Phenomenological Space CQ Article

8/13/2019 Phenomenological Space CQ Article

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PHENOMENOLOGIC L SP CE11 / 'm in the spa ce a n the s pace is i n m e .

C RY N M C H S E We would lik e to hear f rom ynu ab out

th r6lati onsllip between body and pla ce our pla ce on this ear th.

H U B E R T G A R Le t m e begin with space. S pacei. , a word th a t we use co ns tantl y in our wo rk as dan ce rs a ndbod o rk ers, but it is an ambi gu ous term . I will u se th e termspace w hen I talk abo ut th e imaginary buildin g o f our re lationship to th e wo rld , and I w ill use topos when I am talkingabout rea l, geog ra phic al , meas urable spa ce. Wh en peo pl emee t o r im e ract , it is a mix o f the two . What I'm callin gspace , th e im ag ina ry buildin g o f th e ph eno m eno n , is link edto our perso na l s tory.

In o ur his tory th ere was poss ibl y some pl ace that wa straum ati c and so me p lace t ha t wa s ex qui site. Th e re is c o ns istency in th e topo s th e geog raph y but space c annot beho moge neo us. It is indi vidu al, subj ec tive, affec ted by o urh is to ry and meanin g associat ions. Alread y in th e firs t th r eemonth s , firs t lo v e mo th er, par en t s will sha p e a big part ofour subjec tive s pace. Wh at is ge nerall y call ed th e kin esph ere is a g rad ient o perspec ti ve or a ran ge of ways I am ab le tono tice th e space a roun d my bod y Fo r ex ampl e, I mi ght havea bloc ked p erspec tive he re, a very far a way pe rspec tive in o ne

dir ec tio n , and a s ho rts ight ed per spec tive in ano th er dir ec tion .It is na tu r a l that I can b e m ove d b y a p aintin g o n e day

w hen it s perspec tive co rr es pond s to m y o wn . Th e nex t da y itmi ght be an oth er p a intin g , de pendin g o n m y c urr e nt gradi entof persp ec tive. Man y peo ple a re tou ched b y The La ndscap e inthe Winter by Bre ughe l. W hy? Because h e is at a pla ce that i sde licio us for m any; he 's loo kin g at the c ity fro m a littl e wayof f, but he is still b ein g in th e c ity. Breugh el s hows a p erspective , a p oint of vie w, a way to loo k a t th e life o f a vill age. A llo f a s ud de n th e village beco mes swee t- th e accid ent o f peo ple

livin g toge th er. Pa intin g is th e bu ildin g o f a spa ce. Th e s ubj ectivity of Bre ughe l meets ma n y sub jec tiviti es , so his po int o fview is to uc hin g fo r m an y o f u s.

A s uco nd consid e rati o n ab out space ls r p < : ~ i o I'm

neve r loo kin g ju st a t spa ce; I'm alread y pr oj ec tin g into it . I

have e xp ec ta ti ons, in f o rm ed by m y personal s to ry. When I goto see a pe rfo rman ce, eve n b efor e th e da nce r ent ers th e s tage ,th ere are alread y pe opl e da n cing o n th e e mp t y s tag e t h e

da n ce o f m y e xp ec tati o n. And th ese e xp ec ta ti o ns aredy namizing (e nergizin g) a nd vectorali zing (s hapin g) th e s pace .Th e s pace is full o f th e vec tors o f my ex pec ta tio n , the Vl Ctorso f my d es ire.

C RY N Already befor e the dan ce start s?

H U B E R T Yes . Th i s d esi r e, th is vec tor , is go in g o ut o f meand co mes bac k partiall y tr a ns fo rm ed b y th e co nt ext o r situati on . Th e vector of my vis ion is sup erimp ose d with anoth ervec to r th e vec tor o f my hi sto ry, wh ere th e space is full of m yown phant oms or bla ck h o les.

I'm proj ec tin g in a space wh ere th e re is an open placeallow ed b y my hi s to ry, I can go o n ; but if in my his tory ther ewas a blac k hol a mi ss in g o r un p erce ived spa c e 1 willmee t a wa ll. And v ery oft en what w e a re livin g is a c onfr ontation b etw ee n exp ec tati on , d es ire, and histo ry.

A third a s pec t o f spa ce in vo lves so cio log ica l and

geog ra phi ca l con t ext. Every cultur e has a uniqu e wa y ofus in g th e s pace. 1f you we re born in Ja p a n , or if yo u werebo rn in th e Midw es t , yo u will ha ve a co mp letely diff erentrela tio ns hip with space. It 's very to uchin g wh en you are inJa p an , for ex ampl e, that peopl e ar e pa c ked agai n s t each o therand still a person ca n have a hu ge kin es ph e re. T he top os isco nstri cted but th e s pa ce is large. You ca n b e in a Mid wes tcit y wh ere it will be th e o pp os ite: yo u have a hu ge to pos a nda perso n can h ave a limit ed kin es ph ere.

Th e soc iological aspec t includ es th e langua ge we use to

nam e s pace. Proxemi cs is a parti cul ar br an ch of se mioti csthat stu d ies hum an p erce pti on a nd u se o f spa ce within th eco nt ex t of cultur e. Am erica n socio log is t Edward T. Hall ha sco ntrihutcu greatl y to this field. f yo u put a hundr ed p ~ o p l

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within one meter of each other and ask them what thed istance is from the other, some will say one centimeter,some will say one kilometer. And th is subjectivity is mostlyorganized by what we talked of before: personal history and~ x p e c t t i o nbut also sociological context. All these factorsimpact the way we perceive, organize, and deal with space.

Geography is also a considera tion. I f you put somebody infront of a big mountain , the body will react. It will change theheight of people without them noticing; they are activated bythe context.

C R Y N So, for example, here we are in front of this grand viewof he Cascade Mountains, ancl you re saying we're being affectedin this context right now? The place will re-climensionalize us?

H U E R T Yes. I f I have spent my life surrounded bymountains and then suddenly I am in flat land with peoplemound, it will feel strange. I f I have been with people in acity, my walk will be different; or if I am used ro go ing upand down a mountain, my stride is affected. My perceptionuf p c eis organized through the habits of our sociology and

by the geography.

C R Y N Do you lznow i there are any dancers or choreo-graphers who have used this consciously in their worh?

H U E R T Yes the decor, or set design, and lighting indnuce changes perspective . The dancer will be affected bythe light, and the space is also changing because the light ischanging. This is felt very strongly by performers and byspectators , who are wrapped in a different kind of space ..

C R Y N We dimensionalize the space through the decor anclILghting?

H U E R T Yes. I think the set of the stage is not somuch about meaning but about giving a completely different

an 'angement of perspectives and expectations that changequr space.

C R Y N So in a way its creating a new place for the movementto Lmfold?

H U E R T Yes , and if you take personal history and thesociological and geographical context together, that givesyuu the latent potential-what is possible in terms of movement in this particular situation and context. This is whatperceptual psychologist james Gibson calls the affordance.The space is completely shaped .

4 Cn11tu.ct Quurtarl y

When you c hange something in the body

the con c rete body of somebody you change

his or her way of perceiving the space .

1 would finish this broad point of view by saying thatthe space-not the ropos- is in fact an imaginary space oaction. It doesn 't exist. There is no contact with space out oftime and history. The context and my history give the affordance of what can happen in terms of whole-body gestureand movement. And why that? Because the space in factdoesn't exist; it 's a space of action. And this action-space isphenomenologica l , if you will. The phenomenon of space issensory based , unique to each person, and time dependent.

That should be the title of this chapter - Phenomenological Space -because I'm in the space and the space is inme. There is not a distinct ion first between me and the

space . There is also no distinction between space and timesince what vectoralizes shapes) the space is alreadytemporalized, specific to the moment. When you perceive avector, perception accelerates (it builds on itself). Space isnot empty. It is a space of action.

What makes me afraid of a space is fearing what can

happen in it. What makes me attracted to a space is that I cango into it. 1n fact, this space of action is my affordance, my

potentia l for movement. This is often limited by all I've spokenof before. But in fact what is also limited is my potential foraction and imagination. Because at a very deep level, it's aspace where 1 will be doing something I cannot imagine. Andin this potentia l of action, or subjective space, there are somemovements that are completely repressed, some are reallythere, some are not possible, and some are yet to be evoked.I think the best way to work with people in dance or in

therapy about the question of space is to help them understand their potential of action, their subjective space. A bigpart of my life and research has been spent demonstrating thatthe way I am building my imaginary space affects my body.


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uber t Godard teachin g at Resources in Mo ve m enl.

R Y N Do yo u m ea n Conta ct Im prov isation?

U B E R T Yes , Co nt act Impro visa t ion. It 's an ex am ple of

very d ir ect way to address the spa ce question at a deepvel b eca use you ar e touching th e hi stor y of each p erson ,d yo u are tou chi n g th e taboo of th e soc iety.

RYN It seems thai t Lakes a whil e to reorgani ze and allowople to recogn ize th e relaLionship that we have with space .

U B E R T It 's tru e. Since the Renai ssa nce , th ere w as th end ency to put hum an b eings in th e ce nter of natur e ins teadputting natur e in th e center of th e huma n b ein g. Now it's

an ging; movem ent and bodywo rk forms in the las t forty ort y yea rs are step-b y-s tep changing our vision.

R Y N In my recent travels in Bali was gettin g a hint ofing in a cu ltur e where the split betw een nature and culture ist so strong; the per ception of natur e i.s a live.

U B E R T Yes , yo u feel it if yo u go to Moroc co . It's soo ng for me becau se I was born th ere. The re is som e thingMo rocc o that forc es your gaze , your perce ption of s pace,be pe riphera l. You are not in coni cal vis ion; you a re in a

ay of looki n g that is not about n aming. And yo u ge t a

rect me lti n g w ith th e space , so m ething very s p ec ific.

Matisse ch a nged his life co mpl etely a fte r hi s tr ip in Mo rocco;the gro und was m ore i mp o rtant th an th e figur es in h is pa in tin gs all of a sud d en . This mean s Matisse 's vis ion of space

change d , becau se pa inting in gen eral is a declaration of space .

C R Y N Can you l r c l ~the t hread of how yo u arrived at thevision t1wt yo u h ave? Were there specif ic stepping-sto nes ormoments of disco ve1y

H U B E R T I know th a t I was s hape d b y thi s per i pheralseeing. By this I mean a way of look in g th a t is no t abo utn ami n g; I call thi s a tw n-co rt ica. l gaze . Thi s non- co ni cal gazeall ows yo u to ha ve very easy bod y rea ding becau se y ou hav e

th e ca pacit y to in corpora te p eopl e in your subj ec tive space;you are in th e space, the spa ce is in yo u.

C R Y N And you becam e awar e of Lhis relationship this hinesth e c resonance i n yo u.r wor h wl1 en you started teachin g dance ?

H U B E R T I was co mpl etely s h ape d b y teac hin g dance. In ot ice d that th e way y ou talk , th e vvay yo u tell th e story in adan ce studio, will ma ke peopl e dan ce differentl y When Ttri ed t understand how this h ap p ens, I first cam e to the idea

th a t the space is a su pport. You ca n vec toraliz e an up or ah orizo ntal vec to r, wh ich can 'up yo u or bro aden yo u. In

th e hi s tory of m odern dance , th ere was s ome ch o reog raphythat w as co mp l et e ly bui lt from th e g round (Martha Graham)and some that wa s suspended by th e c hest (Dori s Humphrey /j ose Lim o n) . It became clear to m e th at there we re pe opl e onth e two s ides . W ith D oris Humphr ey, th ere is a lways a h orizonin fro nt of h er; th e s ubjective building of Humphr ey's space

wa s the hori zo n . Wh ereas Martha Gra ham was very t err itorial- authorita ri an and t erritorial. Sh e knew what sh e wan ted ,

w hic h is a way o f build in g the spa ce in a ver y s tr ong w ay.

C R Y N So you started to see the two orientation s?

H U B E R T Yes . I see step -by-step th e ma g ic of po sture , thatwe n ee d both ground orientati on and space ori ent a tion forease of movement. First by ps yc h ological exp erienc e and

th en by clinical exp erience I found that th e way I've bu il t myspac e, the accident of my life, i s direc tly re spons ible forcontract ions and contradictions in m y body. Thi s led to the

in ves tiga tion of wh a t call Tonic Fun ction. To ni c F un ctionfocu ses on gravi .Ly response-th e body s orientation to weightand space - as centra l to und erstanding movement.

For ex ampl e , th e way to effec tive ly s tret c h is to or ient togr ound and spa ce . Ver y often th e hamstring w hi ch is a

mu scle on the b ac k of the thi gh th a t ma n y da n ce rs try to


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lengthen th rough daily stretching) doesn' t respond. But if

you change your perception and orient to the ground and to

the sky, I've found that the hamstring will change right away.

So the hamstring is a good example of a tonic muscle ; it

responds reflexively to ground and space. In general, theto nic muscl es are the core stab ilizi ng muscles.

C R Y N A toni c muscle responds to the quality of spatia./orienta lion ?

H U E R T Yes. You have a lot of people who are completelyup people who have n o grou nd , and they will have tension

of the knee. People who are the oppos ite , who are building

from the ground, they will have tension in the hip and ha m -

string, not in the knee. The ton ic muscles will respond not

to what you do but only to the way you build , or orient to ,

the space.Posture is the capac ity to go in the two di rections. 1 s

very clear that 50 perce n t of the action needs to start fromthe floor , like pushing or pulling , and 50 perc en t needssuspension, li ke pointing and reaching . The space of ac t ionw ill b e affec ted direc tl y by the way you organize your po s tu r e

m space.

C R Y N Was Lhis a lso arou nd the time that you heard about

Rolfing?

H U E R T I was very attracted the first time I read thatRolfing was a way o renegotiate our relationship to gravity.

C R Y N What happens when one of the two directionsground and space is missing?

H U E R T What is missing in my perception of my body

corresponds to w h at is missing in my perc ep tion of the space(space h ere including gr ound and space ) . For examp le,

when I was a dancer, somet im es I had diffi cul t y with my feetbecause I did not have a good relationship with th e ground.I was too suspended in the a ir a nd so the feet were showing

off what was missing in my experience of the space.

C R Y N We have to heep re-languaging - you lmowbuilding a language to allow us to embrace these changi11gconcepts of space.

H U E R T vVe have talked about perspective . Horizon issomewhere linked to the vanishing point. And the vanishing

point has a specific relationship with projection. Th e vanish-

ing point in front is a sagittal organization, a n d we come

The reason for example that dance

contact is s important is because it s a

way to renegotiate : first the distance to

other people; then the vectoral iza tion

of space; then the many levels ofperceiving .... It s .. a very direct way to

address the space question at a deep

level because you are touching the

h istory of each person and you are

touching the taboo of t he society.

from a culture th at is outrageously sa g i ttal. Why I sayo utrageously is because in painting we call it perspectiva.

leg iiima. Alb erti set the ru l es of persp ective, and the Latinna m e is perspectiva legitima a s though ther e is one legit ima teperspec tive. And this ,:vjlJ tell you a lot about socio logical

context because there is a legitimate perspective playing

like a metaphor for the p rojected hierarchy of our so c iety.

Each cu lture has its own perspectiv e, and we (in western

cultur es) d eclare that there is a legitim ate one, which th e

partic ul ar di r ection of the vanishing point accomplis h es .

The va nishin g point in japan is very often in the back.I don't say that the perspectiva legitima doesn't exist, but

th e term legiti ma shows how there is a co lonialization of thespace . You co lon iz e the space geographically, but we forget

that th ere is a cult ural colonization that is so strong. The

history of acting/performing/dancing , the history of pain ting,is affected by where and how we build the horizon.

C RY N Since you travel and change place so much, how doyo u mahe yourself at home?

H U E R T I have a constant place, my farm in Burgundy,France. I have to have gro und somew h ere. Actua lly, yo ulearn that the ground can be everywhere, and you learn by

diminishing yo ur expectation. So you give freedom for the

space that arises. If you ha ve too much expectat ion, thespace is full already The reason 1 was talking about the spaceof expectation is that it is so very often what prevents peoplefrom meeting each other; they have to stop having the

expectation .

C R Y N How do you let go of expectation?

H U E R T I'm comp letely plast ic in the way t can happen.

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Hu b e r t Godartl lcad aing a l R es o u rc e ~ in t-.lovc m c n l.

1 t ~v c a st ud io, :l pro g ram. I kn o w what I w ant to do , hut Ikn ow it wdl ha ve to be res po ns ive to the people. I'm no thanging n n lo my p rog ram , l'tn no t hang ing o n to th e W C Il l \ ' th r ead , bu t I s ion .cn ( .odmdsll ' tll J . r 111) ll(ii) l l ' \ ( l ti i'Ce S i ll ll lii\ "CI III ' III ( 0 111 01 II '\ \ W l"f\llll l t f \ l l l l l lP\ '1" 11 11 ' / I I . tOi l l.

REFERENCES

h a n : - o u b .\l iT. l ~ I. 2005. pp .I03 - l tH

Kcvm r r,mk , - Ja n ie u ~ e u on : t\ G r :\\'11}' Rcs pon-.c lotlcl for RnlfingSt r uLI ur al .111d Move me n I Int cgrallon , Ralj l. i iH' \ , Uo uld cr , CO Ro lll n > t itu tc . Marc h 199 5 , pp . l l - 2 0 .

Godn rd , Hu lx-n . ' Read m g the BmJ) 111 D;mu ' /{n/j lu ru Houldn CORn l ll ns lll ut c . Oc t 199 4 . pp . ) 7--+2

\Vnun gs hv Edward I . H .allII J II. Ldwa rd T t\11 :\nr lu opoln g\ oj l : :HTH i ct\ Lrfr ' Ooub h ht)Lumpan y, IQ9l.

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Phenomenological Space CQ Article