How To Perform A Miracle
How To Perform A Miracle (2025) is a performance that explores the relation between religion and reason. The work was filmed in 2025, somewhere in the Levant. The Eastern Mediterranean region where both Christianity and Judaism originated. In the performance, Boccanegra restages the biblical miracle of the Burning Bush by setting a bush aflame in a seemingly inexplicable way.
By withholding the method, and paired with its suggestive title, the work prompts viewers to speculate about how this miracle could have occurred. Contrasting sharply with the unquestioning acceptance of ancient times, when natural phenomena framed as miracles were rarely questioned and quickly enshrined as divine truth.
The work examines how religious believers often apply reason selectively, particularly when it serves political interests, a dynamic that makes faith a powerful tool for authoritarian regimes seeking to legitimize their authority.
“I have always been fascinated by how religious people find ways around reason to make space for miracle stories, even though many of these so-called biblical miracles can be explained. In this work, I combined plausible scientific theories to recreate the conditions under which such a ‘miracle’ might occur. I don’t reveal exactly how, in order to trigger the viewer’s own reasoning, though there are clues in the video. What’s striking is that no one assumes it to be a genuine miracle, even though a bush suddenly bursting into flames is far from an everyday event. Our way of thinking has shifted. And yet, many devout believers still cling to ancient miracle stories and texts, suspending reason precisely where faith is concerned. Add politics to that equation, and you have a dangerous mix. One that authoritarian figures have always been quick to exploit as a vessel for legitimizing power. Finally, I want to add that the bush was not destroyed, it survived. Just like in the original miracle… “