On a cozy 23rd of December four women poured themselves a drink – some tea, mix-drinks or just water. They were wearing pyjamas and alpaca jumpers, opened their computer to click on the link they have just received via Whatsapp – a zoom link.
Most of their peers had already wished each other a merry holiday and clocked off, however, these four women wanted to know it-
What?
They wanted to know what they want.
“We want to make progess in our own projects but find crossroads of our works where we meet to discuss and create…”
One is currently doing their interviews in the field of proliferating alternative art schools using social reproduction theory. Here questions come up as What is your field? What other theories are relevant for bringing together support networks, anti-capitalist thought and critical pedagogy?
The next one is currently defining the field – working as a curator, doing a practice based PhD to create knowledge(s) together especially after having looked at alternative modes of gathering that can be adopted into pedagogies. Cooking and eating together may be a path to follow.
Where do materials come from? Understanding also colour as material the third turn processing thoughts delves into practices of making and knowing. How do we relate to everything around us? Seeking encounters through materials…
And there is as well the relationship between bodies that encounter each other in the realm of Taekwondo. The material is safely (?!) stored on hard drives but being stuck in so much material and too many ideas the last women presenting herself does not yet know what to care about but trying to keep up with the full schedule.
After the first refill, we feel, we do not want to take the walk alone and encounter some threads that plait through our works –
RELATIONSHIPS –> Encounters and ethics leading up to discuss the notion of CARE!
Happy New Year!
Many questions arose when talking about CARE:
What is care for us and how do we want to apply it?
What does caring mean?
Can Care be approached as an EVENT?
What is the relationship with materials?
Touching, being touched, Intimacy- what is the right distance?
Is intimacy necessary for care?
What do we mean when using the term CARE?
Who cares? – hierarchies, receiving and giving? Who is able to care?
(Joan Tronto 2015: Who cares?)
What do infrastructures of care look like?
Is there a difference between caring and keeping someone alive?
Social reproduction theory – Nancy Fraser: Crisis of Care.
— > standing in conflict creating caring relationships and productivity. Being stripped of time.
personal/individual interests against social wider social care/embeddedness.
Mainstream of being told what to care for (constant reminder broadcast)
Privatised ownership – rich people can afford care/self care yoga classes
Poor people can sell it…
AI and care: how are gender roles
AI care – how do we approach illness and ideas of health
Biased against ill bodies. Obsession with health
The silhouette/ image of look of caring and being cared for, looking healthy, maintained
Activism – couch activism
Running apps/health care apps – self optimisation – commodified or privatised ideas of care.
Between affection and obsession or negligence
AFFECT – how much affect/abject do we need to care
Seeing the effects of behaviours (human) and caring structures – eg. the virus, guiding systems for human bodies.
CARING and CONTROLLING?
→ AGENCY
Emotional not an institutional word?!
→ eg. a teacher and their student relationship of care (filling in a form and protocols, but very limited)
Overcaring, overprotecting – becoming violent.
Where are the limits? – is it determined by law?
Bibliography:
Barat, Karen
Fraser, Nancy
Puig de la Bellacasa, Maria: Matters of care
Tronto, Joan:
0 Comments