Emotional Obstacle Course #1

Photo by Melanie Masson

Emotional Obstacle Course #1 was a collaboration with poet, Michelle PeƱaloza. We based our ten stations loosely upon the Catholic Stations of the Cross, the commemoration and representation of Christ’s road to crucifixion. Our interest was not to engage in parody or blasphemy but to access the devotional space of intense reflection and the sacred through levity and absurdity rather than dogma or religious teaching. We re-interpreted aspects of the Catholic stations–for example, Christ’s three falls: fall upon a mound of dirt, walk across a balance beam, and slide into a dried riverbed–in order to engage the body through humor, hoping that it would lead to reflective thought and intense emotion.