a trip to the grocery

A trip to the grocery store could be understood to be an experiment, a performance, or perhaps just a simple practice for the re-enlivening of the senses. For this practice, I am exploring how much the body really knows about its habituated actions within its frequently inhabited environments and how it adapts when it is forced to use alternative senses to perform mundane tasks, such as grocery shopping.

Celine, Adrian, and I went grocery shopping several times over the course of a year. During this time, I developed scores based on their usual” grocery lists. Each month we practiced grocery shopping for the “usual” items on the lists but not by merely reading the list with the eyes nor by retrieving the items with the eyes open, but rather keeping the eyes closed as we remembered and retrieved each item using alternative sensory modalities.

This research was then presented as a preliminary performance at the Society for Artistic Research 12th International Conference.

Testing Period: July 2020-April 2021

Performance Presentation:

April 2021

SAR 12 International Conference

Merkur/Billa PLus Grocery Stores

Test subjects: Celine and Adrian