Nele Brökelmann

Can a platform encourage us to wander through the non-linear layers of the world?

For the research residency at Witte Rook, I want to take the act of retelling our own stories as a starting point to look into the moment when our framework of reality shifts – the brief moment when we are in resonance.

When events happen one after the other in close proximity our minds draw connections[1], applying visual and emotional cues that serve as anchor points. In the act of unconsciously connecting the anchor points, the framework for our reality develops – an (individual) experience of the world. I am deeply intrigued how we project our experiences onto the world, as we learn to recognize ourselves in the reflections of a mirror. The act of projection is one-directional, and keeps us from forming a relation that is based on reciprocity and transformation, which would bring us in resonance with others and the world. A meaningful relationship entails “the subject’s experience of some Other calling upon it, which requires understanding or answering but also has the ability to change the subject.”[2] Humans desire to be in resonance, which becomes most apparent when we alter our own stories and retell them with other stories: called Serious Denormalization[3] by Donna Haraway. It is an act of allowing an others‘ story to change one’s own, and thereby shifting the connections of the established framework of anchor points.

I am writing texts, make analytical drawings, experiment with (physical) material layering in the space of Witte Rook and am starting to incorporate my research findings experimentally into my website. The research residency takes place in October and December 2020. In between I will show my findings in the form of a process presentation, taking place from 9 to 15 November. I wish to invite you to visit (either virtually or physically, if possible) and share feedback with me, so that I can take your experience into account for the further development of the set-up and research.
N.B.
Due to COVID-19 we will inform you about the form of this presentation. We will keep you updated. 

More details will follow – I am already looking forward!
Made possible with kind support of Stroom Den Haag in the form of research subsidy

[1]      Naomi Klein, On Fire, p. 44: “When intense events happen in close proximity to one another, the human mind often tries to draw connections that are not there, a phenomenon known as apophenia.”
[2]      Hartmut Rosa, The Future of the New: Beyond the Echo Chamber, p.25
[3]      Donna Haraway, Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene: Staying with the Trouble, talk 5/9/14