“The great memory of shame is much clearer and more merciless than any other memory. In essence this is the special gift of shame.” (Annie Ernaux, 1998)
"خاطره ی پر رنگ احساسشرمساری به مراتب شفاف تر و بی رحم تر از هر خاطره ی دیگری است.
این خصیصه موهبت ذاتی ویژه ی احساس شرمساری است."
آنی آرنو ۱۹۹۸
(NOT) ENTERING EVERY ROOM
Exploring autosociobiographies via liminal crossing points of social class and the emotion shame
A multi- and transdisciplinary research creation by Barbara Wolfram, Christina Wintersteiger, Negin Rezaie and Patrick Wolf conducted at Film Academy Vienna/ mdw - University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2020/21.
Departing from the notion of cinematic autosociobiographies, explored in our previous research project Confronting Realities - First Steps (Wolfram, Wintersteiger et al. 2020), as a means of exploring, describing and re-communicating the collectively experienced boundaries of social classes and their specific expressions inscribed in our bodies and biographies, (Not) Entering Every Room set out to focus on the unconscious liminal crossing points of social class within the multilayered field of autosociobiographies, concentrating on the “affective substrate” (Linck 2016) of these liminal experiences - the emotion shame.
Shame, in our artistic research work, is used as an instrument of autosociobiographical knowledge production. We wanted to probe an autosociobiographical exploration that is led by a specific emotion as we noticed in our previous research that shame is one of the strongest emotions coming up while working on social class. Along with exploring this process, we allowed ourselves to get immersed in our own autosociobiographies, not only to probe this particular method of exploration but also to critically understand from which position we are talking and researching.
We put a strong focus on a multidisciplinary process-oriented way of exploring autosociobiographies - be it body work, writing techniques, visual ways of expression (photos, videos, drawings), dance and movement improvisations or object improvisations, alone and in the group. The diversity of techniques helped us to access a diversity of memories and aspects that form autosociobiographies - memories and moments that are not only or not at all accessible via language-based memories but need other ways of triggering and reviving.
The artistic research presented here explores ways to look into autosociobiographies and to use them productively. It is not intended to be giving specific examples on class boundaries but to describe an artistic research method that makes it possible to explore such class boundaries via different artistic methods.
With this research exposition we want to open a room that invites others to enter and to start to explore their own autosociobiographies while offering our exploration methods and - to some extent - our personal process.
We came to understand that the process of exploration is a highly sensitive and personal process that best works with creating a sense of trust, respect and privacy for specific details.
This research exposition wishes to offer not only research results but also a platform to discuss our artistic research and a room that encourages an exchange and dialogue with yourself and your position as an artistic researcher. We pose questions and present processes and methods and we invite you, dear reader, to take up our cues and to explore (by) yourself while interacting with this exposition in the sense of "practice as research" (Biggs 2002, p.19).
These boxes prompt your autosociobiographical exploration process.
They might trigger a memory, a thought, a feeling, a smell, a taste, an image.
Be open to whatever reaction comes up. Sit with it for a moment, name it and let it go, but remember it.
Remembering might by a body movement, a drawing on a piece of paper, a melody, the changing of a sound, an object, the surface of an object, the changeability of an object, a written story or something completely different.