ATTRACTOR

[Marlon Barrios Solano]

This is the main topical discussion space for the lab. We will use it to establish a dialogical space on ideas, comments, provocations, theoretical questions, inspirations, etc. It is used as a continuous thread during the whole lab and after. It can host photos, video and text.

[Charles Dietrich]

This reminds me of talk about the container of contact improv, which allows me to arrive in presence there. In a sense the container is radically absent in our initial interactions as a networked group.

[Tamara Searle]

I am practicing a moment of radical presence on the train

I am reminded of travel

being in a different place

makes you pay more attention

the grey sky reminds me of Berlin

I can pretend the white tarpaulin beside the tracks

is snow

[Kellie Lynch]

An invitation to be available. To see and be seen. A continuous practice of here/now embodiment.

[Ellen Maynard]

very concise answer, Kellie! My question to you is, If arriving in presence involves being seen, is "performance" a part of being present for you? I have been thinking a lot about the differences between performing being in the moment, or just being in the moment. Or if there is a difference, or if you could even distinguish when one is happening over the other. 

[Vannia]

Just some thoughts, maybe not so articulated...
Arriving in presence sounds to me like an action of a state... The action of being here now... In connection with the self and others

Engaged
Available
Open
But wondering if it needs to be at the same time and same space...
Telepresence allows you to be in a different space and somehow at a different time due to technical conditions...
Presence is where our senses are...
And talking about telepresence, Like Edward Hall said, technology and media are an extension of our senses, so a letter, computer, tv, etc are just an extension of our ears, mouth, eyes. But in a telecommunication, not all our senses are extended so something is missed... And that's only part of our frustration; the other part is the interference between the media of communication and ourselves, so we are not in full presence. As Caterina, I'm also in between countries (Peru, Colombia, USA) and to me the presence of my family and friends is thru social media, Skype, emails and phone... I know we interact somehow, but also we miss a lot...
That's why I'm wondering if we can really arrive in presence using technology, maybe yes, maybe only partially, but is good to have the option and to explore it! So someday, we will be able to achieve our desire to be "omnipresent"...

[Glenna Batson]

The concept of this globalogue is a great one - where an interchange between (cognitive)(neuro)scientists and dancers is finding links between the practices. This conversation seems to have gained enormous momentum over the last 10 years or so. It would be great to clarify a few things in the basic framework of the neurophenomenological concept of 'embodied cognition' come from? Why does dance - especially improvisation - offer a 'window' into embodied cognition? What constitutes embodied cognitive research? I could see from Corinne's talk how empathic responses to watching dance certainly fits into this idea. We are in the midst of a very interesting, budding moment!

[tamara]

I practice improvisation because the physicality brings me into awareness of body in the present moment.  I enjoy how risk and not knowing where one is going, develops focused attention on the here and now.  This week, I have been arriving in different places - Italy, London, my house.  I tuned to this workshop in Italy at Cassina Settarte, watching the video of Nancy working there in 2007 (?).  Then we went to dance and it was very focused - very nice - with lots of listening to each other.  The presence of the present seemed extensive and expansive, playful, light and spacious for choices emerging from co-incidence and desire, and taking pleasure from the support given to each other.  I thought of this group in my dancing and of the residue of presence left by both physical and virtual contact.

Later, I made my screentest and thought of this group, dispersed but somehow feeling the shared endeavour, an interweaving of lives and within my life, working at our own pace, engaging on our terms....I wonder about this and the underscore.  My experience of the underscore is one that involves a strong feeling of community that seems to arise from the commitment to be in all the time and the feeling of the movement of others.  I wonder what community we will make here.....

My experience of the travelling - dancing - workshops in two places - all over the place, resonates with the deleuzian idea of the subject as a 'complex cluster of forces'.  I do like this idea of multiple trajectories of action, perception, doing, process and meanings meeting in a particular moment.  It seems to describe the complexity of presence and that attention simply chooses where the focus of presence manifests in awareness.

[Charles Dietrich]

A little background. An influential older article in the human-computer interaction literature is "Beyond Being There" (Hollan and Stronetta, 1992):

A belief in the efficacy of imitating face-to-face communication is an unquestioned presupposition of most current work on supporting communications in electronic media. In this paper we highlight problems with this presupposition and present an alternative proposal for grounding and motivating research and development that frames the issue in terms of needs, media, and mechanisms. To help elaborate the proposal we sketch a series of example projects and respond to potential criticisms.

Take for example "Hole in Space" (Galloway and Rabinowitz 1980). The artists established a transcontinental video link between LA and NYC and allowed passerby on the street to use it. A video with some footage is available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMVtE1QjaU). I highly recommend watching it as a historical document, feel free to ignore the irrelevant to our purposes commentary about internet speeds. It clearly had the effect of enhanced participation and movement, due to the novelty and the safety of interacting with strangers.

But this is not 1980, and we can't expect mere technology to provide novelty at this point. When Rachel performed in NYC last month, the group said something about trying to constantly get into a place of discomfort. Is discomfort another word for novelty? In a way Nancy Stark Smith's exercise for this week provides that discomfort.

[Irene]

I love 'The mother of all video chats'. Never seen it before. It has the beautiful naivety of the 80's....

[Ellen Maynard]

agreed! 

[Wanda Gala]

This comment is related to ideas of presence though isn't a direct response to the conversation on arriving in presence. It is instead a response to one of today's consultation conversations.

After talk about an expanded mind or dispersed cognition during google hangouts today I am thinking of physical activities that can shape and manipulate our focus and perspective during these hangouts. Would love to experiment with different tasks directing mode and quality of attention. In this context how does how we see affect what we see? How is this relevant to our transmission of embodied data over the internet? If others are interested we can collaboratively list activities through chat and then try them all out together, or we can just set a date and time and bring our activities with us. Thoughts? Thank you(s)!

[Glenna Batson]

Yes, I concur with Wanda - would love to test out activities that shape-shift our focus during the hangouts - I found my own focus influenced by so many things, a 'stretch' as Marlon notes,of many levels of embodied - from excitation of various parts of my skinespheres, gestures and expressions that demand a level of attention, attunement and sensory acuity that is different and even perhaps, exceeds, the experience of being present in the rooms with the same people. The emergent behavior seemed equally as interesting as the ideas shared.