Not to be Senseless #2
Not to be Senseless #2
A collaboration with Journey Through the Senses ‘Not to be Senseless’ is a stage for neurodivergent art; with people and pieces that experience and explore neurodivergencies such as synaesthesia, savantism and autism. The evening opens up new perspectives by recognising differences in how we sense the world. Curated by Maria Oosterveen.
To echo the different worlds of the neurodivergent, this edition of the event will focus on the sensorial experience of touch. Laura A. Dima will be exploring the politics of touch through wearable devices that simulate touch between physically separated individuals. Ludmila Rodrigues will be sharing her pressure based experiments with inflatables. Jenny Konrad will round off the evening with a talk about self stimulation and the role this plays in neurodivergency.
Society is still restricted in its knowledge and acceptance of neurodivergencies, with neurodivergent people often being seen as difficult. This makes it important to create a moment where neurodivergencies get a place to be seen and respected. To show that neurodivergencies are a strength that show us our world in a different light.
Program
Laura A. Dima is a Romanian-born multidisciplinary artist who explores cultural norms surrounding intimacy, touch, and privacy.
TACTimat is a series of tactile sculptures from which flexible, silicone shapes (buttons) rise. Their shape and grid composition were chosen to be aesthetically pleasing and to invite exploration through touch. The buttons rely on biomimetic inspiration.
Bellies explores mediated social touch; refering to the use of technology to simulate and facilitate physical touch. The concept revolves around two remote individuals who can communicate and connect through haptic sculptures. These sculptures, serving as extensions of the body.
Originally from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Ludmila Rodrigues is an artist who creates choreographic objects, haptic spaces and interactive stages to explore sensory and social experience.
Through her investigation on tactility, she defies the notion of the artwork, inviting visitors to become both actors and researchers.
Her works center the body of the audience, where relations of trust, vulnerability and agency emerge.
Ludmila will be sharing her experiments with pressure, as an instance of Touch. Through 3 different inflatable objects that envelop the body, one experiences their skin being fully touched and gently pressed, which leads one to loosen up and relish.
Jenny Konrad is a design researcher and multi-sensory translator of information. They push the boundaries of storytelling to make information digestible to constantly overstimulated minds and understimulated bodies.
In their talk they will touch on the subject of sensory divergent perceptions. How neurosensory divergent people can react to sensory impact, and what an influence this can have on their nervous system and their lives, with the main focus on autism and adhd.
They will also present the audience with a range of stimming (self stimulation) toys that the audience can engage with. They will explain why the use of stimming toys is of importance to our need for touch (in the broad sense), and the difference between 1st and 2nd degree stimming.
Curator
Maria Oosterveen is an Art-Science Alumni with a background in Analytical chemistry. Her works are tactile and performative with a hint of the political and philosophical. Currently she works with textiles to create her works of art. Handwork has a personal meaning to Maria Oosterveen as the skill has been passed on from generation to generation, woman to woman.
Not to be Senseless is presented by iii and Journey Through the Senses, with financial support from Creative Industries Fund NL and The Municipality of The Hague.
