Derailment

An evolving practice led by Máté Asbót, primarily used as a tune-in-warm-up throughout the first phase. It is comprised of several, modular exercises. In the video, we see:

Joy and Despair in Tandem: Face Transfer.

Two practitioners are standing facing one another, in relative proximity.
As one practitioner begins expanding their face, joy, the other simultaneously begins contracting the face, despair. In-sync, they both reach for an extreme of facial expression, and of joy and despair. Having reached an extreme, they begin exchanging roles. As joy becomes despair, and despair becomes joy, finding a “neutral” moment amidst the process.
Continue playing, with every iteration finding greater extremities and nuance of expression.
After a certain amount of time (prompted by an additional practitioner), undo the synchronization.

Which is based in:

Joy and Despair Along Three Spectra.

1. Expansion and contraction of the body. Expand the body so that all limbs are extending outwards, feet into the group and arms skywards. From that position, contract the body, so that the knees, elbows, and wrists collapse, gathering towards the torso as it sinks down – perhaps to the extend of reaching the ground, empty.

2. Expansion and contraction of the face. Expand the face upwards, portraying immense joy, the sides of the mouth reaching towards the ears, eye agape and eyelids towards the forehead. Contract the face downwards, portraying immense despair, the mouth and eyes collapsing into the grown – perhaps to the extent of reaching the ground, wallowing.

3. Expansion and contraction of the breath. Expand the lungs, inhaling deeply, and contract them, exhaling deeply.

4. Play with the combinations of this spectra, experimenting with the ways they inform emotional states. Enter a loop, so that with every inhalation, expand the body and the face; and with every exhalation, contract the body and the face. Play with extremes, as the three spectra evolve together, and with different temporalities of expansion and contraction. While it is perhaps intuitive to expand and contract all three in tandem, by challenging and disorienting these relations, different combinations can inform neuroplasticity.

5: Face-Transfer