We must: “risk ourselves precisely at moments of unknowingness, when what forms us diverges from what lies before us, when our willingness to become undone in relation to others constitutes our chance of becoming human.”
Butler, J. O. Giving an Account of Oneself Bronx, NY: Fordham University Press, 2005.
The OWL project is inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law of Technology Prediction: that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. By creating body-devices – gentle mutations, body alterations and scars, we bring attention to our embodied-ness to remind us of an inner state and encourage magical thinking. The resulting forms emerge from an investigation of the body, their functionality is being determined through use. Initial outcomes are currently being tested to ascertain if this is an appropriate approach to encourage and support magical thinking, and to plumb people’s willingness to imagine through the body in movement.
The OWL project consists of one-on-one embodied interviews, undertaken using custom bodyprops; and a series of making circles in which participants build their own exploratory devices.