Sympoietica: A Grounding and Automatic Drawing Experience

RESCHED­ULED FOR SUN­DAY, OCTO­BER 31

Sym­poi­et­i­ca is a par­tic­i­pa­to­ry per­for­mance that cre­ates a space of solace, recu­per­a­tion, and cre­ative expres­sion through our rela­tion­ship to the earth and its mul­ti-species
inhab­i­tants. The audi­ence is invit­ed to par­tic­i­pate in a guid­ed sound­scape, move­ment and reflec­tion exer­cise that con­nects them to Gov­er­nors Island’s bio­di­ver­si­ty and his­to­ry while express­ing their asso­ci­a­tions through auto­mat­ic draw­ing. The per­for­mance com­bines the con­nec­tive prac­tice of earth­ing, the Sur­re­al­ist tech­nique of auto­mat­ic draw­ing and fem­i­nist the­o­rist Don­na Haraway’s con­cept of sym­poiesis or ​“mak­ing-with.” The Jan­u­ary 2012 Jour­nal of Envi­ron­men­tal Pub­lic Health states ​“recon­nec­tion with the Earth­’s elec­trons has been found to pro­mote intrigu­ing phys­i­o­log­i­cal changes and sub­jec­tive reports of well-being. Earth­ing (or ground­ing) refers to the dis­cov­ery of ben­e­fits — includ­ing bet­ter sleep and reduced pain — from walk­ing bare­foot out­side or sitting…transferring the Earth­’s elec­trons from the ground into the body.” Sym­poiesis or ​“mak­ing-with” is the con­cept that things do not cre­ate them­selves but devel­op through dynam­ic inter­re­la­tions. Through sound, move­ment and reflec­tion, the per­for­mance gen­er­ates a col­lab­o­ra­tion between bod­ies, place and oth­er liv­ing things that cen­ter sys­tems of care, embod­ied knowl­edge and col­lec­tive well-being. 

Sym­poi­et­i­ca is made pos­si­ble by the New York Foun­da­tion for the Arts’ #Cit­yArtist­Corps Grants. Spe­cial thanks to @nyfacurrent, @NYCulture, @madein_ny, and @queenstheatre.