Practicing Distance with Jeff Kasper is a 2-session workshop/playshop for preparing for our futures together post-pandemic. Each part offers a series of interactive practices beginning with an introduction to proxemics—a field which informs the social distancing practices of today—and topics related to contemporary disability culture. Participants engage with virtual, guided invitations, including solo activities and exercises for pairs or small groups, that reimagine proximity and closeness during times of physical distance.
Invitation for sign-up
This workshop can function in a variety of ways. You can sign up solo, but you can also sign-up with a partner (friend, date, lover, co-worker, family member, caretaker) who you trust but rarely discuss what makes you feel safe. FYI: if you choose to sign up with a partner, they can be either in your shared space or in a remote location, as all exercises are designed to consider and work with distance.
Workshop structure
Session 1 [from embrace to 4 feet]: will focus on intimate distance and personal space and investigate topics of care, dependency, and intimacy through pair-based deep listening, virtual touch, creative writing, and sharing. (2 hours)
Short reading and reflection material assigned before the next session
Session 2 [from 4 feet to the furthest distance]: will focus on social distance and public space and explore conflict through speculative scenarios at the scale of small social groups, and mapping out networks for collective support when harm occurs or safety is at risk. *Content warning: some reading/discussion materials reference intimacy violence and interpersonal abuse. No participants will be asked to share/recall personal experiences, or disclose identity/disability status, and are welcome to opt-out of certain content.* (2 hours)
Part of the fee for the class includes a 60-page digital workbook, workshop outline, and curated reading materials for further learning. Printed workbooks are available for an increased (yet discounted price. 1 week before the session begins the facilitator will send out all materials for easy reading pleasure.
Is this for me?
Maybe or maybe not. The content of these exercises may not be for you at this time. The practices offered are not created from a clinical perspective, therapist, or counselor, and instead have been developed by artists for peer-support, community building and educational purposes. Some require comfortable participation in
intimate conversations, guided reflection, and consent-driven closeness with another human. As mindfulness activities can be deeply challenging for many folks navigating the potential of dysregulation, please note
that these activities are based in guided––rather than unguided––methods grounded in trauma sensitivity. Opt-out of any interactive or contemplative material that feels unfit for you, at any time. Come and go as you please. You are the expert of your own bodymind.
Access Note: Closed captions will be provided.
Weekend Intensive: July 25-26, 2-4 pm EST
About the Facilitator:
With a background in design and arts organizing, Jeff Kasper has been dedicated to building cultures of support as an artist and educator working in arts management, community health, and social planning. He facilitates participatory experiences, creative curricula, and conceptual social spaces, exploring interrelated topics of care, conflict, consent, collaboration, and creativity. His work considers how trauma-informed culture and the ethics of nonviolence impact the design process, arts collaborations, and learning—while centering the wellbeing of queer and crip folks, survivors and allies. Some of his various long-term projects involve peer-to-peer sustainability education and engage with approaches from environmental psychology and constructivist pedagogy. Jeff has exhibited in the United States and internationally—receiving awards, fellowships, and residencies from CUE Art Foundation, Downtown Art, Art Beyond Sight, Social Practice Queens, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts—and serving as a mentor for the NYFA Immigrant Artist Program in Social Practice. Recently, he has taught at The New School, Pratt Institute, and CUNY, and hosted discussions on art and disability justice at Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum, School of Visual Arts, and BRIC. He is based in western Massachusetts where he is an Assistant Professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst and serves as Undergraduate Program Director and Civic Engagement & Service Learning Fellow in the Department of Art. Say hello on Instagram @JeffKasperStudio / Learn more at www.JeffKasper.co
ALL ACCESS PRICING MODEL / PAY WHAT YOU CAN / COMPARISON COSTS:
Liminal Lab is committed to providing a source of income for our collaborators and facilitators in an increasingly precarious time for culture workers and educators. However, no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. We ask that those who can pay the suggested price, and/or help cover the cost of scholarship slots in each of our programs by sponsoring other participants.
Compare the below to the cost for a similar accredited workshop in a university setting (where most of the $$$ goes to institutional bloat): $500 — we show you this so we can begin to think about wtf is happening in our institutions, where both students and faculty get the short end of the stick.
At a standard “Market Rate,” at arts orgs: $250*
Recommended Sliding Scale: $40-60/session → $80-120 for the series
Precarity Pricing: $10-30/session → $20-60 for the series
Barter / Volunteer / No Cost Option Available
Sponsorship: You may sponsor low or no fee participants in this workshop with a donation of any size.*if you have the funds to afford the “Market Rate,” we encourage you to support this facilitator by donating at that level, which will also support other students in this course who are unable to pay.
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