Nina Arsenault 40 Days and 40 Nights: Working Towards a Spiritual Experience

[Shana A]

Nina Arsenault
40 Days and 40 Nights: Working Towards a Spiritual Experience

http://summerworks.ca/2012/portfolio/nina-arsenault/

What happens when a performance artist — who belongs to no religious denomination — carries out these actions with regimented discipline for a significant uninterrupted duration? Will faith manifest in the body of the performer? Can consciously changing one's state of being set a spiritual experience into motion? If so, what does that feel like?

In the first 29 days of this performance (closed to the public) Nina spent 4 days in isolation in total darkness, 5 days fasting and 3 days without sleep. Inside heightened emotional states she rendered drawings in charcoal and began to design an elaborate decadent cloister for 40 Days + 40 Nights.

She also gave up Facebook, sex, and financial support from her "sugar-daddy."