Boundary Objects
social space
2020
Image Description: Jeff Kasper, scaling vulnerability (2019). A blurry hand slides a bead along a minimal bar scale set on a black table. The location of the bead is hard to discern. Below numerous positions on the scale are words set in white: “Avoidance” “Competition” “Compromise” “Accomodation” and above, “Comfort”. At either end of the scale are the proxies “You” and “I”.
Image Description: Jeff Kasper, wrestling embrace (2020). A soft leathery black exercise mat is glazed with blue light. Strewn about are black cushions as if recently occupied. At the center of the mat is a circular graphic with numerous phrases like “navigate by touching” and “relax” that correspond to the proxemic distances of personal space and intimacy.
Image Description: Jeff Kasper, calm cube (2020). A blurry figure dives into the “calm cube” a daybed-like structure composed of intersecting black bars, pillows, foam cusions, and draped in white fabric. The image is softly tinted with a lavender haze. On the wall behind the figure is a text. It reads: “Be a calming agent. Regardless if you seek to resolve conflict with your partner or you are dealing with your own conflict, your response can escalate or decrease the intensity of the problem. To be calming, provide an objective or neutral point of view. Encourage the formation of an actionable plan to work together and achieve a resolution.”
—SOMEWHERE INBETWEEN COMFORT AND VULNERABILITY
Boundary Objects is a social space for navigating interpersonal boundaries.
Visitors were encouraged to use the exhibition to slow-down and practice playful choreographies of support facilitated by games and creative tools. Experiences in the space can be applied to real-world conflicts, conversations, and collective situations.
Recently exhibited at Herter Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts Amherst.