Experiential Anatomy Workshop presented by Catherine Truman “…after another Awareness Through Movement lesson, …I blindfolded them and asked them to make their own body in clay. So they had to go straight into it – most of them used both hands then and most of … Read More →
Author Archives: George Khut
Mike Legget Interviews, July 2009
Mike Leggett interviewed each of us for the Bundanon Trust, in the lead up to the Sensorium Gymnasium event at Peformance Space, in July-August 2009. In the following transcripts we discuss what Thinking Through The Body means for us individually, the impact of the Bundanon … Read More →
The Distinct Body Part 1
“Engaging with attention to sensation is something we value with this project. As practitioners and participants, we’re being asked to feel something, and articulate it. We are not necessarily interested in the outcome, but more in how and why the participant engages with the actual … Read More →
‘The Situated Body’ Workshop
This workshop presented by Jonathan Duckworth, was pivotal in developing a link between our attention to interior and exterior experience – exploring how attention to the body can create shifts in our perception of the surrounding environment, and conversely, how an environment (especially one such … Read More →
Discussion: The Situated Body
This discussion took place at Bundanon after Jonathan Duckworth’s ‘Situated Body’ workshop, where we all went out into the surrounding country to create some response to our geograhic situation, building from sensitivities cultivated in Catherine’s Feldenkrais-inspired ‘Distinct Body’ experiential anatomy workshops. Jonathan Duckworth: Does anyone … Read More →
Workshop 2: Imagining the ‘Sensorium Gymnasium’
Excerpts from Saturday’s discussion at Bundanon, on aims and possible outcomes for the Performance Space workshop and public showing: Jonathan: I think for me the bridge between Feldenkrais and media arts is not really what Feldenkrais can do for media arts or what media arts … Read More →
Discussion: Desires & Offerings
In this meeting facilitator Lizzie Muller invited each member of the group to respond to the idea of 'desires' and 'offerings' - to identify shared interests in relation to our work with the body and opportunities for skill-exchange and collaboration across disciplines.
Why we use ‘Technology’
In this discussion on Day 3 of our Bundanon workshop each member of the group was invited to reflect on how they came to be working with technology in their current practice (or not), and what this relationship means for them and their practice. You … Read More →
Care
As an artist what motivates me is a desire to create systems and situations that support us to become more alive to the worlds around and within us, and to be able to experience and engage with this aliveness with a sense of grace, delight … Read More →
Post-Bundanon Reflections: Some threads
Here are some threads that I’ve pulled out from my Bundanon experience, that Ive been turning around in my head over the past week since the workshop. ATTENTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES for an aesthetics of touch, movement and proprioception: having and/or developing the ability to attend to … Read More →
The Situated Body: Listening in and out
Jonathan’s workshop ‘The Situated Body’ invited to develop a response to our experience in the land around us, based on the sensitivities we’ve been developing towards our bodily experience. I was interested structuring attention across internal and external environments, drawing on experiences of Feldenkrais work, … Read More →
Touch, making contact: fingers, palms, arms and pelvis…
Maggie introduced her Awareness Through Movement class this morning, with a presentation on neuro plasticity: the structuring of experience within the brain, and the influence of Brain-Derived Neutrophic Factor (BDNF). I don’t really understand how it works but she seemed to be describing a switching … Read More →
Listening to the wind in the leaves…
…and thinking about observing my breathing. Attending to the sounds in the landscape, and realising I could bring the same quaity of openended attentivness to sensations inside my body. Observing breath (something I’ve been interested in with a previous interactive artwork ‘Drawing Breath’), listing to … Read More →
Drawing from the felt experience of my bones
This morning’s workshop with Catherine: Drawing a life-size outline of my body, then filling it in with bones as they felt to me. We were instructed to focus on drawing from experience, and not worry about what what we think it ‘should’ look like i.e. … Read More →
Some more work with Wii’s
I’ve been doing some homework with Somaya on working with Nintendo Wii controllers – lots of great inspiration on the web. This video from Tom Tlalim and Paola Tognazzi shows a nice wearable design that uses clip on (or velco) neoprene bands that allow the … Read More →
Wii Fit – examples
Was thinking about how I could use accelerometers and gyroscopes to track and respond to rhythmic body movements, which got me thinking about Feldenkrais pelvic clock excersises, and then Hula hoop work. Seemed like a realy obvious and fund thing that the Wii people must … Read More →
Electronic Art, Altered States, Catharsis and Care
Chanced on this clip after following up on some links about binaural beat frequencies and the use in the entrainment of brain wave rhythms. I really enjoyed looking at the faces of the people interacting with the work – the generosity they brought to it … Read More →
Sketch book notes – little circles, big brush strokes
This is an idea I’ve had for some time now – a basic image in physio and bodywork: imagine your (insert body part here) as a paint brush, painting circles on the ceiling. I was thinking about ceiling projections at first, then imagined using a … Read More →
Rubber hand illusion – remapping body sensation
Watch how you can trick your brain by stroking a fake rubber hand and your real hand at the same time. Link from New Scientist online I’ll be working on presenting this illusion at the Bundanon workshop! I think it opens the door for all … Read More →
Ramachandran Phantom Limb Mirror Box demonstrations
Video demonstrations and discussions by Andrew T. Austin I would like to explore some of these principals at the next workhop, coming up in January. This research goes to the heart of my inspiration for TTTB, at least in so far as the proposal for … Read More →
Ethnography in interaction design research
Have just read a great paper by Paul Dourish, titled “Implications for Design”, thought you all might be interested as it relates well to the video-cued-recall workshop that Lizzie led at our Campbelltown workshop. Really hits the nail on the head re what people (artists, … Read More →
The Meaning of The Body
A couple of weeks ago I obtained a copy of a new book by Mark Johnson, called The Meaning of The Body. Its a great read, and has really helped me to understand more concretely, many of the issues we are dealing with when we … Read More →
Quotes from Ellen Dissanayake
Just visited human ethologist Ellen Dissanayake’s website, and came across these brilliant quotes. Her book “What is Art For?” was a powerful inspiration during my doctoral research when I was re-thinking notions of instrumentality in art practice, and looking to understand my own practice in … Read More →
Embodied-Emotion mapping project by Orlagh O’Brien
Here’s a link to a great visualisation project by graphic designer Orlagh O’Brien – exploring emotions and their felt location within the body: Emotionally}Vague “Emotions can be overwhelming. But not always so. They affect our thoughts and perceptions far more than we realise. It is … Read More →
Getting to experience – building models, shaping contact
Garth asked a great question today, in relation to the question of our respective desires for the project: not sure exactly what he said – but it was something like – ‘How do we (as interaction designers) get to experience through touch?’ How do we … Read More →
Fragile Ballances and snowdomes
After watching Jonathan’s video-cued retrospective report – he later described the quality of holding those cubes as being like holding a snow dome. This immediately generated strong images for me of snow dome structures as interfaces: intimate hand held devices that comunicate a strong sense … Read More →
Resonances, Desires, Offerings
Notes from a discussion facilitated by Lizzie 2008 08 16 1) RESONANCE - something that has been raised that resonated especially with me was the concept of ‘People as mirrors’. The idea of situations where people become the mirrors, instead of machines mirroring people: the … Read More →
Getting started
Thinking Through the Body is an interactive art research network exploring body-focussed interactions in art, design and arts-in-health. The project brings together practitioners working across the fields of body-focussed art, interactive art, interaction design and somatic body work, to explore new approaches to how we … Read More →
Test 9th December
A test post