Saint Sebastien Basilicum de Sant Sebastiá
Potted basil plant and grass seed heads | Especulograma de Sant Sebastià , August , 2020
This living icon, figure, character, puppet, our vegetal saint arrived to us, an inspiration from the Almighty Bios.
The abandoned village Sant Sebasitià is presumably named after a martyred Roman Christian from the third century. He is renowned for surviving multiple arrow wounds. He was nursed back to health and later properly martyred – beat to death. This saint – whose arrow wounds resembled the buboes of black death came to be sought out for prevention of pestilence – a saint for these corona times.
Further, the arrows were associated with Apollo shooting plague arrows. Saint Sebastian became one of the frequently painted Christian subjects in European art. It seems like everyone does one. Egon Schiele even does a self portrait as St Sebastian. Damien Hirst’s Sebastian is a sculpture including a cow carcass. My favorite St Sebastian might be Fiona Tan’s video.
There was a basil plant we had bought in the market in Olot – when getting supplies. At some point, sitting on the second morning looking at grass. pau noted they look like arrows.
The basil plant looked like common compositions of Sebastian. Inspiration struck, an epiphany that Saint Sebastian is a plant, can be vegetal saint. Saint Sebastian manifested to us a basil plant. A living sculpture was made.