My visit to the Transformance Center in New York. By Glenn Belverio

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The Guru is IN. Sameer Reddy aka Samir at his Transformance Center

Dear Shaded Viewers,

When my friend Sameer invited me to his "Transformance Center" for a healing session, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first, if not also open-minded. After all, I happen to believe that Chinese dragons, through my feng-shui-ed invitation, fly through my apartment, out my bedroom window and through the wide-open space between my street and east 4th street, before they make their way over to the East River and down to the sea on a regular basis. So why shouldn't I believe some crystals could heal me of a few of the things that I stoicly try not to kvetch about?

When Sameer is conducting a personal appointment at the Center–which includes a series of questions, the choice of a Tarot card or I Ching reading, and a healing session–he's not exactly himself, but a character named "Samir." This is one of the ways that he's merged mystical practices with his admiration of performance art and other contemporary art forms.

He explains it thusly:

"The basic idea for the Center is to create a simulacrum of a 'real'
metaphysical healing center (by nature, a metaphysical healing center
problematizes our concept of the 'real'). the space is physically
designed around strict feng shui bagua principles, which have been
adapted to incorporate art historical references – there's a recreation
of a Felix Gonzalez-Torres piece,
as well as artwork incorporated from the artists who i consider to be
the spiritual influences behind my practice, and this project in
particular (jenny holzer, felix gonzalez-torres, cindy sherman, AA
bronson, marina ambramovic, barbara kruger). 

I was affected by their
respective engagements with the themes of social justice, the mutability
of identity and the role of performance in catalyzing a deeply personal
effect on the audience.  The Artforum issue in the South corner of the
room has Dara Birnbaum's seminal Technology Transformation: Wonder Woman
on the cover

Glenn Belverio

Glenn Belverio is a writer and New Yorker. He has been reporting for ASVOF since 2005 and currently works at The Museum of Modern Art as the Content Manager for MoMA Design Store.

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