Repository Apparatus for Magical Thinking: Theia Mania I

Repository Apparatus for Magical Thinking: Theia Mania I

Ranelagh Arts Centre

Cecilia Bullo

With the participation of Fatoumata Gandega

Curated by Julia Moustacchi

Repository Apparatus for Magical Thinking: Theia Mania I is a peek into Cecilia Bullo’s long-standing research into Antonin Artaud’s oeuvre and life. The tumultuous journey of the 20th century French writer, poet and essayist (among other things) resonates with Bullo’s inquiry of ‘magical thinking’, a medical term used in relation to coping mechanisms in some anxiety and psychological disorders. Artaud suffered from mental illness, which caused him to be arrested in the Milltown Jesuits College, situated up the road of the Ranelagh Arts Centre at the time. 

In this exhibition, Bullo revisits an existing body of work about healing mechanisms, and proposes a new significance to it, both in relation to its geographical connection with Artaud’s journey, and as an introduction to further research on Artaud, as part of a residency in the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris in 2025.

Here, Bullo explores divine madness (theia mania in Greek), which refers to unconventional, outrageous, unexpected or unpredictable behaviour. Artaud’s concept of ‘organised anarchy’ is reinvested and translated by Bullo into ‘chaos magic apparatuses’, a philosophy of experimentation, play and creativity that discards dogmatic rules.

Looking at Artaud’s work through an ecofeminist lens, Bullo is concerned with the function of language, as a form to disrupt literal meaning. She explores this disruption through pushing the boundaries of her work, by proposing art interventions that take the shape of urban rituals, civil disobedience and punk actions, with the intent to connect. Bullo ventures into participatory and connectivity processes, with the invitation of French visual artist and writer Fatoumata Gandega to collaborate and respond to her work; and she moves the confines of the gallery, turning the exhibition space into a Rhizomatic esoteric zone, from which chaos magic and magical thinking processes can spill inside out.

Performative interventions will take place on the opening night, Friday 6 September 2024, and at the closing event, Thursday 26 September.

Repository Apparatus for Magical Thinking: Theia Mania I runs until 27 September.