Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

Through autobiographical, arts based inquiry, I sensitized my awareness to solid and fluid sensations in my chest that I associated with prejudice and vulnerability and analyzed them phenomenologically in embodied writing. I entertained the supposition that sensations of fluid movement could be associated with vulnerability, and solid unyielding sensations could be associated with bias or prejudice. I found images that elicited these responses and became aware how implicit bias influenced my sensation response. I investigated how sensations elicited by implicit bias could be changed. While watching a short video interview of a gentleman who shared his struggles with addiction and poverty I noticed solid, resistant sensations in my chest that betrayed my efforts to empathize with him. I strategically inserted short dance and contemporary art clips throughout the video that disrupted my solid sensations with fluid ones. The intervention of art altered the habitually resistant way I engaged with him and moved me emotionally and sensationally. The original educational video was intended to create empathy and advocate for addiction support services. Despite my best intentions, it did not challenge the implicit biases that barred me from internalizing its message. This research reinforces how our embodied prejudices need to be addressed along with our cognitive ones for a new understanding and experience to occur. If public education programs and media tools are to have a transformative impact on their audience, the use of art can be a potent element to communicate the message in a full-bodied way.