The Oxford dictionary defines ‘receipt’ as:
Noun
1 [mass noun] the action of receiving something or the fact of its being received
It is 1st Holy Communion time again for school children of the right age and because of this I began to think about the inaugural receipt of the body of Christ into my seven year old mouth. We practiced with ice-cream wafers at school to get used to the sweet dryness of the communion wafer. I was told how this wafer when blessed by the priest was in fact the body of Christ that I would take into my own body. It is a hugely abstract concept for a young mind to take in and we spent much of the year preparing for the occasion. Firstly learning the Act of Contrition, and then going to confess my sins so that I would be clean in the sight of God and rightly wear my white dress. Boys did not wear white. I didn’t question this at the time.
Becoming aware that you have a choice to be good or bad, that you have done bad things, that you are being watched by a higher being and that if you admit these things openly to this higher being you will be forgiven is a yet another complex idea that my parents, grandparents and teacher instilled in my developing mind. This act of admitting you are at fault and wish to be forgiven in order to be entitled to be in receipt of the actual body of Christ himself perplexed me as a child. The forgiveness thing seemed logical enough but I questioned how all of these wafers, all over the world, every Sunday could have a little piece of a body in them. I wondered the body would be divided up, and who cut it up – was it God up there in heaven slicing away at his son? How did he make sure there was enough for everyone every week and not run out? I didn’t doubt that it was the body and I respected it as such but I did wonder about the logistics. I never got an answer but as a seven year old I had an understanding that what you put into your body affects your spirit.
I have been feeling quite unwell these past few days. I’m anxious I’ve not slept very well as my mind has been turning over ideas, images, processes, questions and visualising scenarios and trying to work out the correct options. A few days ago I had a conversation with an artist friend about paper and the body, the possibilities of casting, and generally putting both together. Last year doing my MA I did a lot of research on paper and the body, specifically the mouth, the chewing and digestion process and its links to the metaphors we use for understanding.
I consider there to be a connection between the mouth and higher understanding of complex ideas and abstract concepts; which is why the way we consume today worries me. Decisions about what we take into our bodies are so complicated. I feel bombarded with information about what I should be consuming and it is very important to me as this early concept of taking in and its effect on you is still prominent for me. It seems that most people I know, including myself, are concerned that they are eating too much of the wrong thing, but they still do it. I try to eat healthily but I think I am addicted to processed sugar. I have cut down since I have been here and I feel faint and ill and confused. I feel some empathy for the thieves who stole 5.5 tonnes of Nutella this week. It’s so cheap and so trilling for that moment, then guilt. I also read in the newspaper that per kcal a bar of chocolate is three times less expensive than an apple. We still have this survival instinct for consuming as if we will never see food again, but the shop shelves are stacked with choice, it’s just a pity that it’s so hard to pick up and apple rather than a chocolate bar. All these thoughts are going through my head and so today I made a series of receiving mouths.
Noun
1 [mass noun] the action of receiving something or the fact of its being received
It is 1st Holy Communion time again for school children of the right age and because of this I began to think about the inaugural receipt of the body of Christ into my seven year old mouth. We practiced with ice-cream wafers at school to get used to the sweet dryness of the communion wafer. I was told how this wafer when blessed by the priest was in fact the body of Christ that I would take into my own body. It is a hugely abstract concept for a young mind to take in and we spent much of the year preparing for the occasion. Firstly learning the Act of Contrition, and then going to confess my sins so that I would be clean in the sight of God and rightly wear my white dress. Boys did not wear white. I didn’t question this at the time.
Becoming aware that you have a choice to be good or bad, that you have done bad things, that you are being watched by a higher being and that if you admit these things openly to this higher being you will be forgiven is a yet another complex idea that my parents, grandparents and teacher instilled in my developing mind. This act of admitting you are at fault and wish to be forgiven in order to be entitled to be in receipt of the actual body of Christ himself perplexed me as a child. The forgiveness thing seemed logical enough but I questioned how all of these wafers, all over the world, every Sunday could have a little piece of a body in them. I wondered the body would be divided up, and who cut it up – was it God up there in heaven slicing away at his son? How did he make sure there was enough for everyone every week and not run out? I didn’t doubt that it was the body and I respected it as such but I did wonder about the logistics. I never got an answer but as a seven year old I had an understanding that what you put into your body affects your spirit.
I have been feeling quite unwell these past few days. I’m anxious I’ve not slept very well as my mind has been turning over ideas, images, processes, questions and visualising scenarios and trying to work out the correct options. A few days ago I had a conversation with an artist friend about paper and the body, the possibilities of casting, and generally putting both together. Last year doing my MA I did a lot of research on paper and the body, specifically the mouth, the chewing and digestion process and its links to the metaphors we use for understanding.
I consider there to be a connection between the mouth and higher understanding of complex ideas and abstract concepts; which is why the way we consume today worries me. Decisions about what we take into our bodies are so complicated. I feel bombarded with information about what I should be consuming and it is very important to me as this early concept of taking in and its effect on you is still prominent for me. It seems that most people I know, including myself, are concerned that they are eating too much of the wrong thing, but they still do it. I try to eat healthily but I think I am addicted to processed sugar. I have cut down since I have been here and I feel faint and ill and confused. I feel some empathy for the thieves who stole 5.5 tonnes of Nutella this week. It’s so cheap and so trilling for that moment, then guilt. I also read in the newspaper that per kcal a bar of chocolate is three times less expensive than an apple. We still have this survival instinct for consuming as if we will never see food again, but the shop shelves are stacked with choice, it’s just a pity that it’s so hard to pick up and apple rather than a chocolate bar. All these thoughts are going through my head and so today I made a series of receiving mouths.
Recieving Mouth I
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