open call: r31 - elasticity

A body that possesses elasticity can change its form in response to external forces, then return to its previous state when the forces are removed. In a literal sense, elastic bodies are potentially adaptable and flexible. Structurally speaking, theories of elasticity in fields such as economics and neurobiology can also show adaptability and flexibility.

What does it mean for a body, be it human or (thinking non-anthropocentrically) more-than-human, to be elastic: to expand and contract? Can concepts of elasticity help us better understand different bodily and psychological states, such as aging, illness, motherhood, belonging and attachment? Are these even distinct states, or part of an elastic continuum? How expansive is our own capacity for elasticity, and to what extent does our increasingly shrinking and homogenized world limit our ability to explore it?

Developed by artist Marte Aas and art historian/curator Stephanie von Spreter, Elasticity invites participants to explore elasticity from both a material and a theoretical perspective. The project will seek to apply elasticity as a phenomenon and a construct to both individual and social bodies. It will ask how the term can help us rethink collaborative relationships between scientific, aesthetic and artistic practices.

The residency is open to artists and cultural producers from all creative disciplines, as well as thinkers, researchers and practitioners from other fields. Participants will work together as a group and explore elasticity from multiple perspectives through lectures, presentations, discussions, excursions, and field studies.