If our brains were to process all daily stimuli, it would be chaos in our minds. And also in our bodies! What is happening in society right now that overstimulation and attention issues are becoming a theme for so many people? How does our brain and body process everything that comes in? And how can we empathize with someone whose sensory processing works differently than ours?
These are questions that Schweigman&, drawing from her expertise in embodied experience, decided to investigate the phenomenon of sensory processing, both at a physiological and socio-cultural level. This research resulted in the exhibition Prikkel, at Buitenplaats Doornburgh in Maarssen in 2023. Lichtgang - one of the installations developed by Schweigman& for the exhibition - can now be experienced at SPRING.
In this PrikkelTalk, Boukje Schweigman delves deeper into the phenomenological approach of Lichtgang and the insights gained from the research. She talks about this installation, which she developed together with performance artist Johannens Belinkx, and how this installation is part of Prikkel en route. In Prikkel en route - a series of installations and performances that play with sensory perception - not only the senses we are all familiar with (hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch) come into play, but also the internal senses about which we know less: interoception (internal stimuli), the vestibular system, and proprioception (body awareness).
Boukje Schweigman discusses in the PrikkelTalk how these senses function and talks about sensory processing in general. Within the installations, the audience undergoes various sensory sensations that have a direct effect on the body and the perception of the external world. How the world comes to us determines how we react to it, how we interpret signals, and our behavior. And that varies for everyone. By discussing what each person has experienced, we can gain more understanding of the diversity of our sensory processing systems and of neurodiversity. And perhaps we can better understand each other's behavior as well.
"Phenomenology has everything to do with our sensory processing, and when you delve deep into this topic, you touch upon the basis of our existence. How do we experience ourselves and the world around us? How this comes to us then determines how we respond to our environment. How do we perceive and what is reality? It resulted in many inspiring questions and insights."
Boukje Schweigman
