Vulneri

To live in a society, in a world, means to share space with others. Freedom is not a domain of arbitrariness and an infinite horizon; rather, it is delimited precisely by the other who inhabits the same limited space. As the world's population continues to grow, questions arise: where exactly does one person's freedom (space) meet the freedom (space) of another? How large is the space that a subject can inhabit, occupy, make decisions within, think within, exist within?

The human tendency to expand into its surroundings—to occupy, conquer, and push the boundaries of one's own freedom—is often disguised as a survival instinct. Yet behind this drive there often lies the illusion that freedom exists only where we have complete control over space. Vulneri is therefore not merely an observation of physical overcrowding, but a symptom of an ideological paradigm: the assumption that an excess of others automatically means a lack of freedom.

In Vulneri, Anamaria Klajnšček approaches this question on a physical, material level—placing three dancers within a single square meter of space. There they cohabit, coexist, and share this space, yet always, precisely within the limitation, they search for freedom. The artist introduces into the space various movement, dance, and somatic techniques that she has been developing over the past seven years. What unfolds is a constant negotiation between bodies, an active tactile listening, and a continual exchange of roles among them. The performance reveals the fragile architecture of human interdependence.

The cohabitation of subjects within an extremely small space de-abstracts the notion of freedom. The boundaries between the freedom of one body and that of another become entirely clear, tactile. While terror and the imperialist expropriation of space and freedom—as known from social history, and unfortunately from the present as well—are always available possibilities, the dancers in Vulneri point toward another real possibility: sensitivity and solidarity. This calls for a full understanding of the concept of cohabitation. It requires delicacy of movement (and therefore of thought), the plasticity of bodies (and therefore of thought), and cooperation between bodies (and therefore between people). For if two of the three within that single square meter fail—if they are destroyed by the forces of power relations—then the third simply remains alone. But does being alone still contain the concept of freedom?