Beyond All Polarities, We Are, ____.
Beyond All Polarities, We Are, ____., 2022
Interactive Performance Installation
SF MOMA
Beyond All Polarities, We Are ____. was an immersive, interactive performance held at SFMOMA, co-organized by Surabhi Saraf and Laura Hyunjhee Kim of the Centre for Emotional Materiality (CEM), in collaboration with Bay Area artist Ashwini Bhat. Created in response to the exhibition Speculative Portraits, the performance invited participants into a somatic, sonic, and sculptural exploration of identity in uncertain times.
Blurring the boundaries between viewer and performer, the experience unfolded through ambient sound, projected text, and a collaborative clay ritual. Visitors were guided to “feel-through-sense” into their bodies, to slow down and make their emotions tangible—melting into a blobby sense of interbeing.
Together, we asked: Who are we beyond our preferences, fears, and digital selves?
As reviewer Matthew Harrison Tedford wrote:
“It was not austere—it was social and lively while remaining quiet and contemplative... we all fell into a rhythm that made space for, and was shaped by, each one of us.”
This performance marked a turning point in CEM’s evolution—where collective embodiment, ritual, and material play became central strategies for cultivating presence and kinship.
Read the full review here.
