Orientation
The dance was built on theory drawn from "The Anatomy of Disgust" by William Ian Miller. This book along with "Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity" by Erving Goffman created a groundwork of questions from which we started asking and answering in dance. Who do we think of as disgusting? What things are disgusting? What shapes and colors are disgusting? By unpacking our affect relationship to these things and making dance responses we began to unpack our relationships to disgust.
Disgust might have some roots in our safety and preservation, but it also is socially constructed and conditioned. Disgust is used as a tool to dehumanize people. Animals, feces, textures, and colors all become disgusting and some groups of people are systematically linked to these objects and animals as a way to create separation.
In creating Mapping Disgust we talked about what it would mean to let oneself be seen as disgusting. Although very different, theory around ugliness might offer ideas when working with disgust. Mia Mingus offers an idea about ugliness and intimacy in an interview titled, "Why Ugliness Is Vital in the Age of Social Media."
"Ugliness is a pathway to intimacy. You can’t have intimacy without trust, and you can’t have trust without vulnerability. To be vulnerable, you have to reveal parts of yourself that are dismissed as capital-U Ugly. There’s also this piece around disability — the interdependence of disability is inescapable. I feel like access is not a burden, it’s an amazing opportunity to be generative, to deepen community, relationships, everything." -Mia Mingus.
Might examining our own relationship to disgust open up space to reflect and change how we treat others?
Could examining our own relationship to disgust help us dig up the roots of anti-black racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism (among so many others)?
Will examining disgust change us?
Disgust might have some roots in our safety and preservation, but it also is socially constructed and conditioned. Disgust is used as a tool to dehumanize people. Animals, feces, textures, and colors all become disgusting and some groups of people are systematically linked to these objects and animals as a way to create separation.
In creating Mapping Disgust we talked about what it would mean to let oneself be seen as disgusting. Although very different, theory around ugliness might offer ideas when working with disgust. Mia Mingus offers an idea about ugliness and intimacy in an interview titled, "Why Ugliness Is Vital in the Age of Social Media."
"Ugliness is a pathway to intimacy. You can’t have intimacy without trust, and you can’t have trust without vulnerability. To be vulnerable, you have to reveal parts of yourself that are dismissed as capital-U Ugly. There’s also this piece around disability — the interdependence of disability is inescapable. I feel like access is not a burden, it’s an amazing opportunity to be generative, to deepen community, relationships, everything." -Mia Mingus.
Might examining our own relationship to disgust open up space to reflect and change how we treat others?
Could examining our own relationship to disgust help us dig up the roots of anti-black racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism (among so many others)?
Will examining disgust change us?