The F/OL\D as Somatic/Artistic Practice

Saturation

Image: Susan Sentler dancer: Valerie Lim

A 2-day ONLINE workshop in art curation

through movement improvisation, imagery and multimedia

Susan Sentler & Glenna Batson

22nd & 23rd of May 2021

9 am to Noon each day (EST) (2 pm GMT+1)

The F/ol\d is an exploration into the infinite manifestations of folding – of matter, body, mind and material. This workshop offers another immersion into The F/ol\d. The theme: Saturation. Saturation embraces paradox. The meeting – the folds of light, stimulus and receptor – is alchemical, trends towards many hues, brilliant or flattened. Time also brings another layer of perplexity into the mix: A whiff of a flower’s fragrance is potent, but dissipates smell within seconds; a drop of cognac into a roux requires hours to yield a rich elixir. The F/ol\d offers such endless transformative possibilities when given a liminal space in which to seep and soak into its interiority. At this time of saturation with the virtual, Susan and Glenna invite you into this space. Together, we will explore the mysteries and aesthetics of saturation. Through somatic movement improvisation, multi-media play, curation and an-archiving, we will engage in a textural field of co-creation. Sampling an array of visual and haptic, materials/media and images, we will weave a collective web of play and sense making.

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Bio-Origami

Unfolding Entanglements

Through Movement Exploration & Sound

Human Origami* is an embodied improvisational movement practice developed by Glenna and Susan Sentler that explores the multiple dimensions of bodily folding. This basic human movement repertoire lies at the heart of our biological archive. From the emergence of cellular DNA to our growth and development throughout life, we enfold and unfold in a myriad of shapes and patterns. In recent decades, scientists have invested in unraveling the mysteries of protein folding – a dizzying array of shapes and patterns occurring at dizzying speeds. Proper folding at this micro-scale seems critical to health. An entangled nano-pattern might well lie at the root of pathology. While we can’t know the relationship between cause and effect of disease at this point, we can explore this ‘theory’ somatically – through embodied movement. This we did on March 28th by zoom platform. Susan and Glenna introduced human origami to an enthusiastic group of folks living with Parkinson’s disease and like-minded dance artists. Everyone was curious to explore how to envision and experience how to ‘unfold’ entangled sensations. The movement session also was inspired by a sound score improvised by soundscape artist Jude Casseday. Jude’s blog captures the spirit of the event – one that the human origami team will continue to explore as the art-science idea takes off.

The Fold as Somatic/Artistic Practice

Photo Susan Sentler, dancer Valerie Lim

In early March, Glenna Batson and Susan Sentler were invited as guest artists to teach intensive on The Fold for the University of Limerick Dance Programme, Limerick, Ireland. The two have been steadily teaching workshops ONLINE since the pandemic. Stay tuned for the next workshop offering in May!

Human Origami is

An evolving STEAM network

STEAM stands for scientists, technology experts, engineers, artists and mathematicians – a trans-disciplinary network whose collaborations give rise to new art forms and scientific insights. Human Origami invites collaborations around the science and art of folding, offering new ways of envisioning and understanding the underlying aesthetic of life’s processes. Performing artists partner with bioengineers to fashion designers. The result? A new perspective on the aesthetics and logistics of human organization.

An embodied process of body-mind transformation.

Human Origami movement workshops explore how the body folds and unfolds in response to an enriched sensory environment of movement, music, language and multi-media that engage body, mind and ear – a liminal experience that transforms consciousness and catalyzes creativity in movement expression.

A window into human development –

Folding is the basic movement repertoire and an archive etched into the history of human development. Bio-Origami is how we got here, a continuum throughout the lifespan. Folding is how the embryo builds a body without a brain – a brilliance that speaks to the fundamentals of movement dynamics in the ecosystem of life.