Frédérique Morrel The French artist Frédérique Morrel was horrified to discover that when her grandmother died, all of her handicrafts were thrown away. Since then, she has been pursuing the idea of bringing her grandmother’s works back to life in order to revive the passion that was inherent in them. In the process, she has developed a completely new artistic concept that “ decycles ” unnoticed and unvalued pop artifacts, thus helping them make the transition to a new life cycle. ** Thankfully, no animals were harmed in the making of Frédérique Morrel’s art. The horns and fur are real; the rest is a mix of taxidermy molds and vintage needlework. While amusing and perhaps a bit shocking, the trophies that adorn the Seventh Floor are “tame” compared to some of Frédérique’s other work which include life size horses, deer, wild boar and even humans (which they call “ ghosts ”.) If the artists’ goal is to “re-enchant” our world, then
This is a fun little documentary that suggests
the origin of story of the Santa story is Sami shamans from Lapland. The
film is nicely done. The interviews of Carl Ruck and Lawrence Millman
are interesting and the animations and visuals are clever and appealing.
The story is not entirely convincing, though. The documentary tries
too hard to connect every aspect of the Santa story in a literal way to
folklore about the Christmas eve travels of Santa Clause. For example,
they suggest that shamans visiting people’s homes and being rewarded
with food was the source of the “milk and cookies” which children leave
for Santa on Christmas eve.
But any weaknesses in the story can be forgiven because the film is
fun, lighthearted and thought provoking. I welcome any pop culture
documentaries about shamanism. I give “Santa is a Psychedelic Mushroom”
a 4/5 and recommend watching.
Screen capture from the film “Santa is a Psychedelic mushroom”
Many
historians agree that the North American figure of Santa Claus can be
traced back to a monk named Saint Nicholas of Myra, a bearded
fourth-century Greek Christian with a penchant for charitable giving.
St.
Nicholas was presumably the basis for the Dutch Sinterklaas, patron
saint of children, who donned a big, red cape and rode around on a white
horse to visit children on the name day of Saint Nicholas, the sixth of
December.
According
to folklore, Sinterklaas carried a red book in which he recorded a
child’s behavior over the past year as having been good or naughty.
Sinterklaas is said to have been slowly transformed into modern-day
Santa by 1700s Dutch immigrants in the New World.
“But maybe there’s another story worth telling this season—one about a
psychedelic mushroom-eating shaman from the Arctic.”
That’s
Matthew Salton, whose animated short film, Santa Is a Psychedelic
Mushroom, presents a different origin story entirely. It’s a compelling
narrative, backed by Harvard professors, anthropologists, and esteemed
mycologists alike, and it bears an uncanny semblance to the modern
tradition of Santa Claus.
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