-less

Commissioned by Para Site for “Noble Rot” Part II

Jan 28 - April 24, 2022 (3D Preview available online)

 

How have we become inured to bearing collective pain and trauma?

“-less” expands on the concept of learned helplessness through a ritualistic approach to repetitive and durational bodily acts. In psychology, learned helplessness refers to a feeling of a lack of control when one faces repetitive aversive stimuli: events that induce changes in behaviour through negative reinforcement or positive punishment. As feelings and experiences accumulate, one may learn to accept given situations and their own powerlessness, even when alternatives are available. Paradoxically, some may enforce helplessness to increase their endurance under duress by reconstructing original habits and behaviours beyond recognition. Can we remember the cues of autonomy before chaos and distress demanded of us a gradual but total recording of the body’s actions and responses?

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Photo by Celia Ho (Edited by the artist)

Video documentation by Wave Channel (Edited by the artist)

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