extending self through interaction — [makeshift][johannroy]

CONTEXT

The research was inspired by my involvement with HipHop and other dance communities: where we practiced/trained/learnt on terraces,roads, parks, building basements, car parks, beaches—anywhere we could move. Because at the time there were no spaces given for these activities, we assigned roles to existing ones.
Throughout the history of HipHop—parties,battles and training were makeshifted, as no spaces were provided—a means of marginalisation towards Black communities that were creating and growing HipHop.

Communities I was parallelly exposed to like Parkour and Skateboarding groups, where handrails became slides, walls became jumpboards, the city a playground to explore.

Through their ability to assign roles onto existing spaces/objects and in turn their manner of interacting with their surroundings[the built environment] these communities take up space and take complete agency over their surroundings.

SKILLS/PROCESS

workshop making
questionairre

RESOURCE

Grapefruit by Yoko Ono

Leverage Dopamine to Overcome Procrastination & Optimize Effort | Huberman Lab Podcast

https://www.hiphopdancealmanac.com/ink-cypher-implications-of-hiphopizing

https://www.academia.edu/60839226/_W_Rapped_Space_The_Architecture_of_Hip_Hop?email_work_card=view-paper

https://michaelberrymusic.com/blog/2023/11/9/place-and-space-engaging-with-local-hip-hoprap-practice-and-pedagogy

[projects that both inspired and aided in understanding and executing this project]

:HOW ONE CAN ENABLE SELF-AGENCY IN THE MANNER THROUGH WHICH THEY INTERACT WITH THEIR SURROUNDINGS

A workshop conducted, as a form of primary research collection, for the research question of ”how engaging with activities affects your agency over your life”

two key parts which were:

interaction with surroundings
breaking out of habitual cycles

‘the commute’ was chosen to be where/when the workshop would be conducted —a duration of time within spaces where people allow themselves to slip into a habitual cycle. I chose to conduct the workshop during the participants commute to find how breaking out of their habitual cycles would affect them.

inspired by Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit I formulated a set of "instructions"[in a single page zine], that the participants would have to enact in the way they chose to. These instructions were ambiguous enough to understand the act while also having enough space to take leeway or creative freedom within it.

the outcome of said workshop was a collection of conversations and notes which helped form the next workshop Constructing Agency.

[makeshift]johannroy