Event
It’s in the Cards - Questions for ConversationPost an Event »
Kala Art Institute and Gallery
July 20 - July 20, 2016Info
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http://www.kala.org/
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(510) 549-2977
Detail from untitled project in progress by Leah Rosenberg and Christine Wong Yap, 2016,relief print. Produced in the Kala Fellowship Award program at Kala Art Institute.
"5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?" Think about one meaningful conversation you’ve had today. This week? This month? Are you grasping to think of more than a handful? We’re now used to a culture of small talk, of How are you’s that don’t go anywhere, and conversations that more approximate an hour with a hairdresser ("Plans for the weekend?") than a close exchange amongst friends. We skirt the surface of subjects – and with that our personal and emotional lives. Over twenty-years ago, psychologist Arthur Aron set up an experiment in his lab to look at how the shape of our conversations can craft personal closeness. Centered around 36 questions, divided into 3 sets, that gradually ramped up levels of self-disclosure, he was able to manufacture intimacy, emotional attachment, and – in one case – love, between two strangers. "16. What do you value most in a friendship?” Loosely based on this experiment, artist Christine Wong Yap’s Practice Studio explores how we can create intimacy, and distance, through the conversations that we choose to engage in or avoid. Over the course of an evening, you’ll get to make your own conversation card deck. You’ll create your own questions, and then design, write and produce the cards. At the end of the evening, you’ll even get to play a few rounds with the people in your group. For one evening, you’ll get to stay away from the Small Talk and get to the things that really matter to you and the people around you. 25. Make three true we statements each. For instance, "We are both in this room feeling..." This class is brought to Kala Art Institute by Storefront Institute as part of our Practice Studio program strand.