Whenever possible I take the opportunity to show people my work in order to gauge responses and find out to what extent I am communicating what I intend. One response to Unentitled (moving in a confining box) was:
“the spotted top creates an element of the clownesque while the sandals have connotations of religion. Your self is represented as a symbol for others in society, for humanity and the human condition. It makes me think about Sartre and also the task of Sisyphus.”
Another viewer found the film very uncomfortable to watch and commented that it made her think of being in a coffin.
Talking to a group of art therapists and counsellors opened up interesting connections:
“There is a tension between the form and emotion. Sometimes you seem to be getting the measure of the space and at other times getting almost angry and trying to get out. At other times it is quite balletic.”
This person referred to the concept of ‘authentic movement’ which is believed to be therapeutic. This is defined as ‘An expressive improvisational movement practice that allows a group of participants a type of free association of the body. Started by Mary Starks Whitehouse in the 1950s as ‘movement in depth’. She trained as a psychotherapist and upon incorporating dance and movement into her sessions with psychiatric patients began pioneering expressive movement as ‘dance movement therapy’.
The movement became what Starks Whitehouse called ‘authentic’ when it could be recognised as genuine, belonging to that person, e.g. ‘when he individual is able to allow their intuitive impulses to freely express themselves without intellectual directive, as opposed to movement initiated by conscious decision making.’
Also referred to R.D. Laing and his work on mental illness. Laing argued that ‘individuals can often be put in impossible situations (by family or through society) where they are unable to conform to the conflicting expectations of their peers, leading to a lose-lose situation and immense mental distress for the individuals concerned.’
Another strand of Laing’s thinking, traceable to Marx and Sartre, condemns society for shackling humankind against it’s will, taking away individual freedom.
