In collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles,

Los Angeles Nomadic Division, We Rise 2021, and the LGBT Center of Los Angeles…

We invite you to join us in this half-hour ritual designed to engage veronique d'entremont's installation THEIR BODY BECAME (an antenna, transmitting the message of god) in Los Angeles State Historic Park as part of We Rise 2021. In a queering of the Catholic ex voto tradition, where symbols of body parts can be used as offerings that evoke gratitude for or desire for healing, Laur Lewis Neal guides participants through a practice of letting go; offering up parts of themselves that no longer serve them so that healing can enter the new space left behind. This ritual acknowledges the transformative act of relinquishing ownership, infusing generosity and gratitude into the objects or concepts we choose to release.

In preparation for this practice, we ask that you journal or contemplate on a meaningful, personal ex voto you would like to offer up, whether it is a body part, identity, story, or trauma that you want to shed. Find a quiet, private place of comfort and have paper and pen at your side for the writing portions of the ritual. A downloadable pdf of the ritual text can be found below. As you participate in the ritual, give yourself permission to pause the video when you need more time to write or ground yourself in your breathing.

Thank you for joining us in this act of creating generosity and healing.

Laur Lewis Neal + veronique d'entremont

Photographer credit: Bradley Hale

Event credit: THEIR BODY BECAME (an offering), part of WE RISE / Art Rise, 2021 in partnership with Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) and Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA).

Funding credit: This project was made possible by WE RISE / Art Rise. WE RISE is the annual Mental Health Awareness Month initiative of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s WHY WE RISE campaign, funded by sponsorships and Prop 63.