Art Galleries at Black Studies is delighted to present Great Was the Ecstasy II, an immersive performance by Christopher Paul.
This performance is presented in association with our spring exhibition, Transcendence: A Century of Black Queer Ecstasy, 1924–2024. Paul will perform alongside their Idea Lab installation, Great Was The Ecstasy.
This event is free with registration and open to the public.
Reception to follow.
Great Was the Ecstasy is inspired by the electrifying moments of divine clarity experienced by Black female mystics and orators Rebecca Cox Jackson, Alice Coltrane, and Jarena Lee. This work delves into the first encounter with the ecstatic rapture of otherworldly transcendence. Paul transforms Jarena Lee’s words into a mantra-like devotional, layered over an ethereal soundscape combined with samples from Alice Coltrane and Korean Buddhist sonic compositions. This audiovisual experience centers around a Gullah Geechee-inspired basket, intricately sculpted from copper speaker wire, which generates its own unique soundscape. Paul actively manipulates this sound, shaping the score that emanates in the space. Low-frequency vibrations pulse through the silence, transforming the auditory experience into something deeply felt, beyond sound alone. Through this immersive performance, Paul invites the audience into a joint meditative state, guiding them toward their own moment of transcendence.
Space is limited. Registration is required.
Access note: This performance will run approximately 60 minutes. We ask that attendees sit on the provided seating for the duration of the performance. This seating will mainly consist of meditation cushions on the floor. Attendees who require a) a chair with a back, or b) space for a wheelchair or assistive device, please note this on the registration form below and we will provide appropriate accommodation.
REGISTER
About the Artist
Christopher Paul (b. 1996, Bulverde, TX) is a multidisciplinary performance artist of mixed Gullah Geechee and Korean heritage. Through performance, installation art, collage, sculpture and sound they explore themes of rapture, radical ecstasy, transfiguration, and dissolution. Rooted in Afro-Buddhist ontologies, Black speculative theory, and queer world-making, Paul’s work investigates how ecstatic states and practices of inhibition loss can transmigrate the mind and soul into unknowable realms—dissolving fixed notions of time, self, and nonhuman existence.Paul frequently creates immersive installations that function as both performance spaces and sensory experiences. By weaving copper speaker wire with traditional sweetgrass basket weaving techniques, they merge ancestral craft with contemporary materials, transforming sound into a sculptural medium. Through these sound sculptures, Paul designs immersive audiovisual environments that bridge Korean Buddhist sonic traditions with queer language, blending material culture with sensory exploration. Paul studied Studio Art at the University of Houston and Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins, London, cultivating a multidisciplinary approach that informs their practice. Their work has been exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans (CAC NOLA), and the Blaffer Art Museum.