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Zepp (Crouch) 2017
HD video without sound
The figure is saturated, the garments cling to the body, limiting its movement. Wet hair falls, obscuring the face. The bodily movement traces a path up and down; the full extension constrained by the full extended height of the subject and the wet garments that stick them . The figure bends at the knee and at the same time their hands, manipulate and arrange fabric that bunches at the front and side of the coat pocket. As the figure rises up, they hitch up the trousers to move their body into a crouching position. The wet garments cling to the body and a ‘hitching’ action releases the fabric and frees the body’s movement. The sequence reveals the subtle complexities of what is normally considered a mundane movement. Anyone who has worn trousers would somatically understand - the need to hitch up a small amount of fabric onto your thighs and hips, so when sitting down or crouching the change to the body’s position can be accommodated. This simple and ordinary movement of hitching trousers up brings into view the way in which the body’s movements and the garments are coordinated and set in a relation of mutual affect.
Zepp (Watercatcher) 2017
While the cupping of the hands is in itself practical and purposive, the rotation of the back of the hands towards the flow of water is in contrast, ambiguous. Todes points out our bodily structure is fundamental to how the world is experienced. He describes this initially through our sense of direction which he links to the ‘functional symmetry of our front-back structured body’ (2001, p. 106). Our practical forward oriented way of encountering the world creates an ‘invariant sense of direction’ (2001, p.106). While we can change direction, our sense of direction as upright, bipedal forward-going creatures cannot change; we always face forward. This produces a spatiotemporal field where that which is faced and dealt with makes up an emergent and unfolding context of activity. At the same time what has already been faced and dealt with is behind us or in our past and history.
While Todes focused on the invariant sense of direction produced by our forward facing anatomical and perceptual structure of the body, it is worth reflecting upon the structure of our hands and relation to the rest of the body. While we work generally with our hands in front of us, they can also reach objects behind us, or to the side or above us. Our hands are also able to rotate and move freely in space, albeit with some assistance of the arm with lateral constraints. The hands’ structure is defined by its two sides; the palm of the hand and the back of the hand. The palm is not a ‘face’ or a ‘front’, but most usually an organ of the body that orients inwards towards the sides of the torso. At other times the palms of the hands open and busy themselves itself in practical work or social interaction.
Zepp’s sartorial session is structured around the activity interacting with water dispensed from the bucket and pulley system installed above. The use of the flowing water produces a narrative of corporal transformation of dry to wet. By orienting the backs of the hands to the flowing water Zepp appears to shift from an active mode where they catch the water in cupped hands to an acquiescent relation to the water. At that precise moment Zepp rotates the hands, he also orients the body towards the water, such that it flows directly onto shoulders and hair. This simple hand gesture fulfils an analogy for the body as a whole. While these hand movements have a practical purpose to catch the water, they also reveal an expressive mode, where the simple rotation indicates a more acquiescent relationship towards the water. The expressive gesture sets in train more extensive series of corporeal transformations.These were observed in his movements, gestures and behaviour and the garment he wears.
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Todes, S. 2001, Body and World, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge M.A.
Zepp (Wrap) 2017
Noticeable physiological changes also take place. Their shoulders and torso rise and expand over a few seconds and it becomes apparent a deep breath is drawn, then exhaled, signalled by a drop of the shoulders. This effect is known as a dive reflex or ‘diving bradycardia’ and involves a breath-holding reflex and slowing of the heart rate. It is typical of all mammals and is said to be a reflex response believed to conserve oxygen during immersion in water. There were other movements, also physiological in nature. The wet fabric is wrapped around the body in order to preserve body temperature. Movement smooths wet hair away from the face - not as a preening gesture, but rather simply to enable one to see. There is something basic about these series of corporeal movements and their emergence signifies a modality of movement aligned with survival and changes to environmental conditions. In these movements the body emerges in terms of its vulnerability and relationship to the broader physical environment. These are movements stemming from environmental and noncultural anomalies and in in contrast to many of the culturally inscribed physical adaptions for public display that emerged in other sessions.