Movement and Bodies Spring Colloquium / Colloque - Relever dans l'être 

Friday 4 April / vendredi le 4 avril  

9-11am UK / 10 - 12 CET  

online (zoom) -  email to register: movandcare@gmail.com 

The cinema is mystical: movement as a condition of existence
Rodolphe Olcèse (Université Jean Monnet de Saint-Etienne) - en Français 

When he declares, in Bonjour cinéma (1921), that “the cinema is mystical”, Jean Epstein touches on a fundamental dimension of mystical theology, which is the founding place it accords to movement. For an author like Saint John of the Cross [Saint Jean de la Croix], movement indeed conditions all our experiences. Conversely, any stopping, any putting on hold of existence is destructive of the dynamic that sustains the soul's striving towards the unattainable. This uninterrupted movement, which constitutes the very health of the soul, is structurally realized in cinema, outlining a mode of attention where the latter is always setting out on its own and in contact with things that it encounters only to leave them immediately. This is what makes cinema the very medium capable of welcoming andrestoring grace, as Jonas Mekas's entire work constantly testifies. 

Le cinéma est mystique : le mouvement comme condition de l’existence
Lorsqu’il déclare, dans Bonjour cinéma (1921), que « le cinéma est mystique », Jean Epstein touche à une dimension fondamentale de la théologie mystique, qui est la place fondatrice qu’elle accorde au mouvement. Pour un auteur comme saint Jean de la Croix, le mouvement conditionne en effet toutes nos expériences. Réciproquement, tout arrêt, toute mise en suspens de l’existence est destructif de la dynamique qui soutient l'effort de l'âme vers l’inaccessible. Ce mouvement ininterrompu, qui constitue la santé même de l’âme, le cinéma le réalisestructurellement, esquissant un mode de l’attention où celle-ci est toujours en départ d’elle-même et au contact de choses qu’elle ne rencontre que pour les quitter aussitôt. C’est ce qui fait du cinéma le médium même capable d’accueillir et de restituer la grâce, ce dont tout le cinéma de Jonas Mekas ne cesse de témoigner. 

The Aesthetic-Social Turn of Caring Space 

Eric Fan Feng (University of Hong Kong) - in English 

Visual art in hospital settings looks at the role of overlapping physical, social, and symbolic environments in producing a caring milieu. While architects have created spaces that help the inhabitants of hospitals, art has become another means of escalating the environment. Appointed as the visual consultant in interior design and landscaping, I have been involved with the ongoing design work of the Chinese Medicine Hospital in Hong Kong. This paper uses first-hand working experience in creating art in this hospital, utilizing the creative process of five public art commission projects as an example to demonstrate how hospital artworks reveal today's caring space's aesthetic and social transformation. The aesthetics of Chinese Medicine Hospital is deeply rooted in Western caring tradition and Eastern therapeutic philosophy. In traditional Chinese medicine, healthcare is a delicate relationship between patients and medical professionals, requiring the application of medical skills tempered with sensitivity to the emotional human being. Fundamentally, art in the caring space has the same goals as therapy: socialization, communication, healing, appreciation of life, and even, in some respects, an affirmation of spirituality. The art projects in Chinese medicine hospitals are being developed with the principle of care. Its intrinsic value and instrumental worth give a renewed sense of community and civic pride. Disclosing the creation process of these art projects shows how hospitals have stepped outside their primary function as care-giving institutions to take on a broader social role. This may involve the artworks representing or reflecting existing community aspirations or promoting aspirations that need stimulation. With the help of the caring art projects, hospitals are developing a new social and cultural part of caring in their communities.

 

In partnership with The Willow Network and Bakhita Centre for the Study of Slavery, Exploitation and Abuse, St. Mary's University.