My work is the study of bodies: aging bodies, working bodies, plastic bodies, protesting bodies, walking bodies, bodies coping with anger and uncertainty—specifically, the power and politics of the body in a late-capital, post-industrial, changing climate. I explore the ways in which capitalism, the designed world, and the regulation of the natural environment choreograph and control daily life.
The body is our first means to act and manipulate the world. Yet, embodied experience and physical encounter are increasingly dematerialized by smart devices, AI, and now pandemics: there is an increasing loss of connection to the physical world and one another. I address this loss of physical connection by making complex systems sense-able through embodied forms and experiences.
I make social encounters to forge alternate approaches to these abstract relationships and forces that feel far beyond individual control, employing the spectacular and familiar, the comical and curious, and the interplay of physicality and intimacy through sculpture, images, performances and participatory platforms.
I am inspired by architecture, dance, fitness, games, theatre, and film. I ask questions like ‘how is a landfill a body?’ and ‘how can a harbor become public plaza?’ I am influenced by the Judson Church Group, Fluxus, Land Art and Minimalist sculpture—like them, I often implicate the viewer as part, if not all, of the work. From all these components of my practice, I invite others to join me in holding space and finding new strategies for maintaining a collective humanity.
Website: www.nancynowacek.com