Common Agency Projects, Rehearsing Commoning Actions At Wanstead Flats October 2020. (Photo: Felicity Crawshaw)
During the lockdown, we saw a great increase in and the dependence on the use of green spaces & public parks. These spaces had a huge positive impact on people’s mental health. Nature supported people’s well-being during lockdown but as things have opened up and now there is more to do, have we started to lose our connection with nature again and consequently our own balance?
CAP’s Commoning Actions series explores how people invest energy in movement and resting; what it means to be in balance with yourself and the environment around you, to nurture a more sustainable and mutually enhancing relationship with it. These small improvised creative acts aim to have us rethink how we can playfully interact with nature, making and inhabiting make shift structures, furnishing these materials and movements, simply be with nature.
Commoning Action #20 is the latest score created by CAP, which is a set of instructions you can follow for your own immersive experience in nature. It is a guide to take time in a green space, of your choice, whilst actively listening to the space itself and how you feel there, in that moment.
Commoning Action #20: Visual Guide
This video contains instructions on how to perform commoning action #20.
Commoning Action #20 – Instructions
Step 1.
Go for a walk with string in your pocket.
Step 2.
Take off some of your clothes, as many as you feel comfortable with.
Step 3.
Tie these to what’s around you, creating a surface to lean or rest on. Do this exploring the tensile quality of the materials you are using, creating both support and movement.
Step 4.
Work quickly. Try a couple of things. This is play. You used to do this all the time.
Step 5.
Lean or rest against the structure you’ve built. Test before you rest.
Step 6.
Use all your senses to take in the position you’re in and your surroundings. Do this a moment longer than you think is necessary.
Step 7.
Think about what is necessary to carry, to hold and to rest while you’re hovering there, trusting and vulnerable. Are you being held up? Are you resting? You are bound to the natural world.
Step 8.
Redo what you’ve performed, then film yourself or have someone else do this.
And that’s it, you have now performed Commoning Action #20.
Spend a thought to all those who have helped shape this score. You are now one of them.
FAQs
What do I need to perform the score?
To do the score you’ll need the following:
- Extra layers/pieces of clothing
- Strong string, twine or cord – if you don’t have any of these then fear not! You can still take part in the score by having extra clothing with you
- Mobile Phone/Video Camera – to record your interpretation of the score. If you have a tripod then perfect. If you don’t then, no worries, the best thing to do is to find somewhere suitable to balance your recording device, else ask a friend to assist you.
I have performed the score, how do I send my clips in?
To send in your clips, please email them to [email protected] via:
WeTransfer, Google Drive Link or as an email attachment (if the video is lower than 25MB).
Please include your Name, Postcode and Instagram Handle in your email.
To access the score and instructions offline, please download this information booklet which has all the content for completing the score.
Download Commoning Action #20 Information Pack
