First draft·ings

Abstract

This practice-based essay explores the nuances of intimacy through the coming together of bodies – their gestures, languages and sensorial occupation within a (physical) space of sharing, socializing and reflecting in a pandemic and post-pandemic world. The initiative stems from first draft – a collaborative project that began in 2018 as an alternative art space initiated by a group of artist-friends. The process behind ‘drafts’ becomes essential in creating a playful space to invite a flux of dialogues, mistakes, accidents, revisions, incidents and receptivity among others, challenging the conventions of producing and displaying ‘artworks’/exhibition-making. The initiative has now evolved into a space of gatherings, called first draft·ings, where we meet in small groups at a residential/non-commercial space in New Delhi, India. These gatherings have provided a niche for people from varied fields to connect through conversations, involving performers, researchers, sound/visual-designers, engineers/makers, educators and others. It offers a space to come together, share, eat, drink, chat, play, rest, recuperate and perhaps create (/not) around a pre-decided collective prompt. How can we reimagine/question/provoke new forms of art making and its dissemination through these acts of coming together? The essay takes a closer look at these ongoing ‘slow’ gatherings whereby we do not necessarily create, yet reflect over the conversations that sprout into more connections, extensions, and leave/take forward its residues. In the essay, we follow a non-linear approach by revisiting the sessions through narrative writing, and oscillating between the expository two-folds of the binaries. We explore the methodologies of first draft·ings and touch upon the questions of intimacy through transmission as a performative strategy. We attempt to explore the methods and vocabularies of a gathering by responding to the specific prompts through actions of – storytelling, compassionate listening, walking, watching films, playing games, gifting, laughing and more. We propose to traverse the peripheral nature of gatherings through proximity, collaboration, improvisation, slowness, rest, thus partaking in the intimate act(s) of transmission.