“They are saying that to fight something is to make of this thing a centre. So that at first fighting it becomes a habit. A habit that mutates into a need. They say that if fighting something becomes a need, you end up needing the thing itself, making of it, in practice, a reason to be in the world. They refuse to fight against what they want to get rid of. So as not to be left defenceless, they craft soft weapons” - Loup Rivière, armes molles
If the notion of emotional labour has been a feminist concern for a while, Loup Rivière proposes to also think with what she calls "narrative labour". For those of us whose lives are not held by hegemonic narratives, it can often feel like no story has our backs. Survival is often bound to the work of crafting the stories capable of holding our existences. Teaming up with ancestors, rocks, pokemons and other members of her communities, Loup draws stories as weapons: soft, supple, floppy weapons, weapons that know the difference between the absence of a fight and the presence of a refusal to fight.
In this solo, she offers a place to be-with. Be with oneself, with what’s unsure, with what’s invisibile, what’s dead, what’s not appeared yet. Be with the thickness of things. A place to co-regulate, to attune, to be in touch, to get undone. A place to practice trust and to belong. Belong to what’s in between, before, around, what forms, informs and unforms, what’s lingering, what’s grieving, what’s haunting, what’s flowering.
The radio play will be played on Friday via radio stream on the Gessnerallee website and can be heard live on the following radio stations: duuuradio, Megahex.fm, radiolibre, Radio LoRa.
“They are saying that to fight something is to make of this thing a centre. So that at first fighting it becomes a habit. A habit that mutates into a need. They say that if fighting something becomes a need, you end up needing the thing itself, making of it, in practice, a reason to be in the world. They refuse to fight against what they want to get rid of. So as not to be left defenceless, they craft soft weapons” - Loup Rivière, armes molles
If the notion of emotional labour has been a feminist concern for a while, Loup Rivière proposes to also think with what she calls "narrative labour". For those of us whose lives are not held by hegemonic narratives, it can often feel like no story has our backs. Survival is often bound to the work of crafting the stories capable of holding our existences. Teaming up with ancestors, rocks, pokemons and other members of her communities, Loup draws stories as weapons: soft, supple, floppy weapons, weapons that know the difference between the absence of a fight and the presence of a refusal to fight.
In this solo, she offers a place to be-with. Be with oneself, with what’s unsure, with what’s invisibile, what’s dead, what’s not appeared yet. Be with the thickness of things. A place to co-regulate, to attune, to be in touch, to get undone. A place to practice trust and to belong. Belong to what’s in between, before, around, what forms, informs and unforms, what’s lingering, what’s grieving, what’s haunting, what’s flowering.
The radio play will be played on Friday via radio stream on the Gessnerallee website and can be heard live on the following radio stations: duuuradio, Megahex.fm, radiolibre, Radio LoRa.
