r i g h t . b r a i n . p e r f o r m a n c e l a b

Read about the project | NWE, July 2003 | back to the Index

The New World Ergonomy received a CA$H Grant to fund the creation of A Manual For A New World Ergonomy, currently in production.

Bodies are meant for moving.

"ergonomics
Pronunciation: "&r-g&-'na-miks
Function: noun plural but singular or plural in construction Etymology: erg- + -nomics (as in economics ) Date: 1949 :an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely -- called also human engineering "
-Merriam Webster's On-line Dictionary

The typical American worker squashes herself into inhuman positions, physically, mentally and emotionally. We are told to sit at precise right angles and not to deviate from this configuration because of the level of intense repetition that office work requires. We sit all day, both at work and in the car during our unproductive minutes and hours commuting.

This intensity has always seemed peculiar to me. To type, we hold our arms in front of our torsos like Tyrannosaurus Rex, as if they were some sort of vestigial attachments that fit most easily onto a computer keyboard. We do this for hours each day. Forcing human bodies to conform to right angles seems to be the only way to adapt such rigid requirements.

Bodies don't have to be forced into slots designed for machines. This project is a way to use choreography as a form of research to discover ways of being in a space that are both productive and human.

This piece will be performed at New Langton Arts as part of a larger show about work, products and services, "Sliv & Dulet Present: The Summer Line," in June and July 2003.For the week of July 7th through the 11th, I and three other visual and performing artists will perform and make work from noon to 6 pm in New Langton's gallery spaces.

The New World Ergonomy - Proposal