I am a qualified Mesmerist and have used mesmerism both clinically and within my art practice for several years. In my performance work I tend towards using it when there is an historical or a geographical link to the venue.
VORTEX
This was performed in October 2017 in the car park beneath Cavendish Square. My aim was to emulate the clinic of Baron Dupotet of Sennevoy who may have brought mesmerism to England and practised in Cavendish Square in the 1840s:
Site Specific Performance of MESMERISM (Animal Magnetism)
In honour of BARON DUPOTET DE SENNEVOY, I will be giving demonstrations of MESMERISM in CAVENDISH SQUARE car park from Eleven to One o’clock and half-past One to Three o’clock on Saturday and Sunday.
If you would like to participate, I will instruct you to sit in the chair, look into my eyes and I will then mesmerise you. At the end of the experience, I will count from ten to one and when I reach one, your eyes will open. We will then discuss your experience.
Melissa Alley Tecklenberg
This wording accompanied my performance, Vortex, in October 2017. The text on the left is a copy of the flyer the Baron used to promote his clinic in Cavendish Square in the 1840s.
Mesmerism: Creative Flow for the exhibition, How Soon is Now, 2024. For this performance, I mesmerised people to help them push through any block and make pastel drawings freely, from flow. Each one of these pieces was very intuitively created and rich in detail.
Sleeping Boy of Deptford, 2014
For the exhibition, Deptford Stories, I performed mesmerism in honour of The Sleeping Boy of Deptford. On the wall I had the following wording which was an original article from The Public Ledger, April 5th 1844, Newfoundland, Canada:
The Sleeping Boy of Deptford
“On Friday week, as James Cooke, an errand boy in the employ of Messrs. Smith and Sons, hat manufacturers, Deptford-bridge, was sitting with his young master in the warehouse the latter (who has recently attended several lectures on mesmerism,) said, “Jem, I’ll mesmerize you; look me in the face.” The boy, not fearing anything, complied, and his master having made the requisite passes for about three minutes, because alarmed at seeing his head drop and his eyes close. He was now in a state of mesmeric coma, and Smith being greatly alarmed sent for Mr Taylor, a gentlemen who has been lecturing on mesmerism at the Greenwich Literary Institution. That gentleman immediately attended, and after trying his utmost skill for some hours succeeded in opening the lad’s eyes.
He was visited by numerous medical men; amongst the number were Mr. Downing, the police surgeon; Mr. Hope, of the Dreadnought Seamen’s Hospital ship; the Messrs. Hope of Deptford. A report was spread through Greenwich and Deptford that he had expired, and in consequence, Mr. Inspector Douglas, of the R division of police, with several constables proceeded to the house of Messrs. Smith, where the boy was lying in the drawing-room; but finding that he was still alive they returned, and kept a strict watch upon the case.
It is remarkable that during the influence of the coma, the boy appeared gifted with the faculty generally denominated clairvoyance. With his eyes fast closed, he was able to speak and he James Cooke) recognised persons and objects with as much facility as if they were optically visible to him. He named persons before they entered the room and pretty accurately described places that he never saw. Although he never had visited the Painted-hall at Greenwich, nor the exhibition of Madam Tussaud, in Baker-street, during the time he was mesmerized he actually described the interior of both these exhibitions; and the accuracy of his detail of them was truly surprising. He has expressed a strong desire to be mesmerised again and Mr. Smith, acting upon the advice of Dr. Elliotson will permit the lad’s wishes in this respect to be gratified. The lad is intelligent in his appearance; he is 13 years of age.’
In honour of this extraordinary case of mesmerism, I invite you to experience its effects. So sit down, take a deep breath and close your eyes.
Melissa Alley Tecklenberg
Sessions: The Park Keeper’s Room is an extract from a hypnotherapy session where the subject is in hypnosis and relives a suppressed teenage memory. The subject has given full consent for the material to be used in this video. This was a collaboration with Paul Tecklenberg for 2017 Venice Biennale.
Film of Melissa in her studio discussing her process and creating an auragraph drawing based on a guest
Drawing Out
This performance was part of Coming Good: Come Hell or High Water, June 2019
https://www.waterloofestival.com/coming-good
A little film I made introducing my work to some collegues, 2021