PROJECT DESCRIPTION

From embodied cognition in psychology to embodied artificial intelligence in computer science to embodied practice in dance, sports, and somatic activities, embodiment as a concept is present within a multitude of disciplines. Critical to embodiment is a positive orientation toward risk-taking, which materializes through a commitment to process-based methodologies that support emergent discovery rather than pre-determined and prescriptive thinking.

 

Considering embodiment from an arts-first perspective provides a path to new ways of knowing based on lived experiences, opportunities for creativity through process-based ways of working, and technically engaged research that centers justice. These approaches that engage with uncertainty and ambiguity are key to arts practices and point towards an opportunity to expand what questions and methods are counted and considered in other disciplines. We propose to explore embodiment together, grappling with productive tensions between our disciplines and positioning the arts as both translator and interrupter.

 

By surfacing the importance of felt-experience in and through Art, Design, Theatre, Architecture, Interactive Media, and Social Policy, our work critiques disembodied paradigms and suggests an alternative path that acknowledges and values emotion, social context, and shared cultural memory.​

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Check out our podcast, hosted by lab director Ilya Vidrin with special guests including Liz Lerman, Sidra Bell, Cara Michell, Mary Hale, and Grisha Coleman.