Dear reader,
You are free to jump straight into practice. Before, if you want, you can familiarize yourself with the explicit and implicit rules that developed over days and weeks in the research cell "Through Phenomena themselves" at the Research Pavilion in Venice in 2019.
(If you are part of the Research Cell Through Phenomena Themselves and find that some rules are missing or you want to change them, you can do that at the Research Catalogue page exposition, to which you have been invited.)
PRACTICE
Where does it start and where does it begin?
First make a brief overview of the situation
Possible methods that you can apply to achieve an overview:
peak over a shoulder
overhear a conversation
focus on a meaningless detail
take a look at the artist-reseachers feet
close your eyes for a moment
attend your own smell or breath
...
Now,
choose an artist-researcher as your object
Let’s imagine that this is the true phenomenological practitioner
This practitioner is able to access the world of phenomena
that resides at the hidden core of our everyday experience
Observe this practitioner for a while
How are these practitioners able to do that?
How do they know when they are in contact with the world of phenomena?
What have they had for lunch these last days?
What is this mysterious practice and how do you perceive it as a visitor?
We will now invite you to a series of seemingly arbitrary actions
which will give you an experience of
how the practitioner approaches the world:
Find or steal a chair or another object of your choice
Turn it into a station (see rules):
Make it uninviting to use for it’s normal use so that it’s not mistaken as a chair, pen, bottle, etc. (for example by flipping a chair on a position which makes sitting impossible)
Make eye contact with an artist-researcher of your choice
Ask with your eyes “how does this feel?” allow the situation to develop
Repeat until you successfully pull the attention towards your now transformed phenomenon
To finish, ask yourself with your eyes:
How did this feel?
Thank you for bending, attending and lending yourself to the rules of the research cell “Through Phenomena Themselves”.
Yours,
Tuomas and Charlotta
RULES
the rules are changing
the tables are not tables they are stations
the stations are used for practice
the stations are not to be used for other kind of activities
the stations are to be handled with care
the practices concern phenomena
the practices are not changing in relation to the opening
the practices are to be performed, not exhibited
the practices are occupying stations temporarily
the practice can continue utilizing space/stations/material until somebody addresses a conflict in interest
if one wishes to leave something permanent in the space, one should ask the others for permission
the stations are docked after use and in the end of the day
the decisions concerning the use of the space are (not) based on consensus
the possible conflicts in interest are (not) solved through communication or leaving the space
the blackboards are stations
the blackboards stations are written on with chalk
the chalk is to be hidden from view so that visitors do not feel invited to use it
the chalk should be white
the chairs are chairs
the walls are not used for practices
the current situation is valid until 11th of May
the things objects that are not related to practice cannot be put on the tables stations and walls
the tables stations are to be put in a position that is uninviting in order to not be mistaken as tables
the members of other cells should be discouraged from borrowing or using the tables stations
the chairs are to be removed after use
bags and other personal items are to be placed out of sight
the practices are conducted with proper attention
the proper attention is a responsibility to attend to
the attention of somebody else is not to be disturbed or questioned