'A Man Walks Into A Room'

Single channel Video 2020, duration 9 minutes and 31 seconds.

Digital Video, Colour, Sound, Oculus Quest, Artificial Lighting, Yellow Sofa,Mirror. Piano, Sports Hall.

Video description:  The film has very little words spoken throughout it. We hear background noise of the echoing dance studio, the footsteps of the artists walking about with the VR headset on, the noise of him bumping into things and a buzzing when he switches on the lights.

‘A man walks into a room’ ………  he tussles with his own Liminal existence within the simultaneity of inner and outer worlds, bumping into objects and grappling with things that are, and are not there…….

This work contemplates disabled people’s bodies and our ways of navigating a world designed for nondisabled bodies. Rather than explicitly referencing disability, the work reflects the artists’ experiences of interacting with their environments. What support do bodies need, and how might this support change in the future?

Despite the western world valuing individual autonomy over the collective, our democratic freedom in fact rests on people creating support structures and working together. This has been made even more evident in our current time of Covid 19. Disabled people have always needed support systems. The western emphasis on individual autonomy has undermined and undervalued our experiences. As disabled people, we develop some of our sense of self from this dependence on other people and things, and from our struggle against this dependence. From prostheses, wheelchairs, and canes to chairs and benches in public spaces, to a network of family and friends, to public services like health and transport, the support has come in many forms. These are vital to our well-being.  ‘A man walks into a room’ focuses on how bodies are, are not, or could be supported in the future.


©Paul Moore 2021