Embodied Research on the Politics of Intimacy
Research Summary
A collective and embodied inquiry into how we choose and organize our intimate lives, this project seeks to explore the boundaries between care, eros, friendship, and commitment within the containment of a defined group structure and fixed duration of time (3 months). It questions why certain forms of closeness—especially those linked to romance or sex—are prioritized, while others are neglected, devalued, or excluded from our deepest forms of attention.
Through collective movement practices, relational games, and structured experiments in presence, the research invites participants to explore new ways of being together that challenge dominant scripts. Not self-improvement, or about healing even, but about co-creating an experience of study—one that looks at intimacy more seriously as the refusal of the political while being its prime site at once.
"I believe in the world, and I believe in the world-making power of love and of sociality that emerges from love. I think that love is a refusal of sovereignty and an embrace of what one might call co-presence."
— Fred Moten
Influenced by the work of Lauren Berlant, Fred Moten, and bell hooks, the project approaches intimacy not as a private affair, but as a form of world-building. It asks: what becomes possible when we unfix our relationships from rigid roles and allow fluidity, service, and mutual care to guide how we relate?
The conception and invitation of this collective project is still in development, and it has become clear that formulating the right invitation is a big part of the work here. Please reach out if you have interest in this line of inquiry and in possibly participating in a 3 month long practice group.
Selected Works
An Invitation: Creating through a practice of care (2024)