“Create a siamese twin with the fabric you have” was the assignment Emma Olanders and her classmates were given when starting the textile design lesson during the exchange project. Emma and a classmate started working with dependency by means of having a nylon stocking between them and letting Emma actually hang from it. They tried out different ways of hanging, pulling, pushing, giving and receiving weight with different materials between different body parts. They discovered that there are some things that you can do on your own. Having a partner, those small movements or pressures when pushing become unpredictable. The way they were depending on each other and giving/receiving weight has a rather strong connection to the dance technique “contact improvisation“.
posting by Nadja Voorham, photo by Benno Voorham