Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Can a gesture think? How do we think about bodily movements? Could we hope to comprehend and understand better a problem through practice? Informed by practice-based research the Gesture Laboratory of the School of Arts at the Sorbonne university is exploring a performative workshop for art production and scientific research called Ecosphère: an ecosystem several levels interact with each other: matter, energy, human bodies and living things. The ecosphere of the Gesture Laboratory is a space of silence; gestures and bodies take precedence over words and invent other modes of communication and transmission. The ecosphere is a practice where a network of links is collectively woven, thought is generated around a major theme and from the elements brought by the participants. It is a situation of gestures and bodies, a context where speech is made tacit to capture the movement of ideas. The ecosphere is a space of coexistence where something beyond yourself is housed. It is a collective space. The ecosphere is a space where you are in a situation of listening, attention and response. It is a space of mutual respect, sympathy, neighbourhood, and relationship. The experimental “ecosphere” system provides a benevolent welcome to all singularities. Everyone takes their place according to who they are, and moves in an interactive network. Relationships are built in the form of gestures made in pairs or in groups. People who enter into a relationship are carried by movement, which eventually leaves a trace in space and dissociates itself from moving bodies.