Social (Airy) Distances, a new installation by Dr. Calvillo for Vulnerable Critters

Social (Airy) Distances is an experimental installation that explores the physical and affective consequences of social distancing imposed as a coping mechanism in pandemic times. The aerial ecosystem, which used to be considered “emptiness”, has been recently occupied by the COVID-19 virus, rules, fear, respect, wind, forms of speech and other elements that have created invisible walls that have limited our access to other human bodies. We have formed social bubbles, rehearsed social distance, and added contextual complexities (ventilation system, masks, direction of speech, etc) to calibrate “safety”. 1m, 1.5m, 2m… These dimensions have fluctuated over time and across jurisdictions, responding to scientific research findings and negotiations with workers’ unions, hospitality managers and a wide range of industries and public institutions. Through these dimensions, health, social and economic risk has been managed across the world. Which kinds of bodily and affective separations has it unravelled, and which kinds of reliefs and autonomy have they generated.

 

Social (Airy) Distances, designed by Calvillo and her team as C+ arquitectas, is a commission for Vulnerable Critters, an exhibition curated by Andrea Bagnato and Iván L. Munuera that looks critically at modernity’s obsession with preventing contamination. It has been produced with the support of the Participatory Research Fund, Research England.

27 May-18 September 2022

La Casa Encendida (https://www.lacasaencendida.es/en/exhibitions/vulnerable-critters-13607)