between being and existing
I realize that I’m dealing with the aspect of being human, more than anything. I’m reflecting on human existence, on relationships, on intimacy, on memory, on presence; living in the world, with the world. Thus the line, my focus both conceptually and formally, is the beginning and the end, it represents all of those reflections on being and existing. The line is a divisor, it creates the boundary between the world and I; the line is a connector, it connects me to the world. The line, then, creates the in-between space in which life occurs, in which I exist. I’m becoming increasingly interested in reflections of what is intangible related to existence: time, memory, impermanence, intimacy.
Recently I came across a study on the body from an existential-phenomenological perspective, and discovered that this angle relates directly to the things I’ve been reflecting on and exploring within my practice throughout this year.
According to Heidegger, the foundations of existence are based on impermanence and mutability (PRADO, CALDAS, QUEIROZ, 2012, p.780). Time and existence are entangled. With that, I believe that the relationship between line and existence can be created and enhanced, as the line is based on the movement, it exists from (and in) a moment of transience; it follows my body in action in the world, as “the human being is a being in the world, in a process of mutual constitution with the world” (2012, p.782). As my existence happens through my body (from a phenomenological perspective, which is ingrained in my research), my existence is my passage through the world, and all of my experience occurs “in the temporal, impermanent and finite dimensions” (2012, p.779).
It's also possible to say that existence happens in a threshold of time, as “the past and the future are present in the body” (PRADO, CALDAS, QUEIROZ, 2012, p.781). This is manifested through bodily reactions when remembering moments from the past, or when wondering about the future. The present is the only reality, and is in itself a threshold.
Back to the relationship between body and world, according to Heidegger, “(...) Affective availability opens us to the world, to others and to beings and, from it, they would have existence for us. The way in which we open ourselves affectively to the world allows us to be in a certain way and for the world to also exist for us in a certain way” (PRADO, CALDAS, QUEIROZ, 2012, p.785). The possibility of “being for the other” or “being with the other” is what allows meaning to existence; by creating a knot between the threads of different existences, I might be able to understand and acknowledge my own. Others and outside things allow our existence and we allow their existence, in turn — and this relationship, as mentioned above, can be built through affection. It’s in the intertwining of those presences that the being understands its own existence in the world.
"For phenomenology, the objects that appear before our senses are presence. Presence is not only a stable state of matter in time, it is what connects being here and now and its meaning. Absence, on the other hand, concerns what is no longer present and is no longer part of the field of the possible" (CABRERA in REBESCO, 2021, p.89). The only possibility is being present in the present and realizing other things to be present in the same space. This act of adding meaning and allowing existence happens through and with the body.
While thinking about this mutual existence through perception, a work by Lee Mingwei came to my mind. The Mending Project (2009-present) is an interactive installation in which the artist uses thread, color and sewing as "points of departure for gaining insights into the relationships among self, other, and immediate surroundings. It also constitutes an act of sharing between myself and a stranger" (Lee). In the work, Lee sits for hours at a table, receives damaged textile articles from visitors and mends them.
"The act of mending takes on emotional value as well, depending on how personal the damaged item is (...). This emotional mending is marked by the use of thread which is not the color of the fabric around it, and often colorfully at odds with that fabric, as though to commemorate the repair. Unlike a tailor, who will try to hide the fact that the fabric was once damaged, my mending is done with the idea of celebrating the repair" (Lee).
The act of mending as a way to turn present the memory of the absent ("appearing" in front of our senses, therefore turning into presence), the constructed relationship between artist and viewer that acknowledges both existences at the same time (the "self" and the "other"), and the intimacy of trusting a personal damaged object in the hands of another person, creates a beautiful place of encounter and connection. It evokes vulnerability, affection and care, and all of these are characteristics of human experience on Earth.
The relationship between the being and the world (being-in-the-world), the question of existence, is also placed in the scope of intimacy. Because it is ingrained in our existence, it feels intimate. It is manifested in the interior realm. Emanuele Coccia states that “living somewhere (...) means embarking on a relationship with certain things — and with certain people — that is so intense that it makes happiness part and parcel of our breathing” (COCCIA, 2024, p.6).
Here I suggest that the body, by simply existing, already manifests itself as a portion of intimacy in relation to the world, as it is a threshold between interior and exterior. Thus, this can be expanded to further discussions of who really owns their own portion of intimacy within the world, in the sense that bigger issues such as colonialism, global warming, capitalism and patriarchy play a big role in defining and controlling people’s bodies/existence in the globe. The limitation of this body is also delimited externally. As this is not the focus of this research at the moment, I won’t be able to discuss those topics in this section, yet it is crucial to be aware of their role in the discussions on the body.
It is almost as if existing means constantly being on the edge, being on this liminality, on this threshold that is existence itself. Between presence and absence, past and future, stillness and movement, interior and exterior, private and public. Moreover, the question of time seems to be the basis of all this reflection: considering how Heidegger express that "the outline of the understanding of being is the temporalization of the human being restless with his own finitude" (CEREZER, FLORES, ZANARDI, 2012, p.72), I wonder if this is why I bring these topics and reflections into my practice, as I deal with many existential questions in my daily life.
Going back to the presence of the line, I bring a quote that I crossed paths with during my Unit 1: “It takes only a moment to recognize that lines are everywhere. As walking, talking and gesticulating creatures, human beings generate lines wherever they go (...) it subsumes all these aspects of everyday human activity and, in so doing, brings them together into a single field of inquiry” (INGOLD, 2007, p.1). By paying attention to the commonplace of everyday life, by trying to evoke what is usually seen and what is more hidden and difficult to access, It may be that I’m trying to place my own existential questions outside of my body, and with that, aiming to connect with others. Through line, I’d like to propose the in-between existence as an intimate possibility of encounter.
References
CEREZER, C., FLORES, A.P.M., ZANARDI, I.M. (2012) Introduction to study from Heidegger's Being and Time: A contemporary renovation of intimate matter of being, Thaumazein, 09, pp.67-69.
COCCIA, E. (2024) Philosophy of the Home: Domestic Spaces and Happiness. London: Penguin Books.
INGOLD, T. (2007) Lines: A Brief History. 1st edition. London: Routledge.
Lee Mingwei (2009-present) The Mending Project [Mixed media interactive installation, table, chairs, thread, fabric items]. Available at: https://www.leemingwei.com/ (Accessed: 28 oct. 2024).
Lee Mingwei (no date) The Mending Project. Available at: https://www.leemingwei.com/ (Accessed: 28 oct. 2024).
PRADO, R.A.A., CALDAS, M.T., QUEIROZ, E.F. (2012) The body in na existential-phenomenological perspective: approximations between Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger, Psicologia: Ciência e Profissão, 32 (4), p.776-791.
REBESCO, V.L.A. (2021) The banal, the domestic and the female body: the presence of absence in Doris Salcedo's La casa viuda series, Modos, 5 (3), pp.72-95.
Lee Mingwei. The Mending Project, 2009-present. Variable dimensions.