8:46 visual prayer
9:32 single-channel video with sound
Voiceover: Phylicia Ghee

8:46 is a visual prayer named for the approximate amount of time the officer kneeled on George Floyd's neck ultimately killing him. Moving images that overlap are anchored by one image depicting me breathing. Other images of moments from my life both during the pandemic, and some from years prior, are layered together creating a montage of inherited and learned restorative healing practices. How do we heal? What does rest look like in this time? How do we endeavor to reclaim ancestral practices of self preservation? How can we speak life over one another? How do we reconnect with joy? This is a work of contemplation. A place to meet both the questions and the answers.

These are seeds of longevity, acts of protection, catharsis and self, family, community and cultural preservation. These overlapping moving images are overlaid by the sound of me breathing and praying for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Essentially this is 8 minutes and 46 seconds of reverence. A visual and auditory medicine for times of grief.

My hope is that by breathing for this time, this encourages the viewer to breathe as well; activating the parasympathetic nervous system and shifting the internal state of the body from one of stress to one of calm. This is also cleansing, clearing and oxygenating the cells, ultimately having a positive effecting on the heart, the brain, the digestive system and the immune system. This is reinforcing that we need to be well to show up fully in this revolution (breathing, taking care of self etc.), especially in the face of such brutality, sickness and hatred.