¬ Lauryn Youden
It is believed that to be a witch also means to be cursed. This curse unveils itself typically through chronic illness. And the best of healers are those who have gained their knowledge through lived experience. Dead Paper is a performative reading and ritual by Lauryn Youden that includes the practice of letter burning, writing with invisible ink, and the sharing of Crip* knowledge and histories through oral tradition. She invites the audience to think about and formulate their own ambiguities and desires followed by a fire ritual which will momentarily make these letters visible to then be devoured by the flames. A moment of healing enhanced by the easing powers of a magical and medicinal herb, mugwort, this temporary setting may set free psychic powers and induce lucid dreaming and astral projection.
The three reading sessions will take place at 7 PM, 8 PM and 9 PM, following with the ritual at sunset.
Registration for the reading is required: pssst@gossipgossipgossip.org
Dead Paper
Reading, 2022
Lauryn Youden is a Canadian poet, performance and installation artist based in Berlin. Her practice derives from her research and navigation through the medical industrial complex / colonial medicine, ‘alternative’ healing practices and traditional medicine for the treatment of her chronic illnesses and disabilities. By publicly presenting her personal experiences and reevaluations of history, her work illuminates and advocates for repressed, marginalized and forgotten forms of radical care and Crip knowledge.
Youden was awarded the Berlin Art Prize (2016) and is founder and co-director of Ashley Berlin, and an organizing member of Sickness Affinity Group (SAG).Y