The Emergence of New-ism: Ritual in Flux

From the performance  'Play Time' at FreshWind Biennale Iceland, 2017

The Emergence of New-ism: Ritual in Flux

Introduction: A Practice Beyond the 'Ism'

Art has long been shaped by movements that define creative expression in response to societal, political, and technological changes. But New-ism is not an 'ism' in the traditional sense—there are no fixed rules, no stylistic formulas, and no manifestos set in stone. Instead, New-ism is about practice—a continuous engagement with ritual, process, and transformation. Art is not something to be completed; it is something to be lived.

Artists working in the spirit of New-ism do not approach art as a product but as a repetitive, evolving act. Whether through repetitive mark-making, cutting and reconstructing images, stamping, or layering materials, the focus is not on creating fixed objects but on embracing flux, endurance, and interaction. The emphasis is on presence, process, and transformation over time.

Art as Ritual: The Sacred and the Mutable

Within New-ism, the act of creation becomes a form of ritual. Meaning is not generated from a single moment of completion but through persistent engagement with materials, gestures, and space. Materials are not passive carriers; they are active participants in an ongoing process of change.

A key example of this approach is a durational performance where a space becomes a site of ongoing interaction. In one instance, a cabin was left open for three days and nights, inviting visitors to enter, engage in conversation, and use rubber stamps to imprint words and symbols onto the space. Each visitor left a mark, contributing to the transformation of the environment. The space became a record of participation, a site of exchange where meaning emerged not from the artist’s singular vision but through collective ritual and interaction.

Similarly, artists exploring New-ism often work with materials that are inherently fragile, shifting, and time-sensitive—ink that fades, paper that yellows, ice that melts—to reflect the impermanence of both art and identity. Some deconstruct and reconstruct their own past works, cutting apart collages, paintings, and prints to reassemble them into new configurations, emphasizing cycles of destruction and renewal.

The Liminal Space of Creation

A key principle of New-ism is its focus on the liminal state—the threshold between intention and accident, destruction and reconstruction, presence and absence. The artist becomes a conduit, engaging in an act of surrender where control is relinquished to the ritual itself.

Artists working within New-ism may enact daily rituals of assembling and disassembling, repeat gestures that blur the line between futility and devotion, or embrace the tension of in-between spaces—between cultures, between physical and digital, between personal and collective histories. These works are never static; they are always shifting, dissolving, or regenerating. Unlike past 'isms' that sought to define art as a movement or style, New-ism is an ongoing practice of becoming.

Materials as Memory and Time

New-ism redefines the relationship between material and meaning. Unlike material-based movements such as Abstract Expressionism or Minimalism, this approach does not focus on aesthetic purity or reduction. Instead, it embraces materials as vessels of time and memory. Paper that discolors, ink that fades, or fabric that frays serve as reminders of the passage of time and the act of witnessing change.

Text is also a central practice within New-ism, often appearing in repeated phrases, fragmented writings, or barely visible imprints on surfaces. These textual elements mirror the fading traces of memory, reinforcing the idea that language—like ritual—is both fleeting and eternal.

The Role of the Viewer: Participation as Invocation

In New-ism, the viewer is no longer a passive observer but an essential participant in the ritual. The presence of the audience activates the work, much like a witness in a sacred ceremony. This movement encourages interaction, where viewers may touch, move, or even contribute to the ongoing ritual of creation. Sound, movement, and even breath become part of the work, dissolving boundaries between artist and audience.

In some cases, the viewer might be invited to repeat a simple act—tying knots, placing stones, stamping words onto a surface, whispering phrases—transforming the experience into a communal ritual rather than an isolated artistic event. By engaging in these rituals, both artist and viewer acknowledge the fragility of permanence and the necessity of repetition in constructing meaning.

New-ism in the Contemporary Context

At a time when automation, artificial intelligence, and digital hyper-productivity dominate, New-ism insists on slowness, tactility, and presence. It rejects art as instant spectacle and instead calls for engagement with process over product, experience over display. This movement speaks to those who feel disoriented in an era of rapid change, offering an anchor in the rhythmic, cyclical nature of rituals.

By redefining art as an evolving act rather than a static object, New-ism challenges traditional structures of galleries, museums, and commodification. It embraces fluidity, urging us to see art not as something to be owned but as something to be lived.

Conclusion: The Future of Ritual in Art

New-ism is not simply a movement; it is a state of being, an acknowledgment that art and life are inseparable through ritual. It is an ongoing process, an unfinished manuscript of gestures and meanings yet to be fully understood. As we move forward, this practice will continue to evolve, shaped by artists, audiences, and the moments in between. It is not an art movement in the traditional sense—it is an unfolding process, an open-ended rhythm of change.

Rather than prescribing a fixed method, New-ism invites artists to engage with process, imperfection, repetition, and interaction as tools for meaning-making. It is a practice that honors cycles of making and unmaking, that values experience over outcome, and that sees art as something always in the making.

This is our new ritual. This is New-ism.

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