Conjuring Strange and Ancient Larvae: Barry William Hale and the Negotiations of Occult Performance

Abstract

Barry William Hale is an Australian artist and occultist whose art and performance has ­effectively crossed boundaries between occult-friendly spaces and traditional arts venues. What I will be exploring in this essay is the interplay between the artist’s own conception of his work and the other conditions of performance that inform its reception and interpretation. While Hale’s work sits within a long tradition of occult performance art that seeks to both ­produce a ­transformative effect and introduce symbols and concepts to a wider, non-­practitioner ­audience, I argue that the venues in which these works are performed provide their own ­interpretive ­frameworks that inform the audience, creating a layer of safety and social acceptance for ­spiritual practices/traditions that would otherwise be considered heretical or taboo.