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John Feodorov in "Spirituality"
Calling on his Native American heritage and sense of humor, John Feodorov sets tradition against modern-day kitsch to create a “hybrid mythology” in provocative multimedia installations. “I have this background,” says Feodorov, “of a traditional Navajo and this sort of outsider Christian background of Jehovah Witnesses, which are completely opposed to each other. And I’m in the middle trying to make sense out of it.”
Filmed in Seattle, Washington, where the artist works and lives, the segment features Office Shaman, a new performance/installation which humorously joins contemporary office culture with ritual healing and sacrifice.
More information and creditsCredits
Created by: Susan Sollins & Susan Dowling. Executive Producer & Curator: Susan Sollins. Executive Producer: Susan Dowling. Series Producer: Eve-Laure Moros Ortega. Associate Producer: Migs Wright. Production Coordinator: Laura Recht. Researcher: Quinn Latimer & Wesley Miller. Director: Deborah Shaffer. Editor: Kate Taverna. Director of Photography: Bob Elfstrom, Ken Kobland, Joel Shapiro, & Dyanna Taylor. Additional Photography: Chip Nusbaum & Anita Sieff. Assistant Camera: Ulli Bonnekamp, John Griffiths, Glen Piegari, Kipjaz Savoie, & Ben Wolf. Sound: Ray Day, John Fintel, Alan Sawyer, Scott Szabo, J.T. Takagi, & Eric Williams. Gaffer/Grip: Steve Carrillo, Kent Eanes, Dennis Hollyfield, Greg Szabo, & Lieven Van Hulle. Production Assistant: Mark Chevarria, Anya Dehr-Turrell, Chris Dowling, Heather Glass, Melissa Morgan, & Erin Wile. Animation Stand Photographer: Marcos Levy & City Lights. Assistant Avid Editor: Heather Burak & Matt Prinzig.
Introductory Segment | Artwork: Beryl Korot. Cast: S. Epatha Merkerson.
Creative Consultant: Ed Sherin. Art Design and Direction: Open, New York. Animation, Visual Effects & Compositing: Spontaneous Combustion. On-Line Editor: Don Wyllie & Frame:Runner NYC. Composer: Peter Foley. Music Supervisor: John Yaffé. Sound Editing: Margaret Crimmins, Greg Smith, & Dog Bark Sound. Sound Mix: Tony Volante & Soundtrack, New York. Post-Production Supervisor: Michael Weingrad & Keir Randall.
Artworks courtesy of: John Feodorov; Ann Hamilton; Shahzia Sikander; James Turrell; Deitch Projects; Whitney Museum of American Art; Lisa Sette Gallery; Sacred Circle Gallery/Daybreak Star; & Seattle Arts Commission. Archival photo of James Turrell courtesy of: Jeffery J. Kozera. Archival footage courtesy of: ZCZ Films Ltd.
Special Thanks: Anne C. Baker; Alison Beall; Michael Bond; The Brotman Family; William Bush; City Lights; Catherine Dee; Susan Delson; Krista Ferguson; Claudia Garthwait; Barbara Gladstone; Thomas G. Grace; Jill Hartz, Bayly Art Museum; Russell Hassell; Sean Kelly Gallery; Bruce Mac Corkindale; Cara Mertes; Margarita Moreno; Office of Housing, City of Seattle; Chris Pullman; Lyn Bolen Rushton; Sacred Circle Gallery/Daybreak Star; Azra Sikander; Gabe Silverman; Brooke Singer; Skystone Foundation; Tamberelli Video; Nancy Taylor; Darin Webb; & Whitney Museum @ Philip Morris.
Interns: Maytal Ahrony, Joyce Alcantara, Christina Darcy, Leslie Fritz, Johanna Goldfeld, Susannah Gust, Sage Lehman, Kelly McCoy, Genevieve Mercatante, Jeff Seelbach, & Stacy Wu.
Public Relations: Kelly & Salerno Communications. Legal Counsel: Albert Gottesman.
Major underwriting for Season 1 of Art in the Twenty-First Century is provided by Robert Lehman Foundation, PBS, National Endowment for the Arts, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, The Allen Foundation for the Arts, The Broad Art Foundation, The Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, Bagley Wright Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and The Foundation-to-Life.
Closed captionsAvailable in English, German, Romanian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian
Through the Art21 Translation Project, multilingual audiences from around the globe can contribute translations, making Art21 films more accessible worldwide.
Interested in showing this film in an exhibition or public screening? To license this video please visit Licensing & Reproduction.
John Feodorov was born in 1960 in Los Angeles, California, and currently lives and works in Seattle, Washington. Feodorov received his BFA in drawing and painting from California State University and his MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College. Brought up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, he spent summers visiting his grandparents on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. As a child, Feodorov experienced the cultural contradictions between his dual heritages, being of mixed Navajo (Diné) and Euro-American descent. He also observed the stereotypes present in American culture, where Native Americans have been idealized as the living embodiment of spirituality by New Age consumerists. His work addresses this clichéd modern archetype through a humorous interjection of “sacred” items into recognizable consumer products.
Artwork Survey: 1990s
