Sara Daniel

This new project is a continuation of research around participative forms of social initiatives. Or how to act upon political and social crisis' (housing issues, ecological crisis, increase of precarity...). I want to propose a class of Civil Disobedance, i-e, looking for bodily contestation forms in the new public spaces (social media, body culture, buzz exploitation etc...). For my graduation work, I utilized the spectacle for my own means: self-written songs of protest performed live for the neighborhood. I thus reclaimed entertainment as a potential site of social interaction and political engagement. It acted as a live manifesto, and the people if entertained acted as a passive public. That's why I'd like to move to a new active format by proposing a dance class, and creating a body language of active contestation. The research of the choreography, scenography, and clothing echoes worldwide manifestations, like the ones we saw in Hong-kong, France or Chili. The dramatization and the spectacular (spectacle) format of these manifestations make them visually pleasing and easily transmitted on social media. With this project I'd like to utilize existing forms of broadcasting and mass entertaining such as aerobic classes in the 80's. I consider this kind of format as some of the first examples of individualised aspirational programming corresponding with the the neo-liberal system. It advocates a body control and is recognizable by a strong aesthetic, broadly accepted through entertainment. This control and aesthetic might have changed but still exists on different social media platforms (like Instagram), which promote and circulate this 'aspirational' consumer culture. I want to propose myself as the first entertainer mixing sport coaching and street slogan sentences. The idea is to gather and trigger the desire to fight against a neo liberal system that pretends to activate the individual while in reality deactivating the society. It is for me a second step of activation to make a contrast with this general apathy ruled by the neo-liberal model which prevents us to think of any alternative systems. 

Originally trained as a product designer, Sara Daniel has developed an interdisciplinary practice dedicated to rethinking the possibilities of social and political engagement. In her work, she combines forms associated with activism such as sit-ins and protests with the making of context-based scenarios, complete with props, music, costumes and performances. With them, she seeks to make visible and accessible major societal issues, including the housing crisis in Amsterdam and increased atomization of communities. 

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