Cybernetic Body / State of Emergence Part II
Cybernetic Body?
I use the terms “Cybernetic Body” or “Cyberbody” to describe an overall system that is comprised of subsystems; the overall systems being such as the human body, society or nature. In my dance piece, this is an overall threefold allegory mirroring a threefold question about our existence: How to combine ourselves/our bodies, our society and our nature/nature into a harmony where the subsystems in each system is in a necessary and sufficient balance – maybe even capable of efficient action – and therefore leading to a well functioning overall system.
But the question goes deeper than this: If an overall system that one is a part of, works imperfectly or is maybe in some way oppressive, how does the individual cope and, despite the imperfect overall system, find a way to act as an efficient force for good towards a well functioning overall system. One of my references is in times like the pandemic lockdowns where one’s work is taken away and one might become isolated. In Finland, where I live, our government was going to cut funding from the fields of art that were already suffering from the lockdown. So, how do we keep working as artists in an overall system that is imperfect?
What about the “Body”? Our body (and one might say our life in general) is also an overall system that is comprised of subsystems. One available way of approaching the overall system of society is to take care of our own overall system and its subsystems. This is possible to the degree that our attention is available. When our attention is available and we take care of our body/life, we are already changing the society we live in. As a choreographer/dancer, who is working on a piece with such a complex subject, it is natural to me that I use my body as a symbolic reflection of those complexities. So, approaching the problems of a dysfunctional society is a way to approach the experience inside my body.
Couple of questions:
1. Is it possible to change the origin point of movement to different places in the body?
2. If so, can we randomize this origin point, while at the same time having our attention on what’s happening overall?
The forementioned terms at the beginning also have a deliberate sci-fi and (retro-) futuristic feel to them and this correlates with my aesthetic vision for the piece – a timless realm where the past and future are mixed in a place of reflection, mirroring the audience; or even looking as a piece of art at the audience; or even, as a reflection, have the audience looking at themselves through the piece.
Hence the term Cybernetic Body!
I use the terms “Cybernetic Body” or “Cyberbody” to describe an overall system that is comprised of subsystems; the overall systems being such as the human body, society or nature. In my dance piece, this is an overall threefold allegory mirroring a threefold question about our existence: How to combine ourselves/our bodies, our society and our nature/nature into a harmony where the subsystems in each system is in a necessary and sufficient balance – maybe even capable of efficient action – and therefore leading to a well functioning overall system.
But the question goes deeper than this: If an overall system that one is a part of, works imperfectly or is maybe in some way oppressive, how does the individual cope and, despite the imperfect overall system, find a way to act as an efficient force for good towards a well functioning overall system. One of my references is in times like the pandemic lockdowns where one’s work is taken away and one might become isolated. In Finland, where I live, our government was going to cut funding from the fields of art that were already suffering from the lockdown. So, how do we keep working as artists in an overall system that is imperfect?
What about the “Body”? Our body (and one might say our life in general) is also an overall system that is comprised of subsystems. One available way of approaching the overall system of society is to take care of our own overall system and its subsystems. This is possible to the degree that our attention is available. When our attention is available and we take care of our body/life, we are already changing the society we live in. As a choreographer/dancer, who is working on a piece with such a complex subject, it is natural to me that I use my body as a symbolic reflection of those complexities. So, approaching the problems of a dysfunctional society is a way to approach the experience inside my body.
Couple of questions:
1. Is it possible to change the origin point of movement to different places in the body?
2. If so, can we randomize this origin point, while at the same time having our attention on what’s happening overall?
The forementioned terms at the beginning also have a deliberate sci-fi and (retro-) futuristic feel to them and this correlates with my aesthetic vision for the piece – a timless realm where the past and future are mixed in a place of reflection, mirroring the audience; or even looking as a piece of art at the audience; or even, as a reflection, have the audience looking at themselves through the piece.
Hence the term Cybernetic Body!