Sensory and Spatial Koans

Taking as a departure point Lygia Clark’s koan-like use of paradox and material juxtaposition this paper asks how her methods might be deployed in the context of contemporary technologies, like embedded electronics and algorithms, and what we might make if we take the spatial or sensory koan as a strategy when building with these materials. It will introduce the spatial koan as a lens through which to view Clark’s work, discuss her use of sensory juxtaposition in the object based therapeutic treatment she devised called Structuring the Self, and introduce The Relational Objects Project, currently in production, as an example of how this framework might be applied in the context of contemporary materials. This work developed through research in Clark’s archives and conversation with Lula Wanderley and Gina Ferreira, two psychotherapists trained by Clark in her Structuring the Self practice.