Соблюдайте пустоту: мокьюментари-медитация Дарьи Спиваковой

Observe emptiness: mockumentary meditation by Daria Spivakova

Immerse yourself in the silence of your inner world when you find yourself in front of a stranger (yourself) in order to reveal a hidden personality and find a fine line between yourself and her, as well as other viewers of the production.

Корреспондент Art of Her отправился на поиск ответов в новом иммерсивном перформансе Дарьи Спиваковой «Пóтлач тишины».

Оказавшись перед собой, что бы вы сказали себе?

"Potlatch of Silence" is a mockumentary meditation, the practice of shared silence, in which your personal is accompanied by the personal of another viewer. Interestingly, two completely different people do not interfere with each other in studying themselves, but on the contrary are connected in search of solitude.

The genre of "mockumentary" itself assumes pseudo-documentalism, but with such precise research that it is sometimes impossible to distinguish reality from a fictional space. The very idea of the "Potlatch of Silence" fits seamlessly into the venue of its holding – the house of merchant Shakhvorostov (99 Nazarbayev Street), where the consulates of the USA and France were located at different times. It was the latter who played an important role in the production of Daria Spivakova. According to the author's idea, boxes with artifacts of non-human agents and instructions for the practice of shared presence were found in the house.

«Это об уникальном чувственном опыте, о ценности человеческого контакта, о безграничной экосистеме природы и всех живых существ, об осмыслении глобального социального контекста. Много о чём. Об отражении того что значимо сейчас именно для вас. И возможно, того кто напротив», — говорит о постановке Дарья Спивакова.

Interestingly, there are no actors involved in the production, except for the conductor who meets and accompanies the audience. During the practice process, the audience is accompanied by a voice that is perceived as the "inner voice" of each of the participants.

The practice of shared presence

The main action of the play takes place in the annex of the house on Nazarbayev Street, 99, where at one time Almaty residents received visas to France. On one side of the mirrored glass is you, on the other – another participant of the performance. But during the practice of shared presence, this glass changes its original meaning and becomes a metaphor.

«Физическое зеркальное стекло в какой-то момент становится холстом, зеркалом, отражением, окном, экраном, порталом, картиной, железным занавесом, гладью воды… это оказался очень емкий и своевременный образ, вбирающий рефлексию о наших отношениях с самими собой, друг-другом, виртуальностью, государственными структурами, о ковидном периоде, об актуальной гео-политической ситуации. С той стороны зеркального стекла — это цитата из стихотворения «Первые свидания» Арсения Тарковского, это строчка из песни Бориса Гребенщикова. Я чувствую в этих текстах особую магию и особенный трепет контакта с реальностью через эти строчки. Будто в них снова так отчётливо отражаются признаки нашего времени и мечты о возвращении в прекрасное», — рассказала Дарья Спивакова.

"Potlatch of silence"

Potlatch - is a traditional ceremony of demonstrative exchange of gifts among the Indians of North America. In the production, the objects of the potlatch are leaves, herbarium, stones, herbs – all this is a reference to the primordial, to human nature. It was the potlatch ceremony that Daria Spivakova chose to establish contact and unite the participants of the practice into a single organism.

All this action is adjusted by internal silence, which, despite the soundtrack, has a strong effect on all viewers.

«Я знаю что способность слышать тишину — это настройка когнитивных функций. Что тишина всегда со мной, внутри, нужно только настроить свой мозг прибывать в ней. Я как и все существо с несовершенной психикой, и иногда это удается, иногда — нет. И в мире так много прекрасных вещей, которые облегчают эту сонастройку. Я люблю свидания с природой — прогулки с горами и морем, красоту простых вещей, медленный созерцательный образ жизни, медитации, книги и музыку. Моя профессиональная деятельность — практика психотерапевта — это тоже путь исследования методов слышать тишину, быть её чутким проводником. И я вижу в этом одну из ключевых функций арт-терапевта — через практики движения и рисования, организовать среду и ситуации, которые делают встречи с тишиной возможными, которые позволяет ей проявить терапевтический ресурс», — подчеркивает автор Дарья Спивакова.

Correspondent's answers

The "Potlatch of Silence" session is attended by 10 viewers, in whose life these 55 minutes become an important stage of immersion in themselves and the stranger behind the glass. This is a rethinking of values and the emphasized importance of hearing and being heard in complete silence.

For the correspondent of Art of Her, immersive performances occupy a special place in the study of art, and the "Potlatch of Silence" was the impetus for intimate discoveries of the inner subconscious, which will remain behind the mirrored glass of its own stranger.

But is the local viewer ready for such experiments? Daria Spivakova believes that it is necessary to interact with the viewer, from the position that he is most likely smarter than the author.

"My teachers have always told me to treat the viewer-reader as an intelligent, conscious person, to interact from the position that he is most likely smarter than me. I think it's not a matter of some level of cultural training, but a non-random chance — how much the state of the Potlatch of Silence coincides with the state of the one who comes to it.

It's like a relationship with the weather or with the elements, for example, spring rain — it's not bad and not good in itself, but sometimes someone meeting with it can cause joy and delight, and sometimes he or someone else has negative feelings of untimeness and inappropriateness.

After the screenings of my previous project "Utopia", I received many touching letters about how it turned out to be significant and healing for the audience. I never expected to engage in popular art and was surprised by the number of people who responded to this story.

Also, in my works I leave a lot of layers for immersion, a lot of references, and depending on which layer and how many of them the viewer tries, how he feels and what happens in his own life, his unique experience of impressions will develop.

And the viewer can only taste the cherries from the top of the cake or see through the composition of all the cakes and layers — he will have a different sense of taste.

He may find himself in a sensitively-delicate state and a set of tactile contacts will open up an additional part of the story for him. Someone may turn out to have a pop-cultural and philosophical background similar to mine, and decoded hyperlinks left in sounding texts will lead him into a new space of meanings and semiotic connections.

But if a person is in some other actual state, the work does not lose from this - it's just that a different range of possible impressions is created for everyone," Daria Spivakova noted.

Daria Spivakova is an artist, director, composer, silence technologist and art therapist. The creator of the performances "Utopia" and "Utopia. Return to sleep."

The next session of the "Potlatch of Silence" is scheduled from May 12 to May 15, the number of seats is limited. The editorial board of Art of Her recommends.

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