Speranza Spir
nowness-pastness, stump nourishing loss
A poetic fabulation inspired by the reading circle of Haraway’s book, and dealing with personal loss in parallel to that of our planet's.
Keywords : fabulation, grieving, loss, time, soma
A Montreal performing artist, somatic practitioner and contemporary haijin, Speranza Spir is currently interested in overlapping land art, memory and loss, feminist and ecological issues researched through Butoh dance, writing and storytelling. How all this coalesces gives insight into the enabling of creative solutions in dealing with the challenges of negative, vulnerable-izing and invalidating present-time issues constantly challenging humanity. In addressing many of these issues she connects to “somatic-intelligence” enhancing cognition and how its relevance informs performance and authenticity, identity and emotional empowerment. She has been practicing as a manual osteopath since 2018 and is part of the team at the artist-run centre OBORO.
The sympoiesis of an ambulatory reading circle
This ambulatory reading circle follows processual paths to induce a multitude of moments of sharing. The first meeting took place under the sign of walking, solo and in a group, listening activated by the soles of the feet, Haraway's words seeping into ears and the spatiotemporality of the Botanical Garden. The next audio rendezvous with each participant, connecting/ed to a moment of life and took place outdoors near rocks, bodies of water, seeds, insects, leafy ground, or wastelands to a moment and life, took place outdoors, in other places, near rocks, bodies of water, insects or wastelands. The one-take recordings are accompanied by more-than-human and sometimes human voices, that solicit active sounding of thought in motion, and the surprising force of listening from-with-in bodies and situations.
This project was realized in partnership with MÉDIANE - Chaire de recherche du Canada en arts, écotechnologies de pratique et changements climatiques (mediane.uqam.ca ; dir. Gisèle Trudel) and Ada X, with support of CRSH, FCI and FRQSC.
Ada X is a bilingual feminist artist-run centre engaged in exploration, creation, and critical reflection in media arts and digital culture.
4001 Berri, Suite 201 | Montréal (Qc) H2L 4H2 | ada-x.org