Biochar Ritual

Schaumbad, Graz, 10. 9. 2024

photo: Peter Brandstätter

A performance about finding a positive way out of crisis, held as part of the group exhibition Second Cities in Schaumbad, Graz, Austria, 10 September 2024. In this symbolic act, I burned my freshly shaved hair in a biochar retort–transforming a part of myself into carbon. A quiet ritual of personal transformation, impermanence, and healing through elemental process.

Photo: Peter Brandstätter

The artist stands in the courtyard of Schaumbad, Graz, watching sparks swirl from a biochar retort during a performance, while in the background the tall chimneys of the Energie Steiermark heating plant burn Russian gas.
Jan Karpíšek during the Biochar Ritual performance at Schaumbad, Graz, Austria, 2024, burning freshly shaved hair in a biochar retort as part of an artistic act of transformation. Photo by Peter Brandstätter.
Lucie Králíková shaving Jan Karpíšek's head as part of the Biochar Ritual performance at Schaumbad, Graz, Austria, 2024 – a symbolic act of transformation before burning the hair in a biochar retort. Photo by Peter Brandstätter.

#Performance Art#Biochar Art