Gestures of Offering / Hsuan-Hsiu Hung (2019)

Gestures of offering is a creative practice that explores the relationship between self and others; self and world. The word gestures suggests visible movements in space as well as invisible movements that become tangible through personal kinaesthetic experiences, and the word offering evokes the question of what it might be possible to offer when we encounter with others and the world.

The paper begins by introducing the Buddhist philosophical framework; the concept of emptiness, dependent-arising and impermanence, which permeate the investigative process. Additionally, the definition of the mind and the practice of meditation are introduced in order to understand the ground from which the researcher develops her creative practice. Chronologically: the paper lays out the researcher’s personal journey, from working with the movements of a tea ceremony to letting go of any score and instead attending to the arising movements during the encounters. The meaning of the gestures of offering shifts and widens as the investigation unfolds and as the understanding of the potentials of human connection deepens. As the practice evolves, further definition of the mind from the Buddhist tradition is presented in response to what has occurred during the practice, a non-dualistic kinaesthetic experience. This opens up a discussion of the nature of awareness being boundaryless and is key to recognising the gestures of offering as things that are not created but are already present in our encounters with others or with the world. In the end, the paper shares insights of what the practice of the gestures of offering might offer to the experience of everyday life and points to the openness and kindness towards others one might develop through this practice.