This research strand has been, will be, was “Infinite Gestures”. We attempt to treat our themes lightly, thematic explorations are tricky in their potential to narrow or even bludgeon. We attempt to treat them as a seed for a plant of unknown origin, to give them just enough, just the amount of attention they need to tell us what they are or might be. We each instill them with our own meaning, make and unmake meaning of them, and this seminar is a part of furthering this process.
The theme grew out of a response to the Occupy Movement that swept across the U.S. in 2012. As artists, we were inspired by the form of the movement, its aesthetic character if you will [the aesthetic character of the movement]. What made the occupations so easy to ridicule in the minds of detractors and skeptics was exactly what made it beautiful to me. Its refusal to become singular, to accept any singular self-image, even as it grew to the epic proportions of a worldwide movement. Like a child that refuses to differentiate, residing just a moment longer in the infinite primordial state of belonging. Occupying was an action that could mean things to many people. To me this instance on an amorphous plurality was its complicated beauty.
It showed off this beauty in its durational structure, which was infinite. They/we were occupying, this space was occupied for an indeterminate time, for the infinite now.
The appreciation of the beauty of this movement made me want to explore its aesthetic character further, to bring together a group of artists, crafts people, designers, thinkers, and writers to expand on this infinite gesture.
