This book provides an interpretative analysis of the notion of spirituality through the lens of
contemporary performance and posthuman theories. The book examines five performance artworks:
The Artist is Present (2010) by Marina Abramovic The Deer Shelter Skyscape (2007) by James
Turrell CAT (1998) by Ansuman Biswas Journey to the Lower World by Marcus Coates (2004) and
the work with pollen by Wolfgang Laib. Through the analysis of these works the notion of
spirituality is grounded in materiality and embodiment allowing the conceptual juxtaposition of
spirit and matter to introduce the paradoxical as the guiding thread of the narrative of the
book. Here the human is interrogated and negotiated with within a plurality of other living
organisms intangible existences and micro and macrocosmic ecologies. Silence meditation
shamanic journeys reciprocal gazing restraint and contemplation are analyzed as technologies
used to manipulate perception and adventure into the multilayered condition of matter.
