we are a network of artist bodyworkers
We have created the network as a support structure for practical questions around visibility, communication, money, as well as work-related concerns, intervision and care. We talk about diverse bodies/body histories, health/illness, poetry, sensibilities, power dynamics, through regular peer exchange and irregular public events.
Each of us – Agnes Schneidewind, Sabrina Huth, Susanne Grau, Yuri Shimaoka – offers bodywork sessions including Craniosacral Biodynamics, Myoreflex Therapy, Rolfing, and Shiatsu.
The word “consider” comes from the Latin verb consīderāre, which literally means “to observe the stars” and was used to mean “to examine carefully” or “to think about”. The word is formed from con- (with, together) and sīdus (star, heavenly body), suggesting a thorough, attentive examination, perhaps originally related to astronomical observation for divination or navigation.
Considering socio-economic realities, we want to address the complexities of money within the field of bodywork. We propose a sliding scale solidarity price system. This allows us to offer sessions to people with different financial situations and create a way to support each other. People who can afford it can help us to cover our costs for reduced priced sessions. The concrete costs differ from practitioner to practitioner depending on expenses on studio rent, duration of the session, equipment costs, maintenance and training costs.
We aim to approach our bodies as vessels of life, wonder, and abundance, rather than mere machines in service of capitalism or the wellness industry, which often capitalizes on notions of deficiency. The question of pricing is intertwined with issues of labor value, financial capacity (given that this field is outside the public health system), and the sustainability of our work. Moreover, it touches upon emotional and existential aspects of money, including feelings of shame, fear, guilt, and the societal taboo surrounding discussions of finances. We collectively engage with our own relationships to pricing, trust, and individual needs. We prioritize transparency with those we work with, aiming to make bodywork accessible to as many people as possible based on their desires and needs.
There is a political dimension in all bodywork which we want to address, reflect and become aware of. All bodies are archives of memories, belief systems, strategies of resistance and resilience. Who has access to bodywork? What kind of touch is applied? What kind of relationship is established between the practitioner and client? How do we deal with consent, responsibility and agency? What kind of language, images and representations do we use? How can we unlearn and counter normative body concepts? How can we empower the intelligence of bodies and honour the rich spectrum of its manifestations? What is a healthy body?
How can we listen to silence? How can we listen to the rhythms of the body? What do we attune to and with? What is the dramaturgy of the session? How to make a transition? Which colours, words, stories, dreams, landscapes appear? How do we make arc(s) of experience in a session? What is presence? What is present? How does language shape experience? How to find a language that moves the body? What is a poem? What is a body? How can we be attentive to the gaps, the weather, the light, the flies, the touch? How does bodywork benefit from an artistic point of view? What does bodywork do to the artistic practice, and vice versa?