In support of our upcoming installation PURIFICATIONS OF THE CALMDOME,
we are developing a series of workshops which will provide a dynamic exploration into the ontology of Perspective. The Perspective workshops will be an opportunity for participants (including ourselves!) to co-develop and practice a set of techniques which strive to bring both a personal and collective awareness to the nature of perspective . These workshop will also serve as a beta test for these new techniques, affording CARNAL TORPOR the opportunity to refine any awkward or frivolous elements of our presentation, design, and theory in general.

This writing will begin with a brief overview of our theoretical framework in order to clarify some of the perhaps obscured conceptual elements which are primary to the mechanical workings of the workshops themselves.

Reality is composed of Holons.

"Holon" is a term used in Integral Theory to denote something which is both a part of a greater whole and a whole unto itself. Holons are always embedded within other holons, for example,

"microscopic cells make organic tissue, which forms different organs, which make up a human body. Also, the body is also part of a deeper holon (culture) and cells contain holons (molecules to atoms to nuclear particles etc.) Wherever you start in the holonic sequence, holons go all the way up and all the way down."

Used correctly, holonic organization can be a useful way to model and engage reality as it provides illustration of the fundamental "oneness" and the fundamental "partness" of all facets of manifestation. Holonic mapping explains order in terms that neither reduces the Kosmos to a closed system comprised of an irreducible standard unit (modernism), nor banishes it to the meaningless realm of total relativistic flux (post-modernism). Looked at in this way, each instance of holonic order can be understood as complete unto itself while simultaniously being meshed in a relational being with it's fellows and dependent on the sub-holons which compose it's being.

To dive just a bit deeper, in Integral theory, each holon has 4 facets, interior, exterior, individual, and collective. Integrating these facets, holons are mapped by what is called the 4 quadrant model:

Each of the 4 quadrants contains it's own phenomenon, and each set of phenomenon can be viewed from the 1st, and 3rd person. The methodologies which have emerged from these primordial perspectives represent the core of human understanding. Phenomenology and structuralism for the individual interior, empirical and cognitive sciences for the individual exterior, ethnomethodology and hermeneutics for the collective interior, and systems theory and social autopoiesis for the collective exterior. Volumes could (and have) been written about the implications and applications of the 4 quadrant model in developing Integral understanding, but for this summary, it will suffice to say that the 4 quadrant models will serve as the foundation for our exploration into an understanding of perspective.

Perspective is the source of experience.

Encountering a potted cactus, our experience can manifest in a wide variety of ways. We may perceive our own emotional response to it's beauty, we may perceive it's photosynthetic behaviors, we may perceive it's mythic connotations in the context of mexican shamanic culture, we may perceive the implication of the mass manufactured pot in relation to to ancient plant, or we may simply perceive the sensation of pain. The nature of the cactus emerges in relation to our perspective. Depending upon the state of our development, we will have access to certain holonic aspects of the cactus, the 55 year old mexican shaman will be able to perceive a very different cactus than a 4 month old scandinavian infant or an accredited modernist. The cactus will perceive itself in an utterly different manner all together!

The 2 main foci of these workshops will be
Differentiation : learning how to differentiate between types of perspective
Integration: exploring techniques which will allow participants to assume, embody, and express a broad spectrum of perspectives at will.

Differentiation will be begin with a short series of interactive symposiums each day, discussing Integral theory in a pragmatic way.
The majority of remaining workshop time will be spent developing 2 primary techniques:

Perspective Juggling

We will provide participants with a set of juggling objects, each which respresents a specific perspective, such as mother, Joy, or cancerous cell. Whenever a participant is holding a given object, they are to assume and express that perspective, in relation to either a predetermined object or situation (such as a potted cactus or bank robbery), or perspective(s) assumed by other participant(s). The perspective-objects can be "juggled" between participants, and new combinations of orientation and expression can be achieved. Participants may challange each other as to the accuracy of their embodiment, in relation to their perspective. NEw objects may be created in class Experiential understanding ensues.

Dualing

Dualing is a form of transdiciplinary improvisation, in which 2 (or more) participants "dual" with each other, via any form of expression they can muster, gesture, melody, body language, rhyming, ect. Perspective Juggling could be considered a very strict form of dualing, with alot of rules governing which perspective are appropriate, but true Dualing usually changes perspective very very fast and follows only a very minimal set of rules (such as respect of personal space, 5 minutes long, ect.). The dualists on either predetermined a theme for the dual, or else they dual from "emptiness" and allow the form to emerge with preconception. Dualing can be competitive or co-operative, and traditionally a group of peers provides feedback of some sort. This can be as simple as a thumbs up or down declaration of victory, or as complex as full transcription and exegesis on the dual itself. Dualing is the jewel of the entire workshop, as it allows individuals to embrace their personal creative essence in a dynamic and interpersonal form.

A 3rd person Dualing court.

each track defines a personal space

each overlap can contain a 2-way common theme, form, or perspective

the centroid contains the 3-way common theme, form, or perspective