Amorphous Body Study Center

The purpose of the Amorphous Body Study Center is to promote a better understanding between the body and the mind, to emphasize the new role of the body as prescribed by the rapid developments in communication. The near-total transformation of our culture into an information-based state has left little chance of an active role for the body beyond its image value. The biological body is now ignored politically and exploited economically with its vulnerability being its major characteristic. Physical contact seems decreasingly likely, especially considering the risks involved. We need to examine how sheer materiality functions in an electronic environment where image and signs are the operative means.

What is the role of the public body? What we are experiencing now is that the self is joined to various networks of selves and is projected and thrives within a chain of bodies. Ultimately each body must have access to these new networks of communication. At the center we provide an atmosphere where communication is redirected towards the physical. A visit to the center will allow one to commune as a body amongst other bodies through plugging in with headsets to any one of the amorphous sculptures created by Charles Long. The audio that is distributed through these bodies is created by the British based pop groop STEREOLAB.

Some of the amorphous sculptures are in a transitional state and allow for ongoing development by hands-on working with the form as one listens to the audio program it emits. The audio program not only serves to establish a conducive mood for the mind to consider the public body, but the headsets discourage the need to use the body to talk. This is a time to listen observe and be. It is hoped that the body is made to feel privileged in this environment and that the pleasures that it makes possible engender the respect that it must come to have in the future.