Online Residency 2022
Artist Statement
“The dancer believes that his art has something
to say, which cannot be expressed in words
in any other way than by dancing…there are
times when the simple dignity of movement can
fulfill the function of a volume of words”
(Daris Humphrey “The Art of Making Dances”)
No surprise that an amount of research inquiries stem from personal narratives or inquisitive questions addressed to the world we explore on our own. Looking back, I embarked on a journey of research long time ago, when my parents brought me to the dance studio at the age of four. But in – depth of contextual inquiry emerged when I was partially deprived from a sense of touch. I asked myself: “Who am I, if I cannot feel Who I am?”
As an Artist and an Educator for whom Body is a central tool for his work, I dedicate my methodological position to the idea of highlighting importance of the connection between body senses and the search for optimal methods to be able to contribute the knowledge about this connection to communities. I believe my work to be a place for developing thinking and sensing capacities and stimulating nonviolent peacemaking by learning about the body as an alternative communication source.
The research methodology I am currently working on involves aspects of non-verbal communication as crucial components in formation of social cohesion, which occurs by increasing an awareness of personal space and personal distance and their influence on people’s connectivity.
At the beginning of my quest on a socially engaged art field I was occupied by one simple question: “How does a personal space and a personal distance influence on people’s connectivity?” Currently my inquiries as a progressive artist educator are depicted by four central research questions:
- How can artist educator facilitate a growth of distance awareness?
- How can art education and critical pedagogy facilitate development of extraverted behavior and grow positive response for a close communication?
- How does an awareness of a personal space and a personal distance influence on social cohesion?
- How can artist educator facilitate the process of building a cohesive community by applying movement techniques based on distance awareness?
The outcome of my artistic research emerge in different forms such as: lectures, presentations, movement workshops and a participatory performance. The performance called Choreography of Personal Space is an art-method, where personal space becomes a subject to choreograph and where choreography gives an access to a space of possibilities within secure environment and cultivates mutual curiosity to explore diversities.
The core values of my artistic work suggest the movement to be a stretch for a verbal expression and an enactment of a verbal gap. Therefore, I direct my work towards the expansion of physical vocabularies which offer alternative currencies of meaning and encourage the development of complex systems of somatically braided cognition.
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