<p><strong>how do we institute spaces, and how do we make space in institutions?</strong><br />
collective notes from the lab, dec 2008, paf</p>
<p>what is the tone we find and how do we relate to it?<br />
how are we affecting eachother?<br />
what are we offering/proposing to eachother?<br />
what is the space we are creating together (and who has what kinds of agency in it)?<br />
are we now more connected?<br />
how do we listen to each other?<br />
when are we in the group and when are we outside?<br />
is this an institutionalizing practice?<br />
if we are practicing in a non-institutionalized way, are we still able to create a constructive dialogue??<br />
is it failure to ‘give up´and no longer be ‘part of’?<br />
under what conditions do we choose to implicate ourselves and why?<br />
what is the contribution of observers?<br />
does being creative always mean being yourself?<br />
what does it mean to be yourself (or not)?<br />
what is the distribution of doing and listening?<br />
how are we (as artists) affecting evolution??<br />
how do we take care of what is present?<br />
what kind of knowledge do we gain in a non-institutionalized practice?<br />
what is a non-institutionalized practice?<br />
what stimulates you to go in (to sth)?<br />
do you relate to a group or to the individuals in the group?<br />
when is the time to intervene?<br />
do we go somewhere if we are only addressing questions?<br />
do we have to go somewhere?<br />
can you arrive at the point of non-questioning??</p>
<p><strong>our vocabulary:</strong></p>
<p>(un)knowing<br />
production<br />
translation<br />
affect<br />
response<br />
feed (back)<br />
strategy<br />
effectivity<br />
negotiation<br />
contact<br />
conflict<br />
pragmatism<br />
objectification<br />
creativity<br />
temporality<br />
accessibility<br />
awareness<br />
change<br />
relationality<br />
precariousness<br />
implication<br />
verticality<br />
identity shift<br />
community<br />
collective<br />
collaboration</p>
<p>workshop report from Annette:</p>
<p><strong>The institution of space and bodies</strong><br />
<span class="caps">PAF</span> 1 – 5 December 2008.</p>
<p>As a student of the master Theatre Studies for the University Utrecht I got the chance to attend a five days workshop at the PerformingArtsForum (PAF) in the North of France. In the isolation of a mystical old school in St. Erme, a group of people (students of <span class="caps">SNDO</span>, choreographers, dancers, students of Theatre Studies) came together to talk about the question: how do we institute spaces, and how do we make space in institutions? This in the frame of project Vocabulaboraties developed by Manuela Zechner (visual artist) and Paz Rojo (choreographer) in which vocabularies are explored. On many levels, these days were quite interesting to me. Content wise, on which I’ll elaborate later, but also practical, social and personal wise. How can a workshop be structured, how does a group evolve, what happens with a group, and with me within a group, when you are isolated from the outside world, how come this isolation becomes important so to you that you keep emphasizing it, how do I relate to the others, how can I relate to the others, what kind of background do I have and how does that effect my thinking and doing, how do I want myself to be seen by others, how can I effect the group, how does the group effect me? Apart from the content of the workshop, these and much more questions were triggered by this week, which was very useful in itself.</p>
<p>As a preparation for the workshop, I read articles, I put thoughts on paper and created a frame for my own ideal institution. But I had no idea what was expected for the workshop and what was a possible aim. But I decided just to go for it and see. So I went for it and saw. Off course, with some questions in mind of which the most important were:<br />
- how can we find the (hidden) beliefs, world views, etc of an institution behind the buildings, desks, people working of institutions?<br />
- how can things we can see and touch (building, space, people, interior, money, rules) add to or demolish the essence of an institution?<br />
- how are the institutions created related to the way we want to organize the world.</p>
<p>When on the first day everyone was asked to propose a word, I proposed awareness. This word was related to my question on how you can create institutions from a sense of need, a sense of necessity without forgetting about this necessity. I have the feeling that institutions are created from a necessity and then, in time, this necessity is forgotten, or is gone. And then there are still rules, there is still an institution, and the aim of it has not so much to with any need but the need to keep the institution alive. Words proposed by the others were creativity, relationality, temporality, production, precariousness, change, community, collective, collaboration, objectivation, translation, (un)knowing, flexibility, verticality, effectivity, identity shift, transversality. Somehow, they all seem related. By different games, seeing films, talking and thinking more words and questions popped up. Below I will discuss the most interesting things for me.</p>
<p>The space is thinking of me</p>
<p>The first day Paz opened the workshop by introducing her thoughts on institutions. She proposed that questions on space and institutions are questions on creativity and autonomy. How can you create your own space within an institution and be creative within the structure of an institution. An institution can be as big as the structure of a society or as small as a small company (or, as some proposed, as a body, but that is something I’m still undecided on; I don’t think of my body, or myself as an institution) and it is important to think of how you want to relate to it, how you want to position yourself in it, what kind of responsibility you want to take within such an institution, how you are yourself responsible for the institution, etc. For me, this was quite an essential theme, because it basically relates to life. How do you live your life within the structure you live in, you are influenced by and partly created yourself. Also, the concept of ‘the space is thinking of me’ was introduced. Spaces (and for me again, that can be broad, from the space of the world to a studio at PAF) influence you, direct you, communicate with you. When you walk through Amsterdam, the city directs you’re movement: you have to turn, you go up over a bridge, you can’t continue because a building is in the way, you have to avoid a lamp, etc. Or, for example, the studio <span class="caps">PAF</span> was white with windows behind which blue peacocks were staring at us and a door to the garden and had a piano in it. This opened possibilities; some played piano and sang, the peacocks were used as examples or for small talks, the walls invited to hang something on, the garden outside was a space to relax, etc. It can also restrict you. But it affects you.</p>
<p>Institutions and to institute</p>
<p>A lot of the times, I felt institutions were addressed as something negative. Off course, very often, institutions are associated with bureaucracy, with useless and time consuming rules, institution can function as frustrating organisms that slow you down, that de-motivate you, etc. Sometimes, this is true and everyone has their share of frustrations. But actually, this is not so interesting. What is interesting to me is why there are so many institutions. Apparently, we can not do without, we need them to organize our world, we create them ourselves. Where does this need come from? And how can you take responsibility within these institutions? In this frame I would like to share the idea of Aimar Perez on his logo: My Other Work. The idea of the logo came when he realized that a lot of his choreography work was paid by, and therefore produced by, money he earned by his other work. To give visibility to the work that is produced by artists investing in themselves he created the logo My Other Work. This logo will turn up on flyers and in budgets, to show the outside world that partly, artists are producing themselves. Any artist who uses his / her other work to create his/ her own work can use the logo. For me, this is an example of position yourself within the structure of institutions and taking responsibility for it. Somehow I think this is something what was meant by the distinction between institution and to institute. An institution as an abstract stable organization with (unwritten) rules and a personal action to get something going. Although to me this distinction is somewhat simplifying the world (in which it is all connected, fluid and influencing each other) it makes concrete what kind of responsibility you as a person can take. You can always institute something, get something going, creating something.</p>
<p>Body Mind Centre</p>
<p>On a bit more personal level, the workshop with the Body Mind Centre exercise was confronting as well as interesting. After three days of talking, most people felt a lot like moving. So on the fourth day, the morning was spent on a Body Mind Centre exercise. And I just couldn’t do it. I laid on the ground, moving my body and listening to the words of Carla. But I couldn’t relate to it. ‘Feel the earth beneath you, feel the space between the atoms in the body’. I didn’t feel a thing, besides an enormous sense of self-awareness and uncomfortability. I looked around and saw everyone crawling over the ground with their eyes closed. I stopped. I looked up and saw that Maya (also a student Theatre Studies) stopped as well. I sat in the room, feeling like I was taking space. I went to sit in the window and start writing a bit, with the company of the peacocks. I felt a great distinction between the history and education of the people moving and me and Maya. In this case, my incapability to relate to the words used blocked my physicality and I couldn’t get over it. I couldn’t relate to the people around me moving, I couldn’t relate to the space. I couldn’t get over my self-awareness. My background is not one of moving, not one of using my physicality in that way and I needed more to feel safe enough to use my body in this context. Differences; different institutions we are brought up in, different relation to the body, different needs. Maya and me went out and played pingpong.</p>
<p>I reduced the days to three pages of text. I didn’t discuss the great morning I had with a smaller group of people (Manuela, Xavier, Maya and Roger) in which we discussed the field of potential of Gilbert Simondon, the strategy of thinking, the way conflicts and confrontation can be used, the way to response. I didn’t mention my nice short walks with Yasmina, the good food, the interesting movies, the theory of in – and outgroups, the games, the desires of everyone. There was a lot. I don’t think we succeeded in finding a common vocabulary, in trying to get our desires together, in trying to find answers for our questions instead of just keeping proposing questions and words. There was a lot of freedom but sometimes this freedom resulted in a continuation of abstract questions and random needs. This was fantastic but at some point I would have wished to get it together a bit more, to get it a bit more concrete. Nonetheless, it was a great experience in which I’m glad I could partake and which has inspired me a lot. So, Manuela, Paz, Carla, Gabriel and all the others; thanks!</p>
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<p>see also:<br />
vocabulaboratories.wordpress.com</p>
2008-12-09T20:53:04Z
46
true
space
2009-02-05T14:36:33Z
28