←take me back to Excavations

January 2024

Excavation 2: Bé Mặn in Hell

A zone is a zone is a zone is a zone.

How to Bé Mặn in Hell

Ingredients

  • 1l sea water
  • 1 A5 sheet of parchment paper.
  • 1 enamel oven dish

Method

Prepare the Water: Fill a bowl with water from the sea. If you do not have direct access to the sea, fill the bowl with fresh water and add a generous amount of salt.

Dig a Hole: Find a suitable place for digging a hole, ideally in a sandy area. Lower an enamel oven dish into the hole, making sure that the rim of the oven dish is level with the ground. Don’t worry if a little bit of sand gets into the oven dish.

Submerge the Paper: Place the paper onto the base of the oven dish. Slowly pour the water into the oven dish, ensuring that the paper is fully covered.

Let It Be: Leave to stand for at least 12 hours. Ideally in freezing cold weather conditions.

Extraction: Carefully remove the paper from the enamel dish and place it in a warm area to dry. 

Tips

– This method is best performed at dusk.

– Don’t forget to print the following onto your paper: ERKEMBODE, ZONE, BÉ MẶN IN HELL, ANOTHER SEASON IN HELL, EXCAVATIONS, 2024. The page should be arranged in the style of the first edition cover of A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud.

– Treat Bé Mặn in Hell as a performative ceremony.

– Don’t feel restricted by parameters. The key to a good Bé Mặn in Hell is really the salty water and intent.

What the hell has this got to do with anything? Well, I’ll explain more to confuse you in another Excavation.

DISCLAIMER

The music used in the film of this performance is the opening 2 minutes and 21 seconds of Disclaimer (Part 1) by Frozen Geese with permission from Vanity Case Records goose leader.

https://vanitycaserecords.bandcamp.com/album/disclaimer

←take me back to Excavations