“I always thought that you can make something that appears to be functional, but when you try to use it, you can’t figure out what its function might be. And that’s in the end what the function is, for you to figure out what to do with it.”
                                                                 —Bruce Nauman

The function of the Resurrectory at the Portland Art Center may only be known to the performers and attendants working in it. To the visiting observer, the meaning of this macabre performance, musical lecture, museum of artifacts, and collection of oddities may never be completely clear. It is a puzzle for the mind and senses. The Resurrectory layers Romantic views of the human body as a sacred object with materialist views of the body as a scientifically explained machine. It is a place where Victorian sensibilities mingle with Modern technologies.

The impetus for the Resurrectory began when members of Liminal read the court transcripts of William Burke and William Hare, two men who were infamous for murdering sixteen people between 1827 and 1828 and selling the corpses to Dr. Knox, a renowned and progressive physician working in Edinburgh, Scotland’s Surgeons’ Square.

As it became apparent to us that the illuminated world of modern medicine was rooted in the darkness of murder and thievery, we wondered what other surprises could be found in the history of anatomic science. It was clear that we needed more information.

For more than a year, Liminal researched 19th century medicine, modern forensic science, criminology, phrenology, the wholesale cadaver industry and texts from the Romantic movements in literature and philosophy. Our research and workshops led to more questions and the need for more information. We found ourselves in the business of accumulation.

It became clear that the act of investigating was more important than the answers we could exhume. Thus, it made perfect sense to construct a public installation that would contain our investigation and catalogue our growing collection of written, drawn and performed evidence.

As this ground plan demonstrates, the Resurrectory is made up of three spaces:

Collections

The collections are filled with specimens and antiquated objects. A coroner seated at a high table occupies this space and catalogues small books and pieces of evidence contained in several large crates. Nearby, beneath a three-foot pile of ash, the faint voices of witnesses are heard delivering their sworn statements.

Operating Theater

This space is evocative of a 19th century anatomical operating theatre. Facing the visitor is a lecture podium and a dissection table supporting a pale white cadaver. An anatomist seated near the corpse sings a cryptic lecture with the aid of a small ensemble of live musicians that can only be heard by wearing one of several sets of headphones available in the space. A surreal and visually stunning dissection of the cadaver’s flesh is performed with the aid of video and light.

Inquest

The inquest is a series of three small stages attended by performers and video images that work in concert with one another to re-enact the scenes of 108 murders committed by resurrectionists and criminals. As the scenes repeat in patterns across the three stages, their actions become a deconstructed dance of sharp and articulate physical actions.

Project collaborators:

The resurrectory is funded with support from the Flintridge Foundation, the Portland Art Center and Liminal’s individual donors.

Are ye not very ripe for the sermon of death?

The Resurrectory is a performance facility that investigates the nature of death and decomposition, and that conducts research about the illegal trafficking and sale of cadavers in Portland, Oregon, and Edinburgh, Scotland. When in operation, Resurrectory staff re-commit murders on a regular basis in order to learn more about the victims, their assailants and the medical schools that purchase the cadavers. During each performance, research about the crimes and their historic locations is presented by physical actors, recorded by research staff, interpreted for visitors by the Resurrectory docent and entered into public record. Simultaneously, a Resurrectory anatomist and four musicians present a musical lecture on the process of death and decomposition for students and visitors in the operating theater.

Visitors have described the Resurrectory as clinical yet grotesque, minimal yet gaudy, grave yet roguish. Is the Resurrectory a court? a hospital? a museum? No two visitors see it in quite the same light.

The Resurrectory was most recently available for viewing at the Portland Art Center from May 4–June 18, 2005.

For more information, contact us via e-mail or phone at 503 890 2993.

©2008 Liminal Performance Group / P.O. Box 40353, Portland, Oregon 97240-0353 / Founded in 1997 / info [at] liminalgroup [dot] org / Join our mailing list.