Mira Bernabeu, Dismounted Stage I (detail), 1994, h100 x w 600 cms, 6 colour photographic prints on MDF, unique
Sokushinbutsu vi@teleobjetivo
For 1,000 days (a little less than three years) the priests would eat a special diet consisting only of nuts and seeds, while taking part in a regimen of rigorous physical activity that stripped them of their body fat. They then ate only bark and roots for another thousand days and began drinking a poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree, normally used to lacquer bowls.
This caused vomiting and a rapid loss of bodily fluids, and most importantly, it made the body too poisonous to be eaten by maggots. Finally, a self-mummifying monk would lock himself in a stone tomb barely larger than his body, where he would not move from the lotus position. His only connection to the outside world was an air tube and a bell. Each day he rang a bell to let those outside know that he was still alive.
When the bell stopped ringing, the tube was removed and the tomb sealed. After the tomb was sealed, the other monks in the temple would wait another 1,000 days, and open the tomb to see if the mummification was successful.
If the monk had been successfully mummified, they were immediately seen as a Buddha and put in the temple for viewing. Usually, though, there was just a decomposed body. Although they weren’t viewed as a true Buddha if they weren’t mummified, they were still admired and revered for their dedication and spirit
vi@Wikipedia
Hans Bellmer ‘Les jeux de la poupee’ Color etching/aquatint, 1949 signed & numbered 2/15 and dedicated ‘a Marcel Zerbib’ in pencil in the lower margin
First picture of dark matter vi@SubaruTelescope
“The nature of dark matter is still unknown and is currently a central problem in modern astronomy and physics. Dark matter is dark in a couple of ways. It is undetectable to visible light and has escaped detection at all electromagnetic wavelengths. Because it is invisible, its existence has to be inferred from its gravitational effect on other celestial objects as well as from theoretical models. Indirect evidence has established its relative abundance in our universe-probably five times greater than visible matter-in addition to its significance for understanding galaxy formation. For example, a considerable amount of dark matter probably sustains the structure of galaxies, because the gravitational force of visible matter cannot bind its member stars. The scientific challenge is how to study the nature of dark matter. Astronomers seek ways to use their observations to solve this puzzle.”
(Douglas Hofstadter 1979)
