The Secret Pope is a video homage to Pope Joan, considered fictional in todays society, but a beloved story during the middle ages of a female pope that rose through the ranks of Christianity with her wit and skill. Pope Joan dressed in men’s clothes, but was discovered as a woman when she became pregnant. After she was discovered body examinations practices were put in place so that no women could rise to power in Christianity ever again. Gaze upon her as into a mirror, the Secret Pope is all of us.
Location: The Workings of Media [art and artists] at the Harvestworks Art and Technology House
August 28th – October 31st, 2021: Building 10a, Nolan Park, Governors Island
Open to the public on weekends – Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 5 pm.
Performance October 31, 2021 at 2:30 pm
The Secret Pope is an homage to Pope Joan, considered fictional in today’s society, but a beloved story during the middle ages of a female pope that rose through the ranks of Christianity with her wit and skill.
I embody Pope Joan in secret, secluded in the forest of Pennsylvania–in the backyard of the Appalachian Research Laboratory, in the desert of Census Designated Zone Bombay Beach, in the decommissioned military facility at Montauk under the strained groanings of America’s very first Radar array and above the bunker where US military tried to tap into Soviet minds via LSD, unknown to anyone, projected and replayed as a video, her spirit carried through the ether and electronic screen, hoping to bring back her legacy once more.
This iteration of The Secret Pope is an altar, a space for communion. Stand on the sacred platform and let the good vibes flow through your roots to your crown. Hear the incantations of the Secret Pope come from above you in directional bliss. Gaze upon her as into a mirror, the Secret Pope is all of us.
https://www.yuditskaya.com/movingimage/secretpope
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Sofy (@_the_s0urce_) is a site-specific media artist and educator working with sound, video, interactivity, projections, code, paper, and salvaged material. Her work focuses on techno-occult rituals, street performance, and participatory art. Sofy’s performances enact and reframe hegemonies, she works with materials that exemplify our deep entanglement with petro-culture and technology’s affect on consciousness. She has worked on projects at Eyebeam, 3LD, the Netherlands Institute voor Media Kunst, Steim, ARS Electronica, Games for Learning Institute, The Guggenheim (NYC), The National Mall and has taught at GAFFTA, MoMA, NYU, Srishti, and the Rubin Museum. She is a PhD Candidate in Audio-Visual Composition at NYU GSAS.
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: yuditskaya.com Insta: @_the_s0urce_
2019 Press for the Album Disembodied
2019 Cosmic Odyssey Pune Cover https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/unwind/spectra/articleshow/68513373.cms
2018 Walkin Studios https://rungh.org/in-the-margins/
2018 Then & Now https://clevelandclassical.com/fresh-perspectives-lives-up-to-its-name-nov-2/
2018 Voices from Eris https://brianfunk.com/blog/2018/12/15/93-margaret-harmer-producer-percussionist-voices-of-eris