John Feodorov: I'm real interested in using, like, kitsch objects
and trying to create spiritual-like altars.
This sort of weird disneyfication of nature that happens in western society,
you know, whereas in native mythologies, animals are extremely powerful totem symbols,
demanding, you know, fear and respect.
So those contradictions are real important in my work.
You know, in kind of trying to blend them into sort of a hybrid mythology.
"Forest at night" is made up of 12 trees. Each tree has 12 arms on each side.
And 12 is something that's important in both Christian and Navajo mythology.
And then, in a little plate in front of each tree stump is some sawdust,
sort of like ashes of someone who's been cremated.
I'm more interested in the ambiguity. I think the ambiguity is where,
you know, the spiritual lies.
That's how Navajos sing "Old Macdonald."
Woman: yes, I'm riding my donkey up the hill.
[ singing in Navajo ]
That's how he bumps up and down.
Woman: Sing with grandma. [ singing in Navajo ]
Feodorov: I have this background of a traditional Navajo
and this sort of outsider Christian background of Jehovah's Witnesses,
which are completely opposed to each other.
And I'm, like, in the middle, trying to kind of, you know, make sense out of it.
Grandma: This is grandpa again with his horses.
And grandma with her horse and hillary ready to go somewhere, to a powwow.
Feodorov: my grandmother was a hand trembler.
And people would go to her, and her hand would begin to tremble and she would,
like, answer questions for them.
And hand tremblers sort of, are oracles.
Grandma: here's grandma and grandpa again.
And then -- oh, here you are. You're walking with Grandpa.
Feodorov: I spent just about every summer with my grandparents on the reservation
until probably, like, 15.
Grandmother: Grandpa always looks so serious, but he's very comical.
Feodorov: well, my grandfather used to be a yei be chei dancer,
which is one of the ritualistic dances, where they put on the mask,
and they become the gods.
You know, when they start dancing, the spirit enters into them.
The bear is a very, very powerful totem symbol for Native American cultures.
Behind these masks are cuddly, cute little faces.
It's turning these teddy bears into powerful totem symbols,
sort of giving them back their power.
But also they would be products that consumers could buy.
So at the same time, we'd be stripping them of their power.
They're just sort of examples of the issue of commodifying spirituality.
People think that, you know, many times when they buy –
or at least the advertising wants people to believe that
buying something will change their lives or have an effect on their lives.
Well, this is something that is just outright telling you that.
I made a little handbook that would accompany your purchase.
"Congratulations, you have just purchased the most important product of your life.
If your life is not going the way you wish it would,
chances are you have somehow offended your totem teddy.
If this is the case, use the handy spinning oracle to determine
what you must do to appease your offended totem teddy."
And it always goes to "Try again."
"Warning -- the consumer must use extreme caution
when performing any of the following dances and chants."
You know, like Christians, you know, "Please, God, forgive me for this,"
or, you know, "Please, God, let me have..."
You know, there's none of that in Navajo mythology.
You basically do the ritual and it has to go right.
If, you know, your situation has to be corrected.
If it's not, well, it's because you did the ritual wrong.
I'm not debunking spirituality, I'm not making fun of it, I am…
well, yeah, I am.
But the thing is is that it's only because I think it's necessary.
Years of spoon-bending research has shown
that employees who frequently journey to the world of the dead
come back as highly motivated employees,
exactly what you need to be on top and stay on top.
That's why we developed the Office Shaman.
But, you're probably asking yourself, where's the shaman?
That's the beauty part.
We have highly trained licensed shamans available to guide your employees
through their spirit quests.
Here's a potential motivated employee right now.
What's your name, sir?
It's Paul.
Paul, now, don't be afraid, but I kill you from the south, I kill you from the east.
Feodorov: Paul Stewart and I have been collaborating on music and,
sort of, performance art pieces for almost 20 years.
–You're passing through the world of fire, of water.
I am now going to sprinkle you with the grave dirt of your ancestors.
The animal spirits have now been pacified. And here are their messages.
Paul, stand up. Welcome back. How do you feel?
I feel fine.
Now, back to work.
Thanks, Office Shaman.
Feodorov: I'm still not really interested in making comfortable works,
like Matisse said, you know, that art should be like a comfy chair.
I think it should be provoking.
Since I knew that these were paintings that were going to be in office spaces,
I wanted to create paintings that were showing the environment that, you know,
that the workers were in.
Seeing the corporation as like a heaven.
You know, you have all these different steps of deities.
The composition is obviously modeled on, like, early medieval icons.
The CEO is seated in the throne like a Christ figure would be
in the tympanum area of a cathedral.
And the hand is shaped like a pose, you know,
that the Christ figure makes, which is a blessing pose for the hand.
Of course, you know, he's stuck a cigar in there,
which has completely defiled that tradition.
And to see the CO as, you know,
not just a guy that gets paid a big salary, but as a deity.
On very few paintings have I known what I was going to do when I started the painting.
For me it has to happen as I'm doing it, you know?
It's a battle for me, it always is. It's like this canvas is like mocking me,
saying, you know, I dare you to make something out of me.
So it's something for me that's not really an enjoyable process, it's a struggle, you know?
And I guess I like the struggle.