Acupunture for Cactus
Liene Rumpe
08/09-30/09/2023
Cactus-Asclepius emerges in the arid and unforgiving desert, impervious to the absence of life-sustaining water and the relentless waves of scorching heat. Acupuncture practitioners embark on a journey to achieve harmony within the inner sanctum of the body's vessel through the delicate art of needling. The cactus shows them the way forward as a determined guardian of endurance. However, in the midst of a hidden desolation, the remnants of a once-roaring bonfire lead to a disturbing revelation, hinting at a less noble role for the cactus. The prickly healer commands careful attention both before and after its alchemical metamorphosis. Injured organs within the ailing body tend to reconnect with the unified whole. Even in their slumber, they understand that achieving success relies on a well-executed offering to Cactus-Asclepius. Those who are unwell earnestly request to adhere to the ancient plea: "Return it to him, just remember never to forget it!"
The doctor's clinical gaze, observing the stretcher, looks at the body lying there and tries to recognize the organs before his eyes. Organ functions are not always clear.
“Truly, my friends, I walk among men as among fragments and separate parts of human flesh!
The most terrible thing in my eyes is to see a person torn to pieces and scattered as if on a field of battle and delay.
And when my sight flies from the present to the other: he always finds the same: fragments and separate parts of a person's body and a terrible coincidence - and no person!”¹
Plunging needles into the skin creates an intimate connection between the body and the world. It is sometimes believed that by piercing in the right place, the functions of the organs can be harmonized. A needle inserted too deep into the flesh can hurt. For example, during torture, they are stabbed under the nails, the pain makes them blind and unable to verbalize the experience. There is only pain that takes over everything.
There are also invisible, needle-induced connections between the cactus and the flesh of the world. The cactus balances this by evenly piercing the air.
Cactus-Asclepius needs to be respected. Only then will the patient on the stretcher feel faint pricks from the cactus needles, signaling the beginning of recovery.
What or who is burned at this bonfire?
The shape of the burnt thing is lost in the ashes. Therefore, it can be observed that ashes hide mourning. Smoldering coals illuminate the half-mourning, as the departed figures still shine in the slag. However, the long-term smoldering of coal is gradually clearing the place of the ghosts of the past. Therefore, as paradoxical as it may be, this place can be considered a clean space. But it is not to be thought of as an empty place where there is nothing. There is simply no room for anything but cinder. It has created it for itself.
The bonfire is used for distillation to extract his spirit from the cactus. The cactus flesh disappears and he will soon become purified through fire.
Fever and temperature push the body to its limits. At this point, you can give up and wait for the disease to pass. Thus, the patient has symbolically surrendered to fate and relies on luck. After such recovery, the patient will have to express his gratitude to Cactus-Asclepius. However, the most enterprising patients try to switch from fever dreams to others with the help of special capsules. In this way, the patient defies fate to temporarily postpone the inevitable collapse. Capsules are a pharmacon that can serve as both medicine and poison. But it is a vain imagination that the transition from one dream to another means healing.
¹[autth. translation] - Nīče Frīdrihs. Tā runāja Zaratustra. - Valtera un Rapas akc. sab. apgāds. 1939, 165.lpp.
Liene Rumpe (1996, Riga) received a master's degree in painting (Ar Academy of Latvia, 2022) for the installation "Exercises of the Ninja Painter". For this work, she received the BDO Young Artist Award in 2022. Rumpe participates in exhibitions, projects and is one of the co-founders of the artist-run space DOM. Rumpe's artworks are characterized by questioning the cause of collective ideas, configurations of visual logic, strategies of spatial structures and their disclosure with the help of conceptual characters.
Text: Liene Rumpe
Photos: Ieva Viese and Liene Rumpe
Liene Rumpe
08/09-30/09/2023
I
Cactus - Asclepius
Cactus - Asclepius
Cactus-Asclepius emerges in the arid and unforgiving desert, impervious to the absence of life-sustaining water and the relentless waves of scorching heat. Acupuncture practitioners embark on a journey to achieve harmony within the inner sanctum of the body's vessel through the delicate art of needling. The cactus shows them the way forward as a determined guardian of endurance. However, in the midst of a hidden desolation, the remnants of a once-roaring bonfire lead to a disturbing revelation, hinting at a less noble role for the cactus. The prickly healer commands careful attention both before and after its alchemical metamorphosis. Injured organs within the ailing body tend to reconnect with the unified whole. Even in their slumber, they understand that achieving success relies on a well-executed offering to Cactus-Asclepius. Those who are unwell earnestly request to adhere to the ancient plea: "Return it to him, just remember never to forget it!"
II
Stretcher
Stretcher
The doctor's clinical gaze, observing the stretcher, looks at the body lying there and tries to recognize the organs before his eyes. Organ functions are not always clear.
“Truly, my friends, I walk among men as among fragments and separate parts of human flesh!
The most terrible thing in my eyes is to see a person torn to pieces and scattered as if on a field of battle and delay.
And when my sight flies from the present to the other: he always finds the same: fragments and separate parts of a person's body and a terrible coincidence - and no person!”¹
III
Needles
Needles
Plunging needles into the skin creates an intimate connection between the body and the world. It is sometimes believed that by piercing in the right place, the functions of the organs can be harmonized. A needle inserted too deep into the flesh can hurt. For example, during torture, they are stabbed under the nails, the pain makes them blind and unable to verbalize the experience. There is only pain that takes over everything.
There are also invisible, needle-induced connections between the cactus and the flesh of the world. The cactus balances this by evenly piercing the air.
Cactus-Asclepius needs to be respected. Only then will the patient on the stretcher feel faint pricks from the cactus needles, signaling the beginning of recovery.
IV
Cinder
Cinder
What or who is burned at this bonfire?
The shape of the burnt thing is lost in the ashes. Therefore, it can be observed that ashes hide mourning. Smoldering coals illuminate the half-mourning, as the departed figures still shine in the slag. However, the long-term smoldering of coal is gradually clearing the place of the ghosts of the past. Therefore, as paradoxical as it may be, this place can be considered a clean space. But it is not to be thought of as an empty place where there is nothing. There is simply no room for anything but cinder. It has created it for itself.
The bonfire is used for distillation to extract his spirit from the cactus. The cactus flesh disappears and he will soon become purified through fire.
V
Capsules
Capsules
Fever and temperature push the body to its limits. At this point, you can give up and wait for the disease to pass. Thus, the patient has symbolically surrendered to fate and relies on luck. After such recovery, the patient will have to express his gratitude to Cactus-Asclepius. However, the most enterprising patients try to switch from fever dreams to others with the help of special capsules. In this way, the patient defies fate to temporarily postpone the inevitable collapse. Capsules are a pharmacon that can serve as both medicine and poison. But it is a vain imagination that the transition from one dream to another means healing.
¹[autth. translation] - Nīče Frīdrihs. Tā runāja Zaratustra. - Valtera un Rapas akc. sab. apgāds. 1939, 165.lpp.
Liene Rumpe (1996, Riga) received a master's degree in painting (Ar Academy of Latvia, 2022) for the installation "Exercises of the Ninja Painter". For this work, she received the BDO Young Artist Award in 2022. Rumpe participates in exhibitions, projects and is one of the co-founders of the artist-run space DOM. Rumpe's artworks are characterized by questioning the cause of collective ideas, configurations of visual logic, strategies of spatial structures and their disclosure with the help of conceptual characters.
Text: Liene Rumpe
Photos: Ieva Viese and Liene Rumpe