This one kinda went viral but I can’t resist (re)posting it here (it was sent to me by several friends/colleagues after I announced the Space-Out Solstice. Funny coincidence of timing!) :
• Doing Nothing Has Become a Sport in South Korea
“A few weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, about 70 people gathered at Ichon Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, to do absolutely nothing. There was not a smartphone in sight, no texting or taking selfies, and no one rushing to get anywhere.
The crowd was taking part in South Korea’s annual Space Out Competition, a contest to see who can stare off into space the longest without losing focus. WoopsYang, the visual artist who created the event in 2014, said it’s designed to highlight how much people have been overworking their brains and how much they stand to gain by taking a break…”
• Slow Dance as an Act of Resistance
“The agitated pace of capitalism creates a tonic state of dis-ease and dis-connec- tion felt in the (more-than-human) body and, as a result, a pathology of place imprints itself onto/into bodies as a re-enactment or performance of a dis-eased environment (or place). How can we return new life to our dulled senses? What are the pathways to reconnect? As an exploration of an embodied cellular understanding of place/loss of place through (eco)somatic practices, slow knowledge, and relational embodied ethics, this paper/presentation will speak to/with/through a site-responsive, performance-based research project in progress by Sally Morgan…”
The Sanctimonious Sect of Nothing Is Sacred 