Dorit Cypis
Reading Journal
1. What piqued my interest from syllabus; pathways of thought:
“There is nothing wrong with difference, nor with conflict, in fact we need challenges to
go beyond what we already know in order to develop creative options. Conflict is
human, so is difference.”
“...the psychosocial aspects of conflict including the nature and culture of difference
and bias formation, reaction versus response, and dynamic communication towards equity, empathy and reciprocity.”
-skills for engaging across differences
-understanding fluid interests within fixed positions
-expanding dialogic activities
2. Judith Butler, Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence,erso, 2004
The only thing I do know is that there is much I do not [cannot] know. Or, the thing I am most sure of is that nothing is a sure thing.
Publication of the text- separation from the author is analogous to the life of the artwork beyond the studio walls; the author ‘survives’ within the work only as the work survives
independent of the author; it is not immortality nor is immortality what is desired. It is survival driven by the unknown, or rather that which cannot be known.
“Who will inherit it now and how? Will there even be inheritors?” (Derrida)
The pedagogical impulse to form...we cannot form, we can only present?
“The word is as much a trace as it is a signifier.” (Butler)
It is the work [text] that acts upon the spectator, not the artist [author]. The action undertaken at its conception spins it into an existence that goes beyond that of the originator.
3. Dorit Cypis, Susan Oetgen, and Eva Vander Giessen, Performing Empathy: What the Arts Can Offer Conflict Resolution, 2013
Perceptual, sensorial and cognitive strategies necessary to mediation are key components of the arts, making the arts key to enhancing communication, empathy,
within mediation.
The Seeing Triangle: Perceptual, Experiental, Formal
Recognition of how a person ‘sees’ impacts how he or she engages [or not] through the lens of his or her experiences/bias key to mediation.
Presenting alternate perspectives, different from the spectators own, via art...building empathy for other perspectives.
“What is one risk you could take in your practice to creatively cultivate awareness and deepen empathy?”
Think about. Does my practice tend to emphasize one over the other?
4. Dorit Cypis, The Space of Conflict:Aesthetic Lessons for Mediators, 016
“...the spatial nuances of human identity…”
“Artists disturb the peace of our quotidian lives to unmask hidden threads of form and meaning.”
A great description of the task of the artist!
“...of honesty and empathy.”
Awareness of the impact/attributes of physical space in a virtual world. I think this will be a key factor that artist will need to consider going forward. It is one thing to
createart that is or mirrors the online world; but how will the ubiquity of an online reality impact the ability of people to engage in real space? This reminds me of my
younger son’s initial attempt to ‘swipe’ a TV screen because he was born post-touch screen technology, and his frustration when it would not respond to his touch. Or not
comprehending the difference between ‘on demand’ music and radio. Online [virtual] space is an individual space; real [physical] space is a collective space. How will we
exist in the physical if we are conditioned primarily to the virtual?
Memory is the past perceived in the present; which could stand in the way of perceiving the present if we are un-attuned to their presence. It is as if we need to look
and listen through a prism, breaking apart the colors so that each becomes visible.
A positive fragmentation.
Building “an intimacy of mutual recognition”.
physical space---psychic space
Looking at, facing, listening, as an act of non-negation within a psychic space leads to bridging a gap.
Applying the medium within which we create [a space] to gain understanding, empathy, within a conflicted space.
At times the medium alone cannot bridge the gap.