Spatial Relationship
the distance between: context and possibility....
The distance between.
Standing near the edge or in the center. Where am I drawn to be?
Is closeness expressed by proximity alone?
Can secrets be shared across the chasm or must I be near to know?
Do I truly get a better view of what is happening if I am SO close?
Or is shutting out the world by drawing your hands so near
that they are the only things I see,
the one thing that will keep me tethered to this earth right now?
Spatial Relationship is the first of Anne Bogart’s View Points I want to dive into… It may be my favorite.
Simply by standing one step closer or one step further away I change the dynamic of the room. Simply by moving the cheese closer to the grapes on a plate, I turn “girl dinner” into charcuterie.
Spatial Relationship is crucial in navigating the world.
It outlines safety, it can alter dynamics in group settings,
it has a hand in creating beauty or discord.
But, we actually have to learn our relationship in “space”.
As babies,in infancy, as we grab and reach for things. Bring them close to our face, push them back out and around… picking up blocks to find that star shaped hole.
And I as I grow and age, the understanding of how I relate to objects… to others… within this three dimensional world is cultivated in my own unique way.
While many of our spatial awarenesses can be shared culturally, I have to assume this space, this distance, means different things on an individual basis. Your awareness of yourself in the world is intrinsically different from my own.
There was a curious commonality around spacial relationship during the Covid Pandemic. Now, not that everyone shared the same practices, or had the same experience, but there WAS a common awareness of what 6 feet meant.
I still see the stickers or residue of markers in shops, on sidewalks… We needed visual help to understand what 6’ actually felt like in real space.
And I personally never knew how much I actually enjoyed distance until those restrictions went away. When encroaching upon others in the check out line at the grocer became common practice again.
I became so grateful for the normalization of asking for consent for a hug.
“No thank you.” now feels a little easier to say.
Allowing my own need to connect to you from “here” being more of a choice? (How that space actually that helps me feel connected to you by being able to make that choice.)And now the specialness is amplified when those hugs are wanted and inspired.
And now I have, in my bones, a relationship with what 6 feet feels like.
In creating performance or written work, spatial relationship is used to build intimacy, conflict, or urgency. The composition of space informs the world being created. The distance between characters themselves, or the characters to their environment creates contextual meaning.
Distance itself is never neutral. It shapes a story.
I am not a visual artist or a designer, but I know enough to understand these choices are also of import in other mediums.
Just like I can assume something is going to happen to the main character when I see the antagonist looming in the corner on the latest show I am binging,
As an observer, I create a story about the two people walking to their car after brunch… I instantly imagine that they are new in love and even though they will see each other later this evening, they just need “5 more minutes”.
I will keep creating meaning, right or wrong, because I am human.
To think about it artistically, or space as a medium, I can become a sculptor or architect. I can expand the “what is” if I can separate my assumptions by focusing on the factual, observable context.
Where perspective may be my subjective point of view based on my experience and my point of view. What If I were to step back from creating that story, and simply look at the space between, the facts in front of me, and leave room for me to take it as it is and let the reality unfold?
Until soon….
See you at the next threshold,
xo
Kirstin
