Skip to main content

Seven Spiritual Lives of Linda M. Montano

Linda Mary Montano

1996 00:13:40 United StatesEnglishColorStereo4:3Video
Tags:
Autobiography, Performance, Religion/Spirituality

Description

This tape addresses spiritual closure. Video gave me a chance to examine, see, and celebrate the seven spiritual venues, paths, and journeys that I have made: 1) Catholic life, 2) nun's life, 3) yoga life, 4) Buddhist life, 5) feminist life, 6) natural life, 7) life. Publicly, I am admitting that I am a spiritual materialist—been there, done that—but I am also saying that all of my spiritual experiences have worked together to prepare me for even deeper journeys combining all of the sacred technologies I have learned so that I can re-invent my own way. Using a fairytale format lightens the task of looking at my past. —Linda Montano

About Linda Montano

Originally trained as a sculptor, Linda Montano began using video in the 1970s. Attempting to obliterate the distinction between art and life, Montano's artwork is starkly autobiographical and often concerned with personal and spiritual discipline. She spent two years in a convent and studied Yoga and Zen. In 1983, Montano and artist Tehching Hsieh were literally tied together for one year in a living performance. Her avowed interest lies in "learning how to live better through life-like artworks," with personal growth evolving out of shared experience, role adoption, and ritual. Exploring a wide range of subjects, from personal transformation and altered consciousness (Primal Scenes, 1980) to hypnosis and eating disorders (Anorexia Nervosa, 1980), Montano's work from the '70s and early '80s was critical in the development of video by, for, and about women. Her early work includes Mitchell's Death (1978), Handcuff with Tom Marioni (1975), and Characters Learning to Talk (1976-78).

Also see:
Linda M. Montano 1984: An Interview

Linda M. Montano 2016: An Interview

Linda M. Montano's Seven Years of Living Art

Linda M Montano: 14 Years of Living Art