The encounter with something outside of the human experience was explored by Rudolf Otto when he wrote in the early 1900's of a "sense of an otherness" that he felt was all-pervasive and, when encountered by the human mind, is often a source of wonderment, awe, ecstasy or dread. Otto's work built on that of Immanuel Kant, who discussed the concepts of transcendence in relation to the rational mind and morality. Otto added the additional concept of encountering what humans perceive as the sacred, divine or "Numinous."

Our project is a physical manifestation of this concept of encountering and interpreting the Numinous - and how it may quite possibly be the underlying factor for most human religious beliefs. Karen Armstrong, in A History of God, writes about this experience of something sacred that lies outside of us when she writes:

"In the South Sea Islands, they call this mysterious force mana; others experience it as a presence or spirit; sometimes it has been felt as an impersonal power, like a form of radioactivity or electricity. It was believed to reside in the tribal chief, in plants, rocks or animals. The Latins experienced numina (spirits) in sacred groves; Arabs felt that the landscape was populated by the jinn. Naturally people wanted to get in touch with this reality and make it work for them, but they also simply wanted to admire it. When they personalized the unseen forces and made them gods, associated with the wind, sun, sea and stars but possessing human characteristics, they were expressing their sense of affinity with the unseen and with the world around them."

Otto wrote that this concept of the numinous encompassed five possible manifestations: 1) ultimacy, 2) mystery (mysterium), 3) awe (tremendum), 4) fascination (fascinans), and 5) satisfaction. Carousel Numinous will incorporate all of these manifestations, and will include an organic smattering of Gods, Goddesses and other deities that include good and evil, life and death, creation and destruction and various other dichotomies. The three carousels will incorporate three triads : Body-Mind-Soul, Hell-Earth-Heaven and Electrons-Neutrons-Protons.

Riding the Carousel Numinous is a metaphor for participation in the Sacred in all of its forms. It is an exercise in encountering the Numinous and taking away your own intimate interpretation of it.

Project Description

Imagine you are walking along the Esplanade at night and in the distance you see a tower or pillar topped by intermittent flames. You make your way towards the fire and a glittering installation of three Carousels surrounding the central flaming pole comes into view. Each Carousel is equidistant from the central tower, and all are crowned with flames. They are 10 feet tall and 16 feet around, each with four carriages ornately designed as such religious icons as Devils, Angels, Buddahs, Hindu deities and Rabbits, among others.

It is very dark and still, a bubble of luminous serenity in the midst of the blossoming of color and sound that is the Playa at night. In the center of each Carousel are mirrored panels decorated with, and reflecting visages of, all the Gods humans have known. These images and sculptures embody the pantheon of religious experience.

There are other wanderers who have stumbled across the Carousels. They speak in quiet voices and examine the art machines, scrutinizing the swirling designs that glow yellow, red, blue, indigo and orange in the flickering light. You step forward, curious, and notice there are seats and pedals in each of the deity carriages. The urge to participate flares up as you realize you can power this project as easily as riding a bicycle. You and your new friends get on board and start pedaling, causing the Carousel to spin. Suddenly the entire installation lights up. Music begins playing. Objects built into the central structure and on the floor planks of your carousel begin to move from the mechanical motion of the Carousel. Yin-Yangs spin, Vodoo Vevers move up and down, crosses jerk back and forth, Mandalas light from the inside and spin. The motion that you have initiated has in turn set a multitude of mechanical events in action. The Carousel moves smoothly and easily. Others approach and get in the other two carousels, causing them to also light up.

You then notice that the Carousels are connected to the middle flaming tower that brought you to Carousel Numinous in the first place. The pole turns in the opposite direction of your carriage. All the Carousels are reflected in mirrors that cover the central pillar. The energy you are putting into your Carousel is causing the central tower to turn and the installation to light, calling more to come and participate.

As you ride around, transfixed by the glittering of the Carousels, you notice buttons, levers, handles and rings in the shape of candles, chalices, gya ling (Tibetan oboes), Caribbean Santeria drums, crystals, shells and other ritual implements on the inside of your carriage. You start pressing buttons and discover that they trigger sound- and motion-events in your Carousel - in an angel car you might hear snippets of the Hallelujah Chorus. A friend jumps on a demon car and starts setting off the theme from the Exorcist or cackling screams. Chants, thunder, a child crying and prayers begin to swirl through the air as all the participants begin using these ritual tools. People are pedaling together and the mechanical structures are moving faster and faster. All the sound events are merging into one grand cacophony that rises up and can be heard out on the Playa. You have created and experienced the metaphor that is the Carousel Numinous.