Performance：care as tenderness and togetherness
Date:
3. Jun. 2023
Fee:
50 RMB/person (workshop includes exhibition tickets)
Process:
1. body practice
2. objects sharing
3. observing and writing
4. performance with objects
5. discussion
Date:
3. Jun. 2023
Fee:
50 RMB/person (workshop includes exhibition tickets)
Process:
1. body practice
2. objects sharing
3. observing and writing
4. performance with objects
5. discussion
In everyday life, objects, though existing in non-human forms, are equally imbued with vitality. The process of caring for and nurturing them carries concrete experiences, yet the tacit skills and ethical knowledge required for this care are seldom consciously considered, shared, expressed, acknowledged, or understood. I attempt to regard care as a relational approach, recognizing the indispensable role of care for objects (including animals and plants) in self-care and caring for others.
In this performance workshop, we invite participants to bring objects they have cared for deeply over the past one to two years, including items they feel need care but have neglected. These could be living organisms (plants), everyday items, a piece of personal clothing, a photograph, or even a poem or a story, and to share the reasons and feelings behind this care. We will gather and exchange these items on site, establishing random connections between them and imagining them in new, multi-layered ways. Participants will create textual and performance pieces inspired by others' objects.
Our bodies retain not only muscle memory but also understanding of experiences, including those of others. After attentively listening to others' narratives and perceiving the individual experiences and meanings carried by these objects, participants will select an object brought by someone else and reimagine it through gestures and actions, potentially creating and deconstructing new ways of viewing things. This process involves taking certain risks, as we are acutely aware of the sensitivity and vulnerability between these objects, the other people present, and the participants themselves. It requires not only focusing on the act of care itself but also paying attention to how others experience these actions, being able to perceive and balance one's own needs with those of others.
Caring for what others care about may establish a connection of mutual attention and respect between performers and other participants. We encourage an open atmosphere that fosters discussion, dialogue, and debate. Learning to focus and be patient, to listen and respond, and also to rethink our own attitudes towards difference and exclusion.
I care about you and I care what you care about.
In this performance workshop, we invite participants to bring objects they have cared for deeply over the past one to two years, including items they feel need care but have neglected. These could be living organisms (plants), everyday items, a piece of personal clothing, a photograph, or even a poem or a story, and to share the reasons and feelings behind this care. We will gather and exchange these items on site, establishing random connections between them and imagining them in new, multi-layered ways. Participants will create textual and performance pieces inspired by others' objects.
Our bodies retain not only muscle memory but also understanding of experiences, including those of others. After attentively listening to others' narratives and perceiving the individual experiences and meanings carried by these objects, participants will select an object brought by someone else and reimagine it through gestures and actions, potentially creating and deconstructing new ways of viewing things. This process involves taking certain risks, as we are acutely aware of the sensitivity and vulnerability between these objects, the other people present, and the participants themselves. It requires not only focusing on the act of care itself but also paying attention to how others experience these actions, being able to perceive and balance one's own needs with those of others.
Caring for what others care about may establish a connection of mutual attention and respect between performers and other participants. We encourage an open atmosphere that fosters discussion, dialogue, and debate. Learning to focus and be patient, to listen and respond, and also to rethink our own attitudes towards difference and exclusion.
I care about you and I care what you care about.