Christopher Kelly–who is a sculptor and visual artist with a background in fashion and prop design based in Buckinghamshire, the UK–is currently working on a project entitled “interwoven: ADHD and the Creative Mind.” Diagnosed with ADHD just shy of his 40th birthday, Christopher wrote this project in the attempt to create an opportunity for his private and professional selves to integrate their new diagnosis into their lives with the aid of their creative practice.
I was invited to support that stage of Christopher’s research that concerns, for lack of a better term, the making of a dance. The way I explained it to myself, Christopher wanted the making of this dance to serve two purposes: at the introspect end of the spectrum, he wanted to study his ADHD experientially; at the “extrospect” end of the spectrum, he wanted to develop strategies with which to physically relate to the crocheted objects made in the first chapter of his research and explore the performative poetic potential of that physical relation.
Between August 16 and 21, 2022, I hosted a workshop in which I introduced Christopher and collaborator Anais Miah to “dance science.” On the introspect end of the spectrum, I referred to my study of Body-Mind Centering TM in conducting the experiential discussion of perception, proprioception, and interception. On the “extrospect” end of the spectrum, I referred to my reading of performativity and study of dance history in conducting the experiential discussion of performing, the performative, self-consciosuness, consciousness of self, and communication. We conducted many an informal discussion regarding our shared experience of being diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood.
On the basis of the experiments conducted and the material collected during the research phase of interwoven, Christopher will be applying for further funding to be invested towards the development of an ADHD and the Creative Mind performative practice.