Take the party onlineCreatives respond to social distancing with online meetups

Now that governments all over the world have announced a hold on public life or even a complete lockdown due to the pandemic, we have to practice self-isolation. For some, that is easier than for others. Now that real-life social events have been cancelled, many of us are looking towards the online social environment as an alternative. We looked into social initiatives from creatives all over the world on how to collectively meet and party online, and how to find a community-feel in times of social distancing.

Anna Lunoe Presents: Hyperhouse Livestream 001 on youtube

Staying in confined spaces means we need to remind ourselves to keep on moving. Dancing can be a great exercise, but it is also more than that: dancing connects, dancing can lift your spirit, spark creativity, it can fight boredom, loneliness and anxiety. So, how and where to dance online?

Cloud Raves – A new online phenomenon

For many, the best thing about going out is dancing together in clubs. Under lock-down in China, a phenomenon grew called ‘cloud-clubbing’, where through online live dj-sets, you can watch, listen and dance together with others who tuned in. For example, you can join Club Quarantaine, a Toronto based Instagram account that organises online queer parties ‘every night of the quarantine’. Log in with the Zoom app and dance along from the safety of your room. Or join quarantine.rave, started by graphic designer Mark van Koningsveld from Utrecht, The Netherlands. The description of the location is: ‘Your own fucking house’.

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It’s a Dance of Urgency – Bogomir Doringer

Dancing and clubbing is much more than a joyful event according artist and curator Bogomir Doringer. He sees dancing as a non-verbal communication tool, a tool that can be very transitional and powerful. With his project A Dance of Urgency he explores dancing in times of collective crisis. Through research he looks for different initiatives that make the dance floor more than a space to move, but also a space for expression, for community and for (body)politics. Learn more about his project here:

It’s a Dance of Urgency – Bogomir Doringer

We asked Bogomir Doringer about the cloud raves during COVID19. He mentions that the rise of dancing crowds can be seen as an announcement of a crisis, they appear in times of uncertainty. It’s a combination of both dancing from fear and a celebration of life. Now that we are social-distancing our bodies want to move, get rid of fear, frustration and insecurities. Dancing becomes a way of healing. 

“The growing online presence brings forward this idea of a dance as performance, a dance to be seen. It is very different from dancing in a dark club. The reason that so many people turn to the camera is that many are afraid of being alone, they want to connect, want to reach others. With the camera on there is an extra eye, the idea that someone is watching that can make you feel connected.”

 

Listen to the radio

Meetings have turned into video calls and now we realise how important it is to have direct contact, even if it is physically not possible. The need for live interaction also seemed to have sparked a new interest in radio shows. In China, livestreams such as Shanghai Community Radio started broadcasting DJ-sets and live conversations during the lockdown to help people fight loneliness. The students of the master’s programme Social Design Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna have started coronityRadio, a virtual meeting space with meetings and music for social, political and cultural exchange. 

Still from Shanghai Community Radio Livestream

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***MATTERS OF RELATIONSHIPS*** with Karin Fisslthaler Dear participants of the Workshop “Matters of Relationships !” This workshop concept has been written on the 3rd and modified on the 8th of April 2020. As we are in a constantly changing situation right now, my thoughts on how we can exchange, communicate and work together by being physically apart during this week is keeping my mind busy. Via zoom we will be alone, but together, meet each other in the surrounding of our private spaces, situated in different areas of the city – but gather in the public zone of the internet. We have to find ways to connect and to correspond. I have experienced that, within the time of isolation, the value of relationships, the occupation with the self and our very own body and the acts of communication, the aspect of time, the physical,… becomes more evident. (…) My plan is, that the workshop will focus on the question how relationships matter and what the matters and elements of relationships can be, how they change and why it is – especially now – relevant to have a closer look on it. Interpersonality and the term “relationship” (to yourself, to friends, neighbors, inhabitants, familiy, colleagues,…) are per se immaterial and invisible but are articulated and put into “forms”, actions and materials in order to feel and perceive them. (…) Curiously looking forward! Yours, Karin

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Start a party from your balcony

Now, if you are done looking at your screen and are really ready for it, you can always start your own party from your balcony or window. We have seen some very heart-warming videos from Italy, where neighbours entertained each other in these times of boredom. Move your soundsystem outside and play some tunes that your neighbours can dance to.