Secondary tabs
Submission information
Submission Number: 89
Submission ID: 132
Submission UUID: 0c867d4a-ab5d-4139-9a91-fcfff3deb901
Submission URI: /ga/form/submit-contribution
Cruthaithe: Tue, 17 Feb 2026 - 14:18
Déanta: Tue, 17 Feb 2026 - 14:39
Changed: Wed, 13 May 2026 - 08:29
Remote IP address: 91.181.121.74
Submitted by: Anonymous
Teanga: English
Is draft: Níl
Current page: webform_confirmation
Flagged: Tá
| Given name | Sara |
|---|---|
| Surname | Vermeylen |
| vermeylensara@gmail.com | |
| I understand that by submitting this form, I consent to the use of my data for the purposes of the 2026 Forum on Artistic Research'. | Tá |
| I agree to the terms of service. | Tá |
| Title | IKKE NI (Sit Down, Stand Up) |
| Format | Performance |
| Main language | English |
| Abstract | Sitting down and standing up are such elementary gestures that we forget they perform a social choreography. Depending on context, these actions can signify obedience, resistance, attention, solidarity, threat, humility, rest or elimination. During a residency in Berlin (2024), I started exploring how sitting down and standing up operate in my cultural context, from the commands I internalised as a child to displays of dominance. This pre-verbal language of power plays out in institutional rituals (“All rise", "You may be seated", "Please stand for the national anthem”), in playground elimination games (musical chairs, last one down is out) but also in acts of care (sitting at someone’s bedside, rising to embrace, crouching to meet a dog’s eyes). Every time we sit or stand, we reposition ourselves in relation to others. My research aims to articulate the language embedded in this vertical movement, and to disrupt its automaticity. When the automatic grows strange, things become interesting. I propose to share my practice through a 15-20 minute lecture-performance in which spoken word alternates with instructions. The audience will be asked to sit and stand repeatedly, under different verbal framing. I unpack the choreography of sitting and standing as a social script, while simultaneously demonstrating it. The format is experimental, simple, and politically urgent. |
| Image |
|
| Short biographies of the presenter(s) |
|
| Previous presentations or iterations of the research | Spring 2024: Durational pieces in which I sat down and stood up for hours on end, aiming to empty the gesture of meaning. August 2024: Improvisation during "Mäandern:::meander" residency at Flux I Bell (https://fluxibell-structurs.org/). This improvisation marked a turning point, I began examining how verbal framing activates the power embedded in these gestures. This 2026 contribution will be the first iteration that explicitly stages sitting and standing as a language of power. |
| Additional information | |
| Spatial and technical requirements | a chair per person |
| Potential risks or ethical concerns | |
| Create a user account for SAR 2026 | Tá |
| Create new user | Sara Vermeylen |
