Response to Performing Empathy: What the Arts Can Offer Conflict Resolution

What tools does the text offer to our work with diverse communities and collaborators? 

This text attempts to break down the term empathy and extend it beyond the notion that empathy means simply to "feel for another." Ultimately, empathy is about recognizing our own biases in order to better understand others. I suppose I would've liked for this to have been ever further expanded upon, especially today when I'm struggling to find empathy for my own family amidst personal crises and democratic downfall in America. On another note, it was fascinating to learn about Barthes' terminology, "twice fascinated," in which one remains actively open to function as both a participant and witness. It seems that willingness to remain open is crucial to the role of an artist as mediator as opposed to the opposite end of the spectrum, in which bias has the capacity to completely shut down engagement. This in itself has been on my mind more often lately - I try to understand my own biases on a daily basis and I actively question myself, both in writing and within my thoughts. I think it's a good practice to maintain & is indeed a tool to be used (although I can't preach on this & I still have a longgg way to go with my own family).

Further on, I really appreciate this question, which was posed: "How might our field expand if we employed tools from arts-based practices rich in perceptual, sensorial and cognitive strategies, which can guide mediators to be "twice fascinated?" Very often and importantly, we question the ethics of a socially engaged art and how this may or may not affect participants, but too often, we forget to ask how these works/experiences will impact the artist/mediator. It was kind of refreshing to hear this question posed as I think a healthy mindset and to be "twice fascinated" would seem to be a crucial role for the artist, not limited to the experience of the participant. I hate to be knit picky, but I would say that while I appreciated this question, on the flip side I would beware of the wording in this question. In a subtle way and although I don't think the author(s) intended this, there is an implication that art can be used as a tool and while that can be true, I would argue that setting such expectations may not be to the best outcome. The arts are ambiguous and I'm not sure it can be so easily categorized. 

On a final note, the author pose one last question: What is one risk you could take in your practice to creatively cultivate awareness and deepen empathy?

I was slightly confused by this question and couldn't understand the implication that one must take a risk in their practice in order to achieve the very things they outline (cultivate awareness and deepen empathy). I feel like the biggest risks are more in the financial realm of things. Working as an artist-mediator isn't exactly the most profitable route and often such artists are dependent on grant funding rather than through the sales and circulation of art objects, but again, I don't even feel that in my this response I'm addressing the question completely.  

Week 4: "A Brave New World (Remix)"

I read Dorit Cypis’ “A Brave New World (Remix)”.  I found the points she made about the Occupy Protests to be very insightful.  From the reasons that it didn’t work like needing 100% consensus to the reasons it did like the “non-violence vision” of protesting a righteous cause, the Occupy movement made a statement around the world.  I think the main thing this text talked about when it came to collaboration and communities was what not to do.  100% consensus in a community is pretty much impossible, and the problems that the Occupy movements had like thievery, mistrust, and feelings of betrayal shows just how hard working in a community of strangers can be.  All of that being said there were some good things that came out of it.  One big reason which Cypis said well, “There was plenty of frustration and anger at Occupy, but few walked away.  What unfolded over the next weeks was a conviction that we must find a way to speak and be listened to, no matter how intolerable the experience” (Cypis 4).  The fact that after all of this mistrust and anger the protestors stuck together to get their message heard is truly something to marvel and look at.  It is tools like these that make collaborators and communities work.

Week Four -Empathy

“What is one risk you could take in your practice to creatively cultivate and deepen empathy?”

It seemed only appropriate that my response stemmed from the final question posted at the end of the essay ‘Performing Empathy’. As an actor my art practice exists entirely on the concept of empathy in many different realms of that term. When playing a character, I have to know them, understand them and relinquish a part of myself in order to fully allow myself to be affected by them and attain the ability to tell their story.

Dorit Cypis wrote ‘Empathy requires us to reach within ourselves and recognize our own inner responses so we can better recognize another person’s response.’ I find that this applies so accurately to my own process when exploring a character. A character in a play or a film is an outlet from a writer, as an actor I bring them to life and bring with me a part of the writer also. Cypis’ consideration that the arts ‘invite us to feel, think and imagine from the self outwards’ truly examines my experience in my own art making process as well as when I am in the position of the witness to another persons. My year and a half of training has taught me so much about myself in the way that my craft does in fact require me to reach deep within myself to be able to access incredibly high levels of empathy, understanding and above all an emotional connection.

In my acting studio class last week we were playing an improvisation game in which two people are debating over a matter. What I was given was so incredibly challenging because I, as myself had no empathy for the role I was playing. The premise I was given was to be a person who supported Trump. Even though it was just a small exercise I really had both to find something within myself and my knowledge of human nature and the world as an artist in order to find some kind of understanding of such a person but I also in a way had to relinquish a part of myself and my own beliefs as a person. That, to me feels like the greatest risk I could take as an artist to further incorporate empathy into my work, taking that leap into the unknown.

            Furthermore, the other aspect of empathy that my artwork so strongly represents is that of empathy towards the person that I am standing on stage with. My first year mentor Nataki Garrett told me that to be a great actor I must not be afraid to affect another person. Acting is a contact sport, we constantly work off of one other in order to progress through a scene and in doing so we must be able to give each other what is necessary in order to thrive within our work. Acting itself I would argue to be the most vulnerable art form as we as actors do not have a vessel in which to display our art, we do not put our art onto a canvas or through camera lenses, it is all through our own bodies. We are the vessel and our emotions, pain and messiness are all on display. Thus in training I have found that myself as a person needs to find a deeper empathy towards my colleagues as we perform a task that requires our entire mind, body, heart and soul to be outside of us. As I grow older and continue working I discover that my levels of engagement with others are rising, I find a deeper understanding of other people and a peace within myself regarding that, and that is only one example of what my acting training has given me.


For my final project I wanted to explore and highlight the issue of sexual assault. However in order to  create a project that would target a community that is not my own, I think that I would like to talk to men about it. I envision making a video of men (particularly college aged boys) reading out loud statements from women who have been sexually assaulted. It would be an uncomfortable exercise but incredibly necessary to raise a further awareness of the dehumanization of another person through social injustice.

Week 4: Final Project Ideas

These were two ideas I am currently flushing out a bit more. I think I want to go big, and even if I do not complete this project during the semester, I hope to document my process for my presentation:

1.Thinking about the our story prompt: I would like to start a prison to artist pen-pal like system where participants would start variations of the squiggle game through the mail. Artist and prisoners would be able to collaborate together on drawings that could culminate in a final exhibition (space TBD). I hope art will then start a dialogue about the prison system in various communities. As well, I hope the prisoners will have someone listening to them and open up privately one on one through visual language. I also hope that wherever the art exhibition happens, the community will be able to see something beautiful coming out of a place that isn’t recognized as beautiful. Eventually, if this project is successful with artist, I hope other members of the community will be able to participate.

2.Thinking about artwork that would take up a lot of space: I thought about taking advantage of JR Turner’s printing capabilities to start series of portraits of women in the Trump era. Since LA had the largest attendance at the women’s march, I would like to have a series of portraits displayed publicly in the city. I would also like to try to reach out to the various event coordinators in different states, cities, possibly nations, to collaborate on creating and displaying portraits world wide. Woman photographed for the project will be asked to contribute personal stories. Documentation of these will be compiled either into a film or book to be circulated. I think this will help continue the push woman have again the current administration beyond the march.

Week 4

The Space of Conflict by Dorit Cypis goes over four different ways to better interact with a community for the purposes of creating art. The main point that I was drawn to was the fourth one, witness the experience of others. I was drawn to this because I think that many people are not capable of knowing how other people think. I believe that this is the main reason for conflict and leads to bad relationships with a community.

For my final project I would like to do something at the "Lost Boys Bridge." I was thinking of some sort of lighting instillation that would last a night or two.

Week Four: Response to Crypis' A Brave New World (remix)

In response to ‘A Brave New World (remix)’ this is something that is literally happening right now at this very second. We are a county that is in turmoil, as always, and I found that there was some rather valuable things hidden in this essay. Beginning with the background of the Occupy Wall Street movement Crypis dives into how all gatherings and marches all not only have a ‘push buttons’ but also an educational element. (When I say ‘push button’ I mean something that will force the government to interject and quite possibly turn something peaceful, into something violent.) Now, the second element of that is rather important to me especially and I am glad that Crypis touched on it. Education. There are times when you just do not know what to do, but you know that something is wrong, so you join with others and raise awareness even tho if interrogated by a bystander you might not be able to answer all the necessary questions this imaginary person might say is “needed”. On the third page of this essay Crypis says, “The overwhelming challenge for Occupy is to build the capacity for all its participants to learn democratic social engagement skills towards consensus, to build skills of bias awareness, empathetic listening, negotiation…” the list goes on and in the end, for us at least, knowledge for what we stand for is vitally important (Cypis 3). This does not mean that because you are not well versed enough you cannot stand tall and protest, it just means that standing tall is one part of it, passing on the education and values of that in which is being protested is just as important, and completes the whole. 

Cypis concludes by saying one of the most moving facets of Occupy is how ‘vulnerable’ people are in this. Social change and the act of standing up for it is something that while not frowned upon, takes great courage. Someone who stands knows that they are preparing for discrimination and the process of becoming what Cypis lists as: “patient, respectful, emotional, open, raw, reciprocal, empathic, human” (Cypis 5). You have to be human...

Sources:

http://media.wix.com/ugd/87d3d4_32921e29df8a4af8828cca9d28a84828.pdf

Week 4: Dorit Cypis Response

A Brave New World (remix) Response

I thought this piece was particularly interesting because of the way Cypis was addressing people occupying and using shared communal space as a way of engaging one another in conversation about difficult social and political issues. This really resonated with me because daily we are occupying the same spaces together, but fail to engage each other beyond daily pleasantries. How is it only in formal protesting and events do we take the time to tackle the issues? Cypis brought up that a lot of people were demanding change and voicing ideas about a better future, without understanding the necessary steps to achieve action or start momentum. Is there a way to prompt people before the protests and occupations to outline actions and goals? Would this make things more efficient? Would it make daily conversation and engagement better too?

The other brief thing I wanted to mention was the use of metaphor in the artwork Cypis choose. I thought this was really successful because each speak to a human state of tolling and communal structure. There was also the image of the 4th layer of hell which mimics the Sisyphus myth. It felt that people trying to start social change were pushing a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down to restart. I think this is because people aren’t declaring actions and steps for change. They just demand change or only one step in a bigger battle.This really lead me to reflect on the women’s march, and though voices were starting to be heard, I feel I wanted more than catchy slogans and personal empowerment. I feel with 750,000 people we could have put heads together to propose real change. We could have written materials together or something to continue this togetherness and empowerment.