Stations of the Cross

‘Leaving the Easter motorway madness behind, entering the warm darkness of St Stephen Walbrook at dusk. None of the usual small talk of a private view. Feeling responsible for the friends I have invited, anxious but curious of what is to come…

I focus on the central altar—a Flintsone meteor landed in the City—an oracle about to host the event. Speedy brain & impatient body let go, give in—are stilled. I am caught by the gravitational pull.

The crying stone begins to speak—Julie Andrews imperceptibly breathes, wonder melting to anxiety and back. The Bates Motel sign flickers, a warning of the dark road ahead. The journey begins.

An unhurried procession of chapters, silent pauses in the darkness, familiar & half-remembered clips reminding me of all-night screenings at the Electric Cinema as a child—Fellini, Freud & the Marx Brothers drifting in & out of my dreams & mis-memories.

A sense of tumbling down a rabbit hole, transported to a world of stories with no beginning or end, just an infinite loop of magical middles. A feeling of being invited to a very special intimate & shared event. A generosity on the part of all the contributors, multiple references, poignancy & humour rarely embraced in an art gallery event.

I walk home through the early awakening of London; the readings, the music, the images swirl around my brain. No hard sell. No self-congratulatory pomp. No applause to break the spell. I am left with the silence—not of something arrived but of something just left.’

—Oona Grimes

Stations of the Cross was an all night vigil at St Stephen Walbrook Church on Easter Eve 2017 (followed by Stations of the Resurrection at St Paul’s Cathedral). Fourteen videos corresponding to the traditional Stations were projected onto the Henry Moore altar, using three projectors in the round, interspersed with readings and silence. The event culminated in a dawn Eucharist, and the serving of chaplaincy pancakes. A catalogue accompanied the event.

Reading for Station XIII:  Yves Klein’s prayer from his ex-voto to St Rita of Cascia
read by Aram Khas, Chelsea MA Fine Art student, during the all-night vigil, Easter 2017