I am interested in the phenomenon of cyber pilgrimage and online spirituality. I want to use this residency exploring these themes inspired by the book 'Doing Ritual Criticism in a Network Society: Online and Offline Explorations into Pilgrimage and Sacred Place' by Paul Post and Suzanne van der Beek.
The first place I will take you is Lourdes. Lourdes has an interesting history looking from the perspective of a cyber pilgrim.
After the nativity scene the Lourdes Grotto is the most copied sacred space. Making it so you can visit Lourdes by foot from almost everywhere.
Now you don’t even need to leave your home to visit Lourdes. You can follow the going ons 24/7, light a candle and much more. I will investigate these possibilities before moving on to my next destination.
A cyber pilgrimage like the one to Lourdes connects three places: the physical location of the pilgrim behind the screen, the online site, and the place of the pilgrim shrine in the offline world. There are also cyber pilgrimages to places that only exist online. More on that later.