John Feodorov: I'm real interested
in using, like, kitsch objects
and trying to create spiritual-like altars.
This sort of weird disneyfication of
nature that happens in western society,
you know, whereas in native mythologies,
animals are extremely powerful totem symbols,
demanding, you know, fear and respect.
So those contradictions are
real important in my work.
You know, in kind of trying to blend
them into sort of a hybrid mythology.
"Forest at night" is made up of 12 trees.
Each tree has 12 arms on each side.
And 12 is something that's important
in both Christian and Navajo mythology.
And then, in a little plate in front
of each tree stump is some sawdust,
sort of like ashes of someone who's been cremated.
I'm more interested in the ambiguity.
I think the ambiguity is where,
you know, the spiritual lies.
That's how Navajos sing "Old Macdonald."
Woman: yes, I'm riding my donkey up the hill.
[ singing in Navajo ]
That's how he bumps up and down.
Woman: Sing with grandma.
[ singing in Navajo ]
Feodorov: I have this background
of a traditional Navajo
and this sort of outsider Christian
background of Jehovah's Witnesses,
which are completely opposed to each other.
And I'm, like, in the middle, trying to
kind of, you know, make sense out of it.
Grandma: This is grandpa again with his horses.
And grandma with her horse and hillary
ready to go somewhere, to a powwow.
Feodorov: my grandmother was a hand trembler.
And people would go to her, and her hand
would begin to tremble and she would,
like, answer questions for them.
And hand tremblers sort of, are oracles.
Grandma: here's grandma and grandpa again.
And then -- oh, here you are.
You're walking with Grandpa.
Feodorov: I spent just about every summer
with my grandparents on the reservation
until probably, like, 15.
Grandmother: Grandpa always looks
so serious, but he's very comical.
Feodorov: well, my grandfather
used to be a yei be chei dancer,
which is one of the ritualistic
dances, where they put on the mask,
and they become the gods.
You know, when they start dancing,
the spirit enters into them.
The bear is a very, very powerful totem
symbol for Native American cultures.
Behind these masks are cuddly, cute little faces.
It's turning these teddy bears
into powerful totem symbols,
sort of giving them back their power.
But also they would be products
that consumers could buy.
So at the same time, we'd be
stripping them of their power.
They're just sort of examples of the
issue of commodifying spirituality.
People think that, you know,
many times when they buy –
or at least the advertising
wants people to believe that
buying something will change their
lives or have an effect on their lives.
Well, this is something that is
just outright telling you that.
I made a little handbook that
would accompany your purchase.
"Congratulations, you have just purchased
the most important product of your life.
If your life is not going
the way you wish it would,
chances are you have somehow
offended your totem teddy.
If this is the case, use the
handy spinning oracle to determine
what you must do to appease
your offended totem teddy."
And it always goes to "Try again."
"Warning -- the consumer must use extreme caution
when performing any of the
following dances and chants."
You know, like Christians, you know,
"Please, God, forgive me for this,"
or, you know, "Please, God, let me have..."
You know, there's none of
that in Navajo mythology.
You basically do the ritual
and it has to go right.
If, you know, your situation has to be corrected.
If it's not, well, it's because
you did the ritual wrong.
I'm not debunking spirituality,
I'm not making fun of it, I am…
well, yeah, I am.
But the thing is is that it's only
because I think it's necessary.
Years of spoon-bending research has shown
that employees who frequently
journey to the world of the dead
come back as highly motivated employees,
exactly what you need to
be on top and stay on top.
That's why we developed the Office Shaman.
But, you're probably asking
yourself, where's the shaman?
That's the beauty part.
We have highly trained licensed shamans
available to guide your employees
through their spirit quests.
Here's a potential motivated employee right now.
What's your name, sir?
It's Paul.
Paul, now, don't be afraid, but I kill you
from the south, I kill you from the east.
Feodorov: Paul Stewart and I have
been collaborating on music and,
sort of, performance art
pieces for almost 20 years.
–You're passing through the
world of fire, of water.
I am now going to sprinkle you with
the grave dirt of your ancestors.
The animal spirits have now been
pacified. And here are their messages.
Paul, stand up. Welcome back. How do you feel?
I feel fine.
Now, back to work.
Thanks, Office Shaman.
Feodorov: I'm still not really
interested in making comfortable works,
like Matisse said, you know, that
art should be like a comfy chair.
I think it should be provoking.
Since I knew that these were paintings
that were going to be in office spaces,
I wanted to create paintings that were
showing the environment that, you know,
that the workers were in.
Seeing the corporation as like a heaven.
You know, you have all these
different steps of deities.
The composition is obviously modeled
on, like, early medieval icons.
The CEO is seated in the throne
like a Christ figure would be
in the tympanum area of a cathedral.
And the hand is shaped like a pose, you know,
that the Christ figure makes, which
is a blessing pose for the hand.
Of course, you know, he's stuck a cigar in there,
which has completely defiled that tradition.
And to see the CO as, you know,
not just a guy that gets paid
a big salary, but as a deity.
On very few paintings have I known what I
was going to do when I started the painting.
For me it has to happen as I'm doing it, you know?
It's a battle for me, it always is. It's
like this canvas is like mocking me,
saying, you know, I dare you
to make something out of me.
So it's something for me that's not really an
enjoyable process, it's a struggle, you know?
And I guess I like the struggle.