Serena Chalker

Photo: Nikolay Vasilev

During this residency I am planning to work within the apartment at the Saari residency to explore the meeting place of my written, site-specific and dance improvisatory practices in a new solo From the Outside, In. This project explores how a nomadic body navigates the process of inhabitation in places of “foreignness”. I am interested in how both text and the body provide vehicles to communicate this process of reflecting, challenging and situating ourselves within the world. On a broader scale, how do site-specific artists address the need for mobility to sustain a career, and personally, how do I find myself ‘sited’ in a place of unfamiliarity? I am interested in how this process of inhabitation changes over time, and from site-to-site. The nomadic subject is not always in motion or fleeting – she also requires periods of rest or stasis. I am interested in “situated nomadism” as a phenomenological interaction between objects, people and spaces in real time.

During my residency I will be concentrating on the process transition from a place of foreignness to familiarity, with a central focus on the idea of home, living and working within the residence accommodation. I will be exploring the relationship between physical and written response within the confines of the apartment, blurring the boundaries between life and art. I will be reflecting on the changing dynamics of the site, and the interaction of time and space I am interested in redefining the relationship between the nomadic body and the physical site. I am interested blurring the boundaries of my practice, applying the attention and rigour of a physical practice to the written word, and questioning where the line between art and life begins and ends.

SERENACHALKER.COM