Parked at the intersection of imagination, evangelism, and propaganda, the Mantra Trailer is a traveling meditation space, recording studio, and vehicle for the mysterious broadcast of the peoples’ spiritual and personal mantras. Rooted in southern, American, bible-belt culture and the “new age,” the Mantra Trailer provides an indigenous interface for the human voice within the context of globalization.
Walter Brueggemann, a contemporary Christian theologian describes evangelism— witnessing— as “an activity of transformed consciousness that results in an altered perception of world, neighbor and self, and an authorization to live differently in that world.” This is my working definition for citizen-centered engagement and community-based art.
Like a traveling medicine man peddling a homeopathic remedy for the mass media slogans of the day, the Mantra Trailer focuses attention on the personal and spiritual mantras people live by, one neighborhood and one voice at a time.
- Sherri Lynn Wood