Summer Intensive 2017: School of Gesture

May 16–21, 2017
Location: Old Library, Athens School of Fine Arts, Athens
In collaboration with the Athens School of Fine Art (ASFA) and University of Kassel

Lou Forster introduces the work of Anna Halprin, photo: Angelos Giotopoulos

Marina Fokidis reflects on the project Gesture: A Visual Library, photo: Angelos Giotopoulos

Otobong Nkanga and Maya Tounta engage students in a soap making session as part of the project Carved to Flow, photo: Angelos Giotopoulos

Looking into histories of gesture with Alexandra Bachzetsis and Sotiris Vassiliou, photo: Angelos Giotopoulos

Alexandra Bachzetsis shares a number of her works with students, photo: Angelos Giotopoulos

Rasheed Araeen and Gene Ray discuss The Death of the Audience, photo: aneducation

Prinz Gholam share insights into their project My Sweet Country at the Ancient Agora, photo: Angelos Giotopoulos

Mary Zygouri addresses the returning gesture in her project The Round-up Project: Kokkinia 1979–Kokkinia 2017 \ M. Z. \ M. K., photo: Angelos Giotopoulos

What is a gesture? By definition, a gesture is a movement of a part of the body, in particular the hand or head, which is intended to express an idea or convey meaning. In Latin the verb gestare refers to the management of the body or how to carry oneself and the body. In modern Italian gestire means “to manage.” Gestures include a wide spectrum of codified behaviors and communication—from the simple and unintentional to the complex and mimetic—which might seem universal but are always embedded within specific social, institutional, and temporal histories.

Together with a body of students from various institutions and over a period of one week in May 2017, the School of Gesture introduces particular histories of the body and examines how power is inscribed. During this process participants engage in a series of gestural exercises, read texts, and take part in both intimate and more public conversations with contributors to documenta 14 and guests about the archeology of gestures—with a view to coproducing a lexicon of the body and putting it into practice.

Movements and subjects included: Mimesis, Control (behavior), Labor (mechanization), Writing (hand), Architecture (public space), Signs (musicality), Gender, Planetary (scale)

photo: Max Hänich