Eye to Eye: Embodied Visibility / Dancing on my Phone with Jose Funnell

With the constant influx of mass and social media, coupled with an ever-present sense of surveillance or the anticipation of being watched, images and screens have become definitive ways through which we relate to each other and ourselves.

Interdisciplinary artist and dancer Jose Funnell will lead a somatic movement and dance workshop exploring the relationship between self-perception and the external gaze.

This workshop will include accessible movement explorations, mindfulness exercises and room for reflection on what is to be/feel seen. We will also consider our embodied relationships to mobile phones, bringing awareness to the psychosomatic effects of living a life mediated by devices.

Together we will look to access a fundamental sense of being in the world by connecting to our bodies and finding comfort in present moment experience.

This workshop is open to anyone and no previous dance experience is necessary.

Jose Funnell is an interdisciplinary artist and dancer based in London. Through live performance, sound and the workshop space, they explore the radical potential of embodiment as a site of liberation, healing and exchange in service of collective transformation.

Using somatics, social dance, and various technologies of the gaze, their work examines practices of looking and representing as historic mechanisms of power, as well as the role fantasy and collective imagery play in world building. Working towards creating anti-oppressive structures, justice and equity, their practice brings awareness to the experiential dynamics of sharing space and the emancipatory potential of generating agency within contexts of marginalisation.

They have presented their work at the ICA (London), Les Urbaines (Lausanne, Switzerland), Steakhouse Live (London), Slap Festival (York), The Albany (London), CLAY (Leeds) and Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski (Warsaw).They have facilitated workshops for the Barbican, Cell Project Space, Conditions Croydon, Migration Matters Festival, Prepster, Lovetank, Metro Charity and Live Art Development Agency.

This workshop for Queercircle is an extension of the research project that originated with the performance and installation eye to eye: dreaming hyper in visibility commissioned by and presented at the ICA in 2023, supported by Bergen Kunsthall, Wysing Arts Centre and Arts Council England.

We strive to provide a physical environment that is accessible to all visitors. This includes:

• Offering ground-level, step-free access to our spaces.
• Offering elevator access to our project space located on the first floor.
• Providing accessible restrooms for all genders on every floor of our venues.
• Providing folding chairs or other forms of seating at every venue.
• Welcoming assistive animal at our spaces and events.
• Designating drop-off zones and parking spots within the Design District for visitors with disabilities on Phoenix Avenue which is 160 meters away. 
  
  Contact ola@queercircle.org for any additional access needs