Res Extensa

Yi-jong Gong-gan is a Korean term which refers to a mediating space rather than a specific place. It cannot be tangibly defined but can be cognized. It is constructed before, during or after a state of being; a space in between. The entrance hall/atrium of the Malopolska Garden of Arts is a transitional space, channeling and filtering the outside and the inside worlds; literally a threshold. The site specific performance/installation responds to the character and physical attributes of the space, its res cogitans and res extensa. Traces on the floor document its horizontal dimensions and proportions, while during the performance the space is activated and animated along its vertical direction through a pulsating structure and performers. In abstract form and choreography, they make physical the space’s invisible circulating energies: people’s flows, the slight breeze and the movement of the sun. Morphing into an ever-evolving organism, the installation remains on-site inviting visitors to perform within it.