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| Performance class students at UBC, Copyright 2016 |
With the
support of the British Columbia Arts Council Early Career Development Program I
am able to develop a course syllabus and independent workshops that are
framed as a collaborative space for exploration and academic research. Together
with Bergonzzoni and Soussloff we work in developing a methodology for movement
workshops that integrate theories of embodiment with pedagogies for
contemporary performance art practices, awareness and perception. Inside and
outside the context of the Academic Institution.
We attempt
to navigate the relationship/gap between theoretical and actual embodiment: the
labs-workshops invert the paradigm of academic/artistic research as
a process that often follows the order of reading, studying, thinking, and
embodiment is a posterior result. This exploration is stemmed in a shared
passion for theories of phenomenology, pedagogy, and performance.
Latin
American artists and theorists such as Brazilian artist Lygia Clark, Uruguayan
artist and writer Luis Camnitzer, and Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo
Freire have inspired this interest in the relationship between art and
pedagogy. But our most significant influence has been rooted in phenomenology,
specifically Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s notions of perception and
inter-subjectivity.
We
consider this space to be of great value to students, educators, artists,
cultural and spiritual practitioners, to team leaders, and social activists. We
believe that a practice of embodiment as we understand it enhances personal and
social awareness fostering self-reflection and empathy.
Over the
past year we have brought the workshop to the context of academic studies. We
have had fantastic experiences teaching at local universities such as Emily
Carr, UBC, and at local Symposiums and Conferences. And in Buenos Aires, Argentina at UMSA, Universidad de Museo Social Argentino.
We are
eager to share this investigation and looking forward to extending our networks
and spirit of collaboration.
