Care Index collects and features diverse gestures of care performed by people from all walks of life, sharing states of well-being with the audience.
In recent times, where touch and physical intimacy and movement is increasingly controlled or denied, our collective sense of grief, loss and stress have escalated along with global disruptions and inequality. Practicing care for oneself and others have become even more central to our lives.
Care can take form as self-care, the practice of personal routines, rituals and boundaries which bring us comfort and regulate our emotions and stress levels. This could be meditation, prayer, walking, breathing or even work, if work helps to center us or evoke a sense of belonging. It can also take form as community care, ranging from caring for one’s family through food, caregiving for a loved one, sharing a traditional craft or skill with others, to volunteering and other communal activities. It can also manifest in work and professional industries which are run by care giving bodies. Care can also extend to the environment we live in, touching on natural environments, public spaces and even connecting over digital realms.
This project invites us to collectively consider:
What does taking care mean for me?
What are the gestures of care that I practise every day?
Is it possible to share it with others?
An Invitation
We would like to collect videos and sounds from anyone who would like to contribute to this Care Index. Each submission will also be archived on this simple website, with credits provided to each contributor.
To Contribute
- Choose your gesture of care (it can be your own or someone else’s care gesture, which you’ve observed)
- Perform your gesture for 1 - 3 min
- Record your care gestures with video + audio
You may respond to just one invitation or more, at any space of your choice.
Practices of care can take place in diverse settings, ranging from indoors in our homes, work spaces, to outdoor public spaces. There is no limit to the creative possibilities for your contribution.
Suggested Invitations
- Perform an everyday activity that brings you hope and lifts your spirits. Invent or seek one out.
- Perform an activity that requires maintenance or endurance.
- Choose a piece of music that brings you comfort/calm/pleasure/strength. Create 3 movements inspired by your music’s lyrics/melodies. Connect them seamlessly together into a single flow of movements.
- Draw or navigate a boundary with your body in the space you’re physically in at this moment.
- Perform an interaction with another (imagined or real) living creature(s).
These prompts are just suggestions and are open to interpretation. If you feel like improvising with other bodies in a socially responsible way, I would welcome such submissions as well!
Submissions Guidelines
- Suggested Video length: 1 - 3 minute
- Minimum Video length: 1 minute
- Ideally in Landscape mode. Wide angles and close-ups are all welcome
- The flow of movements of your care gestures should be captured clearly
- If you wish to send me a separate sound recording or song that is connected to your performance, you are very welcome to do so.
- Any basic video recording device which is available to you, such as your camera, mobile phone or laptop with a video camera, is perfect. You may record your performance on selfie mode, handheld or on a tripod, or invite a friend to help you out.
Email Submissions
Kindly include in your email submission the following details:
- Your Preferred Name
(pseudonyms are welcome. If you’re submitting on behalf of someone else, please check in whether they would like to keep their identities anonymous) - Your Age
(if you do not wish for your age to be published, simply let us know.) - Date, Time & Location of performance
(the more specific, the better) - Title
(tell us in a few words, what is your gesture of care?) - Your reflections
(Tell us the story behind your gesture of care... Why did you choose this gesture over others? When did you start performing such gestures? Who taught you this gesture? What does this gesture make you feel or bring your attention to? If you’re documenting another person’s care gesture, put on your interviewer’s hat and get to know more more about their story)
Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.
Send your contributions here: aleciaprojects @ gmail.com
Participation Agreement
By submitting to the Care Index, you acknowledge that all submitted materials belong/permissions are granted to you, and you kindly grant the artist the permission to use your materials freely for artistic and research purposes.
Care Index seeks to be a safe and respectful space of mutual exchange which hosts diverse expressions and knowledge from persons of all ages, cultural backgrounds and beliefs. While sincere effort will be made to be as inclusive as possible, the artist does reserve the right to exclude any works that they determine in their sole discretion to be obscene, inappropriate or illegal.
Scores for Presence of Mind
