Beyond all Polarities, We Are, ____., 2022
Beyond All Polarities, We Are _____. was an immersive interactive performance at SFMOMA organized by Surabhi Saraf & Laura Hyunjhee Kim of the Centre for Emotional Materiality (CEM) and Bay Area artist Ashwini Bhat in response to the related exhibition Speculative Portraits
‘Feeling-through-sensing into your body, we invite you to slow down. Make your emotions tangible into a blobby sense of interbeing. In this feelosophical journey, we will melt into a vibrant portrait of togetherness. We explore our collective identities as peoples living in uncertain times. We ask ‘who we are’ beyond what we (dis)like, beyond categories of on/offline affinities, and beyond our fears and anxieties.’
Excerpt from Review by Matthew Harrison Tedford
“The performance had a unique feel unlike anything I can remember. The ambient music, the continuous pulsing of the celestial blob, the text from the videos (“release,” “bodies porous like sand,” “who will you be tomorrow?”), and the ritualistic activity at the center of the gallery all created a meditative atmosphere. But it was not austere, it was social and lively while remaining quiet and contemplative. Audience members seemed to make what they wanted from the experience, but like my hand when I first held the clay, we all fell into a rhythm that made space for, and was shaped by, each one of us.”
“Beyond All Polarities We Are ______;” July 7, 2022; photo: Dallis Willard