Core77

The speakers in this session supplied a kick in the ass of sorts to those of us who forget how incredible our own bodies are. We adorn them with brand name clothes, hook them up to the coolest new gadgets, and take for granted their perfect working orders--we forget how extraordinary our bodies are in that they're so adaptable and vastly different from any other on the planet.

Primatologist, evolutionary biologist, and paleontologist Dr. Nina Jablonski urged us to "shed" our superficial skins in favor of the real ones--to realize how much more it is than a container for bones and guts, because it's where we hold our "humanity" and when stripped of it, we really are all alike. She first cozied up to our egos by saying "What an exceptional group of primates we have here" (we felt smart) then made us do a totally awkward exercise: to touch the skin of the person sitting next to you, which felt completely unnatural and had everyone in that "ugh/haha-nervous" kind of mood. "We don't observe by touching one another," Jablonski states bluntly, "because we are so automated and plugged in." Primates are unusual among all mammals because after vision, they rely heavily on touch rather than smell to observe--something we've neglected and even shunned as being too inappropriate in many cases. Another way the human skin differs from all other animals, even primates, is that we embellish ourselves on purpose. "Humans are self-decorating apes. We do it with great intention and meaning." From tattoos found on the Iceman from some 5,000 years ago to the craziest/lamest/coolest tats we seen on hipsters today, these markings signify and make permanent a message, chosen with extreme deliberation. From the crushed mineral cosmetics of ancient Egypt to the Cover Girl aisle of Walgreen's today, women still highlight their facial features in such a way to attract sexual attention. As much as we thought our Tweety-Bird tattoos and sparkly purple lip gloss were fresh and new, the truth is that we're still tapping into our primal side. Modernity has just created a marketplace for it all. "It is important to not forfeit your primate-ness. Think about the sense of touch. Even with the most modern technology, we cannot begin to do justice with it."

Elizabeth Streb's line of work involves impossibilities of the body in motion--a great way to slash or bruise your skin! Go figure. Streb is an "action inventor." Someone who was restless from a very young age and decided that this is what she must do, therefore landing where she is today, working in an "artificial medium" and always trying to answer the question: "If action's a verb, can it be a subject?" A very zippy, sound effects-filled PowerPoint presentation along with footage of the incredible performances at her action theater, SLAM, Streb showed us how humans can "fly" by thinking out of the box and looking to classic principles of mathematics and physics. "We all need hardware to fly." This includes video technology, engineered structures, and an appropriate space mixed with some imagination and "the willingness to insert your body into harms way." The results are breathtaking performance pieces where human bodies seem to defy gravity and cut through air like a knife in Jell-o--precisely timed and expertly executed. And we're happy to just watch for now.

Crutch-laden Bill Shannon didn't hobble, hop, or limp onto the stage. He strutted. Shannon must relieve his abnormal hip joints, a part of Legg-Calve-Perthes’ disease, of too much pressure by not fully depending on, but lightly using the aid of crutches. The big difference between Shannon and other crutch cruisers is that he wears the crutches--they don't wear him. He's created a dance genre all his own, a method of skateboarding, and simply, a way of life that incorporates his customized crutches as an extension of the body. He described his "modified" everyday actions as a performance of "disability-based-utility"--a performance in truth with all the stares he receives in public. A social phenomenon he calls "peripheral fluctuations", you know, when someone is staring at you, you notice it in your periphery, you look at them, they immediately look away, then you look away, and repeat. Shannon's ability to not only pull through his ailment with a smiling a face, but also make a strong name and niche for himself, brought a super feel-good mood to close the session. He also busted some moves on stage and showed us an awesome RJD2 video where he really gets down...and made us rethink our coolest dance moves.