HAVE A SEAT!
– Images of Being There
Laterna Magica Book Gallery, Helsinki, Finland. 2015
Physiatrists have it right, of course: today we spend too much time sitting – and what’s more, we sit in a wrong way.
But then again, you won’t stay put for long before you feel a need to sit down. There you are, you sit; whether you sit correctly or not, while sitting, you take your place, you undertake a more intimate, possibly more committed relationship with the world.
You sit down when confronted by poignant moments in life.
Sitting alone or sharing a session, sitting idle or sitting focused in work, sitting mindful and alert or in reverie, dreaming of someplace else – all the same, sitting gives meaning to the place and the situation.
Sit under a tree canopy, your back against the trunk – you will be part of an archetypal image of architecture. Sit back on your doorstep, lean against the doorframe – this is your private moment, but at the same time you are part of a bigger story, a story that is ancient and collective: the primordial story of dwelling and belonging.
For one who sits, world becomes a bodily sensation, one who sits speaks a bodily language even when sitting in silence. The group dynamics of those sitting together will inevitably be revealed through their sitting positions.
For many of us, a chair is a self-evident device and a sign for sitting, a potential extension of the body. An empty chair – is it an invitation or a message of someone’s absence? Oftentimes, the chair is a symbol. But when it really comes to the need to sit down, almost anything makes a seat, any piece of ground becomes a meaningful setting for seating.
A place to be.
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For one who sits, time is relative in it’s own way. Sitting often signifies waiting, but perchance – if you give it a second thought – while sitting, you are already there.
Have a seat!
