Meeting spaces: Inter-corporeal adventures

Abstract

This paper offers a critically descriptive report of a keynote presentation at the conference ‘Finding Spaces, Making Places: Exploring social and cultural space in contemporary Art Therapy practice’ held at Goldsmiths, University of London, 13-16th April 2016. The interactive nature of the presentation is described and links to related video clips are offered. The concept of expanding and shrinking are linked to breath as a core feature of human experience connected to attachment issues and intersubjectivity. Simple tasks are described that illuminate how the audience members carry previous embodied encounters into each new relationship. The talk perturbs notions of therapeutic space/s, provokes reflection upon practice and plays with understandings of relational space. The theme of widening and narrowing, as related to breath, is extended to connect with ideas from other keynote speakers and with the political dimension of accountability. Practice provocations and references from the presentation are offered to the reader to stimulate further explorations.

Keywords: intersubjectivity, relational space, interactional shaping, breath.