Lucinda Boermans
Ecologies of Movement
“The three ecologies are governed by different logic to that of ordinary communication between speakers and listeners which has nothing to do with the intelligibility of discursive sets, or the indeterminate interlocking of fields of signification. It is a logic of intensities, of auto-referential existential assemblages engaging in irreversible durations.”
We are living systems, existing inherently entwined. Living organisms are open systems, which means they have to maintain a continuous exchange of energy and matter with their environment to survive. Organisms evolve so they are process-oriented systems. The process of metabolism allows the system to remain in a state of equilibrium. If, however, we see ourselves, as Maturana and Varela propose, as 'autopoietic organisms' then our 'state' is far from balanced - it is precarious and 'far-from-equilibrium'.
Processes that are actionable now involve collaboration - you encounter it, it changes you, (and possibly them) and/or you change/create something together.
Change is integral to the collaborative process. Boermans suggests an eco-sophical approach is about designing for change with gesture and simulation; it is about investigating a pathway to 'trace-forms' of possibility.
Ecologies of Movement explores the notion of movement within four-fold coordinates: within a relational space, within open dialogue, within physical dialogue and within a space of ludic exploration.
Driven by a fascination with movement, ways of thinking (philosophy) and doing (thought-in-the-act), Boermans investigates the relational aspect of movement between three-dimensional forms in a three-dimensional space.
Via observation, recorded study and interdisciplinary collaboration, a 'sequence-of-parts', in the form of 'affective geometries', was found to hold the potential for change via process. By considering 'living buildings' as forms of activation within (the process of) relational exchange, creative research revealed convincing potential within, as well as beyond the animate world.
Boermans' summary proposition suggests a concept of 'affective ecologies' to confront the effect of digital media upon the human condition. To extend a gesture’s originating (semiotic) boundary, beyond its activated moment, involves processual ethics; it involves defining, then reimagining gesture beyond its residual specificity; it involves a process of translation and/or reinterpretation. Put simply, it involves repositioning 'materiality in motion' into an alternate relational space. It is about retaining subjectivity with the relational objectivity of analogy, wherein transformation may be revealed.
