Wuhan Journal of Cultic Studies
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Volume 3: Issue 1, 2026
ARTICLE The “Cultic” and Secular Epic Art: Modernity’s Priests, Carol Duncan, Angelica Mesiti, and the Great White Space Christopher Hartney University of Sydney Abstract This article considers two examples of contemporary art practice, their use of ritual and the secular-cultic deployment of this ritual. To do this, it will propose an original analysis based on a “cultic” paradigm to examine the framing, placement, and impact of this art – one that delineates creative production through the genre of the epic and the conditions of secular Modernity. Two compelling examples of video/installation art by the Australian artist Angelica Mesiti (1976–) will be deployed. It will suggest that the “secular” settings of this art enable the emotive and ontological use of secular gallery space, and that this legitimises several secular-sacred ultimate concerns. The “cultic” analysis used here will be drawn from the theories and methodologies of Carol Duncan in her examination of art and the secular. It will extend her thinking to fully examine the use of the “cultic” as managed by the official systems to reinforce the state’s totalising claims to authenticity. Keywords: Atmospheres, Religion and Contemporary Art, Epic, Angelica Mesiti, Carol Duncan, the Cultic, Art Gallery of New South Wales | ||