In a performance ritual, the visitors themselves can become part of the contradictions of nature and human development. They connect themselves in a long “snake” using strips of fabric and dance across the forecourt of Shinano City Hall. After they have formed a protective circle, I demonstrate how fire and water are interdependent by almost burning my hands on the fire and then cooling them with water, then drying my damp hands on the fire. All participants are smoked with a burning bundle of local wild herbs and receive a blessing.

They embody the primal forces of nature, which, however, cannot exist without each other. Thetis was a daughter of Oceanos (Ocean) and Gaia (Earth) and could transform her form into fire, water and a snake. As an ambivalent deity, she represents the opposites of nature, the creation and destruction of life and habitats, protection from dangers and the inevitable arbitrariness of fate.

The ritual is the conclusion of all the transformations that took place in my artistic and spirituel process at the festival, from the donated kimonos to the new works of art. The garments were once made and worn by people who saw themselves as part of a long tradition. In our hands they become valuable material and the artist as creator has the ability and opportunity to create something new from them. In order to make the powerful forces of destruction and creation present here too, fire and water appear as opposites but also as mutually destructive. A peaceful reconciliation takes place through the burning of the healing wild herbs and the drinking of the nourishing water.