symposium description

39. COFFEE BREAKS, CAB RIDES, GREEN ROOMS.

Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces—what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.” Hans Ulrich Obrist once organised a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference—the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals—but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.’ 

(From: The Incomplete Manifesto For Growth By Bruce Mau.) [1]

Illustration by David S. Goodsell, RCSB Protein Data Bank. (link) [2]
doi: 10.2210/rcsb_pdb/goodsell-gallery-042

What is left of art when it is resting?
What if art is only to be found in interstitial spaces?
What if art can only be found if you are not looking for it?

Many will have the experience of discovering clarity in the spacetime between conscious processing and rest, that emergent place one cannot really get to on purpose, though the potential discovery of clarity and purpose is exactly why one would want to linger in that liminal space if only one could choose to. 

What seems to be on many minds – as the world is learning how to cohabit on this planet with Covid-19 and all the other disasters–is, is it possible to integrate that space of potential  within the existing work realities, instead of forever maintaining the two as competitive forces: work and rest?

The question is about priorities: When you do not know how you will survive, (sustenance, shelter, warmth, health) are you able to produce art? Is art sustenance? Can we live and survive on art? Or: Can we survive without art? 

Structure and content go hand in hand in this symposium. Your art rests (with us) when we meet. No need to bring anything else than your sensory-motor experience, curiosity and willingness to engage. No content is previously hatched and presented. 

Instead, we might have an art breakfast. We might have a breakfast and then rest. We might not eat at all. Maybe we just make art?

We invite you to bring your favourite manifesto to the symposium. If not, we may create our own.

The 10th IDOCDE symposium is firstly and foremostly imagined as a celebration of the fact that you’ve come this far, and that you’re still a dance professional! We think it’s time to rest, time to dream, and time to discover what will happen when we finally meet again.

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[1] The Incomplete Manifesto For Growth By Bruce Mau, https://www.massivechangenetwork.com/bruce-mau-manifesto.

[2] A Journey to the Center of Our Cells, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/07/a-journey-to-the-center-of-our-cells.