MARTA MASTERNAK
                  WORK     ABOUT   CONTACT


 
             

HUMAN RITUALS

 2019, 10 min 55 sec,
                                                                                               music: permanenterror        
                                                                                              


Human rituals, though often very simplistic in expression, can be extremely effective and are a feature of all known human societies, from gran coronation ceremonies to a simple handshake. They could be viewed as societal punctuation marks of our lives. They can turn the ordinary into the extreme and what was once extraordinary into the outdated. People are more likely to turn to rituals when they are faced uncertain situations, where the results are beyond their control. These rituals are often so deeply ingrained into societal norms that we all ingrain them into our everyday behaviours without any conscious knowledge or recognition of them.The presented film "Human rituals“ shows a gathering of people in the ritual of the purchase of fresh fish on a beach. This presents an interesting picture particularly when one attributes Kyriakidis definitions as presented in "The archaeology of rituals". This view splits rituals into an outsider "etic" category (in which the behaviors seem illogical, irrational even unsettling) and an insider "emic" category. In the case of the film presented, the "emic" view is the ordinary daily purchase of food, whereas from an "etic" viewpoint the scene can take on a more sinister or nightmarish tone, particularly extreme when the tone is "suggested" to the viewer with subliminal images and emotional tone of another salient factor, such as the type of music it is accompanied by.In psychology, the term ritual is sometimes used in a technical sense for a repetitive behavior systematically used by a person to neutralize or prevent anxiety as well as to enhance people´s confidence in their abilities. Good examples of this are superstitious behavior employed by people to try and increase/decrease the outcome of something or even obsessive compulsive disorders. In this way, rituals can be distorted and misapplied resulting in unwanted compulsive behaviours. The subconscious nature of these rituals can also result in cognitive dissonance as well as behaviours are person is neither aware of fully or actually desire. In this way, there can be a slow terrifying realization that we are not like an independent admirer of a great painter´s talent, as in with Bosch´s painting „The Garden of Earthly Delights“, rather than we are an active component of the piece...the scene of hell…