Sarah Paulsen
  • News
  • About & Bio
    • Statement
    • CV
    • Press
    • Contact
  • Current Projects: On Whiteness
    • The Invention of Whiteness >
      • White by Law
      • Passenger
      • Consumer's Void
      • The Racial Matrix
      • Jello
    • On Whiteness >
      • hidden white norms
      • Family Culture, Traditions, and Rituals
  • Visual Art
    • Animation Drawings, Props, and Ephemera
    • Painting >
      • Untitled Women
      • Parades >
        • History of Parades
      • Female Flaneur >
        • Female Flaneur Exploration in St. Louis
        • Thrift Store Identities
        • Searching for Art in South America
        • The Grand Tour
      • Portraits of Columbia
      • Group Portraits
    • CamRah >
      • Ant Circus and Built
      • Echo
      • Off the Wall in Utter Pandemonium as We Tape on It.
      • Temple of the Dancing Bear
      • Murals and Set Design
    • Collage/Assemblage >
      • Targets
      • Wanderlust
    • Community Projects >
      • Community Workshops & Artist Residencies
      • Curating
      • Murals
      • People's Joy Parade
    • Drawing >
      • Recall Redraw Release
      • Things for Which I am Nostalgic
      • Sketches and Process Work
    • Installation >
      • & Animation
      • & Paintings
      • Female Flaneur Exploration
      • Found Fabric Screen
    • Costumes and Performances
  • Video and Animation
    • Ant Circus
    • Begin
    • Elegy to Connie >
      • Elegy to Connie artworks
    • High Wire
    • Heart is a Muscle
    • Midwest Hair
    • ¿Qué Séra, Séra?
    • W.O.W (Women On Wheels)
  • Teaching
    • Marian Middle School and College/Adult Classes
    • Animation Workshops and Classes
  • Sales
    • Freelance & commission work.

Temple of the Dancing Bear

A series of events inspired by film In the Land of the War Canoes by Edward Curtis.  Curtis an early filmmaker, recorded a fictive silent film that depicted the rituals of the Kwakiutl people.  Fuller, a native of Washington State, grew up viewing and drawing artwork of the Pacific Northwest with his stepfather. 

This piece included
1) The building of a bear costume using recycled materials- cardboard, paint, wood, a fur coat, and sweaters.
2) A recorded three hour trance ritual in which Paulsen danced to the Jackson 5 until she reached an unconscious state of dancing.
3) Participation in a community parade as "The Bear"
4) The building and exhibiting of the shrine structure to house the video of the dancing bear.
5) An end dance ritual performed by the Bear, culminating in the burning of the Shrine Structure in nature.
6) The exhibition of Bear Costume pieces, Dancing Bear, and a recording of the life and death of the Shrine Structure at The Great Rivers Biennial.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.