Facilitating human contact in times/places of crisis - 'The Interactional' a performative installation proposal.
Abstract as pdf
Corresponding Author:
Magdalena Mosteanu
University of Reading United Kingdom
m.d.mosteanu@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Author(s):
In this paper, I wish to explore how performance art may inform and provoke changes to the social fabric through facilitating human interaction. In my proposal of ‘The Interactional’, a performative installation, which stems from my research on crosscultural theatre practices, I hope to engineer a place of encounter, a safe space for interaction where two people and connect in a reciprocal gaze. The idea for the installation emerged from my research on face-to-face contact and Levinasian question of how we may truly understand our own individual place in the world, as well as the presence of an Other through face-to-face encounter. More specifically, the proposal is inspired by the belief in the ‘moment of transcendence encountered in the other’s face’ (Gallagher 2014). ‘The Interactional’, essentially facilitates the simple act of facing each other and therefore supports, by the interaction itself, a reconfiguration of complex patterns of the social encounter.
On one hand, this initiative is an immediate answer to the current limitations of human interactions due to the ongoing pandemic and the devastating effect such limitations have on our daily life and mental health. Despite the omnipresent advice that ‘limiting interactions is really how we’ll stop the spread and get back to normal faster’, the fatigue caused by social withdrawal is increasing and disrupting our lives considerably (Verma 2020). ‘The Interactional’, therefore directly addresses this moment of crisis in human contact.
On the other hand, ‘The Interactional’, is situated on cultural and social borders and seeks to transform the borders from lines into places of passage. Following Massumi, the individual is defined more by the boundaries it crosses than the limits it observes whilst the boundaries themselves are set and specified in the act of passage (1999:14). Consequently, ‘The Interactional’ aims at facilitating the act of crossing the borders as a defining moment for the self and for the boundary itself.
It is set to achieve this by strategic positioning in the city landscapes. As the cities are often organised along the social and cultural borders with defining factors such as cultural background, wealth, status and occupation, ‘The Interactional’ seeks to intervene and connect those city parts that become disconnected from one another. Places such as prison walls, public squares, parliament buildings and borough borders are sites of most interest and I will analyse examples of how ‘The Interactional’ on such sites may inform and inspire change.
The interplay of crisis and art