Marcus Coates questions what is human; his video pieces reintroduce ritualistic practices which we have become disconnected too. He calls himself a shaman spiritually calling upon animal spirits for guidance upon modern day world issues such as war, poverty and the destruction of natural habitats. Through his work he ‘Questions the arrogance of our human species in its disregard for the environment.’ The work asks us to consider whether ancient rituals and wisdom of the human mind connecting to the spiritual self, could hold some value in the western world or should be dismissed as trivial. He explains ‘… you can’t escape your humanness, but the point of my work has been to explore the degrees to which you can test that boundary and entertain the possibility of becoming something else.’
The photograph below is called Journey to a lower world (2004) and is a performance still from a shamanic performance, in a condemned tower block in Liverpool.
The below link contains a video called Dawn Chorus (2007) which explores the similarities of human nature to that of birds. The video is 18mins long and was originally a multi- screen installation, it recreates a dawn chorus using humans mimicking birdsong which has been sped up to replicate bird movement and song.
