The Senses

[jorgemorejon]

Very seldom do I get to consciously consider the importance of the senses in performance practices and how neglected has the exploration and use of the senses been in this field.  I realize that it is probably only in recent times that the use of the senses has been forgotten and avoided.  In theatre, for instance, the senses used to be part of

Comments

[anonymous]

"In a modern world invaded by entertainment and pop art, divided in very specific fields of performance and immersed in a sanitized version of reality, where the senses are all transposed, camouflaged, distorted and avoided by industrial, first world, urban, manicured and/or marginal environments, the exploration of performance through the senses becomes a refreshing alternative to performative numbness."

We live in a world hungry for sensorial experience, but instead people turn to technology and consumption to satiate this need. I'm not sure what is so seductive about this way of living.

From SGI Quarterly: "The best consumers are itchy narcissists who hop, skip and jump from one fleeting desire to the next, never deeply satisfied, but always in the process of satisfying themselves. Our entire socioeconomic system is designed to spew out this type of "ideal citizen" who is, unfortunately, so often depressed. Contentment is the single greatest threat to greed economics.
It didn't surprise me that an African nation, namely Nigeria, was found recently to be the world's "happiest country." The study of "happy societies" is awakening us to the importance of social connectedness, spiritual depth, simplicity, modesty of expectations, gratitude, patience, touch, music, movement, play, "downtime" and a certain amount of doing without."

Food for thought.
-Laura

technology and consumption

[jorgemorejon]

For many years now I have traveled through and occasionally lived in several countries, always in search of that other place where I could find “perfect happiness.” In the past, after reading your comment, I would have probably jumped on the idea of going to Nigeria to experience first hand happiness where as you say “social connectedness, spiritual depth, simplicity, modesty of expectations, gratitude, patience, touch, music, movement, play, "downtime" and a certain amount of doing without,” seem to be present there and lacking here. I agree with you that “we live in a world hungry for sensorial experience, but instead people turn to technology and consumption to satiate this need.” Just today, as I was walking to the supermarket, the word super has already become a normal measure; there was a sign next to the beauty parlor in the mall advertising the following: “we do more lips than anyone else.” Perhaps, for a person from a less economically aggressive country, this statement wouldn’t make any sense. Aren’t we usually born with lips? But we know what it means. It means having super-lips helped by collagen injections. Just yesterday a friend of mine told me about Botox parties where people gather to “party” as they get injections of Botox into their faces. Today my mother told me on the phone that one of my cousins traveled all the way to Colombia to get breast implants, and I know she previously had a nose-job done. Those of us who remain content with our human proportions may feel displaced by bodies which, with every surgical procedure, become less and less familiar. Facelifts, lip augmentations, tattoos, liposuctions, body implants of all sorts, etc have become the norm rather than the exception. This reminds me of a Yoruban pataki, where Ogun abandons the villagers who in their abundance forget the appreciation for work and become possessed by the enjoyment of leisure. I no longer think there is a better there. We can find perfect happiness here. As you said in your comment on my blog entry A Way Out:

“It is time for artists to be visionaries again. We need to make artwork about the world we'd like to live in rather than deconstructing the one we inhabit.
If we envision it, it will happen. Our thoughts and beliefs are incredibly powerful. They create our reality. […] Let's start writing the stories to inspire a new generation to create the world we'd like to live in.”