SPACE OCCUPY
by Catherine Eng
“By the early twentieth century much of what had been the specialized sphere of activity, art, had already entered the phantasmagoric field of entertainment, as part of the commodity world, bringing with it the possibility of changes in modes of identification signaled by a renewed concern with mimesis, distraction, fantasy and day-dreaming.
By the end of the twentieth century, it has been widely argued, this process of de-differentiation has been extended yet further through the aestheticization of everyday life, what Guattari (1992) calls ‘subjectivity’s entry into the machine’, and the transformation of reality into images and vice versa, the production of virtual realities…
And yet the entry of subjectivity into the machine does not simply lead to an attack on the intimate; it is also simultaneously a reconfiguration of the matter of bodies:
It isn’t enough for these machines to simulate the results of vision or of writing fairly well. It’s a matter… of ‘giving body’ to the artificial thought of which they are capable. (Lyotard, 1991)”
Celia Lury, Prosthetic Culture: photography, memory, and identity.
Space Occupy is a work-in-progress. These are the first of 10 videos I’ve had the chance to process. For those who’ve sent me videos, thank you. For those who’ve sent me videos that aren’t featured here, I’ll be in contact :)
Want to contribute?
Film yourself following either the instruction video or the improv framework and send to catherinenipperteng@gmail.com
Catherine Eng is an inter-mediary dance artist who’s interested in addressing topics of technology and experiences
of being through theoretically backed collaborative performances. Frequently a collaborative performer,
I’ve worked with Sara Rudner, Rou Rou Ye, and ZCO Dance Project. My performance work has shown
around New York including at Arts on Site, Triskelion Arts, Movement Research, Chen Dance Center, and
in Chicago at the Logan Center for the Arts. With the change of times I’ve been focusing on my video
projects, including Foil Dress Task premiered at the Sarah Lawrence Dance film Festival in 2020 and I
only move in circles now as part of the 2020 Post/Futures festival.
@mobilemonstersdance
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