Concerning the Difference Between the Delights of Pleasure and True Happiness

About

The performance will explore notions of belief, immersion, ritual and performance by responding to the writing of Swedenborg and incorporating sections of his texts into a series of synchronized movements, phrases and song. 'Concerning the Difference' will look at the potentially transformative quality of a ritual, during which both performers and audience are similarly immersed in roles which require a level of belief and participation. Through video and performance, Ben Judd explores his relationship to specific groups and individuals who have their own rules and belief systems. His performative work explores how the ritualistic activities of these groups and individuals can be extended into an action (one that itself hovers on the border between immersion and a more self-conscious, knowing state), and how, in turn, this action can be interpreted in a moving image work. This evening is being staged as part of Swedenborg House: fourteen interventions, a unique site specific exhibition curated by Stephen McNeilly in celebration of the Swedenborg Society's bicentenary.