Extinction Mass
a new work in progress, stymied by the pandemic
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. . . . And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven.
— The Apocalypse of John the Divine
Detail from the Arch of the Apocalyptic Lamb in the church of Sant Climent de Traüll in Catalonia, Spain. Image sourced from Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.
Extinction Mass
Extinction Mass is a performance project that revives and reimagines for the new millennium the medieval tradition of performing masses in anticipation of the end of the world.
Part polyphonic fugue, part carnivalesque dirge, the Extinction Mass functions as a public forum and ritual practice for processing collective grief about the many human and other-than-human worlds already in the process of ending.
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The pandemic has put the kibosh on grant money and in-studio togetherness, so for the time being the Extinction Mass exists solely as a speculative project. In the future, this site will serve as the virtual host for varied speculations related to the work-in-progress.