WeiZen Ho
She/her
Amulet Body (2024) is a performance installation that deconstructs and reimagines systems of divination and sacred-word protection. The work synthesises material symbolism, the body and participatory choreographic methods to expand and loosen imaginative space, thus creating a dynamistic environment. Ho exposes the machinations of divination, suggesting such rituals are not about certainty but rather exist as a system of techniques responding to physical and spiritual patterns in the world.
The central performance of Amulet Body incorporates a set of 150 wooden spindles housing a handwritten note containing a thought, koan of provocation. During the artist’s performance, audience members are encouraged to take a spindle and privately consider the note, either challenging the text or dutifully following the instructions. The spindle is then attached to the artist as she performs a ritualistic procession, assuming the role of a cosmic diviner among a makeshift procession of devoted followers. Amulet Body is a study of divination, an intriguing and complex phenomenon revolving around concepts of belief, faith and intuition, activated during Lunar New Year, a time traditionally associated with rebirth and fortune telling.
![Chinese woman leaning to the left, framed by crook of left arm, looking upwards in a focused way, right arm tucked in close to side of chest with fingers in a gesture.](https://www.datocms-assets.com/53320/1666154253-screen-shot-2022-10-19-at-10-21-33-am.png?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=800&w=800)
Headshot of Artist WeiZen Ho, DeQuincey Co’s Image-Lab 2022, Performance Improvisation, Rex- Cramphorn Studio Uni of Sydney Photo credit Vsevelod Vlaskine