How can we embody actor-network theory?
In this week’s session we started with meditating to a written piece on authentic movement. The piece asked questions such as: how can we become active movers and simultaneously active listeners? How do we bridge the external witness with the internal? Do they have to contradict each other?
We later continued to give each other “body work” for about fifteen minutes each. In pairs, we alternated between putting pressure on the body and gently shaking it. This form of body work is an easier form of massage as it requires little prior knowledge and is not very body sensitive. Instead it is a practice that wakes the body up allowing the receiver to become aware of tensions. Gentle shakes also supposedly opens up the body for its natural energy flows, disrupting tense pockets of air.
We ended up discussing the differences between touching a person with positive intentions versus not and looking at massage or body work as a direct exchange of energy. How is it that the body is perceptive towards “genuine” touch vs “non -genuine?” We also expressed a lot of gratitude towards our partner who gave us their energy. How is it that our bodies respond so well to trusted touch? And why is it so hard to come by in everyday life or outside sexual relationships?
The main section of this week’s lab involved free movement with yarn. As props we had brought a large yarn ball and opened up the floor by asking: what does it mean to create connection through materia? The yarn ball proved to be a great catalyst for movement and improvisation. At times individuals picked it up and connected the objects that were in the room with the moving bodies. The rolling nature of the ball also allowed for play in-between people. The act of collectively threading ourselves with the yarn further enhanced a collective feeling.
During the discussion, we spoke a lot about the freedom that comes with restraints. From being enwrapped we found unknown areas of freedoms of expressions. Many enjoyed being enwrapped by the yarn; to feel its physical pressure and feel the heat that it evoked. The yarn and the entanglement further increased closer to the core of our space and we tended to gravitate to a smaller area than normal because of the threading. We concluded that the yarn and to “thread” was a good symbol for ANT or the symbolisation of society as a “network.” However, the practice made us more relate to the joy of restraints rather than how the yarn connected us to furniture or our surrounding materia.
As a concluding exercise we built on one of the participant’s comments who expressed how the feeling pressure and resistance allowed for direction. To materialise this we moved together as a physically connected mass. We summarised the exercise with the metaphor of a lung which responded to pressure by changing direction.
CO-LAB: URBAN TACTICS & PERFORMANCE 