Metamorphosis 1978–89

Metamorphosis is Whiten’s seminal ritual performance work, an evolving project with various manifestations developed and presented over the course of a decade. Its creation coincided with the growing prominence of performance art in the 1970s. Like German artist Joseph Beuys (1921–1986), Whiten shares in the exploration of ritual and the symbolic properties of materials in his performances.

Stage I of Metamorphosis took place in 1978, during which the artist was sewn into a bearskin pelt, fur side in, over a 4-hour period in a studio in Toronto by Grant McLeod, a professional taxidermist, and his assistant. In 1980, Stage II was presented at Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver, where Whiten exhibited the tanned bearskin on a bed of crushed eggshells. That same year, Stage III was presented at Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto, with a ritual performance assisted by dancer and choreographer Terrill Maguire. Donning the bearskin pelt, Whiten once again became a living artifact. With tremendous effort, sweat, and tears, he struggled to free himself from his confines without using his hands. The performance lasted 45 minutes, accompanied by African drumming from which the artist drew his energy. For Stage IV, Whiten exhibited the pelt from Metamorphosis as a ritual artifact in a glass museum vitrine at Olga Korper Gallery in 1989.

Stage II was redisplayed at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2016 as part of the exhibition Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971–1989. There, the tanned bearskin with brass bells and cotton ties was laid on a rectangular, grey cotton pillow on top of a large circular bed of crushed eggshells organized in concentric rings. A votive candle and an incense tile were placed at each of the four cardinal points marking this ritual vessel. Ceremoniously lit during the installation, they were left to burn until the end of the performance, with the odour permeating the space.

For Whiten, this performance operates as a metaphor for spiritual rebirth and a transformation in consciousness. Being sutured within the pelt is akin to hibernation; one has to resist the desire to break free prematurely, as if nestled in a cocoon. In this state of immobility, the artist must overcome powerful feelings of claustrophobia and vulnerability and trust in those who care for him. Escaping from this vessel without using his hands parallels a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis or a baby bird hatching from its shell. The bearskin and attendant three-dimensional elements become the residue of this ritual act, evidence of the transformation. As the artist comments, “The piece is about birth and rebirth…. It’s a remnant, a memory device.”

Stage II also points to the existence of different realities and states of being, as illuminated in the Taoist story by the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou (c.369–286 BCE): “Once Chuang Chou dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Chuang Chou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Chuang Chou. But he didn’t know if he was Chuang Chou who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Chuang Chou. Between Chuang Chou and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things.”