samsara— the continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth. In reenacting the ancestral ritual of funeral paper 金紙 or “spirit money” or “ghost money,” a message is sent into the afterlife through burning ghost money with the text “nowhere / now where/ now here.”

At the intersection of digital identity and death, what messages do users want to send into the Afterlife?