[-empyre-] whose "our systems"

[Sue Hawksley]

Dear Susan

On 6 Jul 2014, at 19:48, Susan Kozel <susan.kozel at mah.se> wrote:
>  I like to see somatic materialism as being based on flow and as John says, not tied to a cosmic realm. Embodied sensory presence is key, I would go further to say embodied affective presence (playing on a distinction between the senses and affect). I have a feeling that what Sue discussed below regarding breath, pressure and resonance, working from internality radiating ourwards and letting external forces richochet inward has something to say to this project but am still thinking about it
> 
 
Yes, I think I am talking about something like somatic materialism. The play on breath patterns I described began as an exploration of  presence; the punctuation of the breathing pattern was intended to interrupt the 'flow'. The device of imposing a metronomic discipline on the breath pattern emphasised the physicality of the present moment, and it required distinct  attentional efforts to concentrate awareness either toward present bodily sensation and environment, or toward the "virtual" space of imagination/memory, nothing novel there. But what was curious was how the timing constraint added an unexpected affective layer. We found we did things like pausing action in the pauses, even though imaginatively we were travelling 'somewhere else', or of moving faster to try and fit more in to the time, like sped-up old movies. It was also a condition that we try not to predetermine 'where' we would go in the two-second breath pause, so each time we suspended the 'now' there was the possibility to find ourselves anywhere that exists in our somatic/memory archive, and not necessarily where we were in the previous two-second window, so each virtual transition was full of not-knowing. This then brought to awareness another element - fear - which further complicates the somatic material, and a coping mechanism of adopting an objective-subjective standpoint kicks in, altering the field of awareness again. And this was all before dealing with others, language, technological interfaces etc.,  let alone cosmic dimensions!

Susan, in your earlier post you said  <My approach to embodiment has shifted over the years from a preoccupation with the sense and kinaesthesia to a focus on affect and the somatic> Could you expand a little on the distinctions you are making between these elements? I'd love to hear more about the work with Jeanette and in the city. I think there will be some interesting connections with the work Sophia Lycouris has been doing with city spaces, 

all the best, Sue



SUE HAWKSLEY
independent dance artist
sue at articulateanimal.org.uk
http://www.articulateanimal.org.uk




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