We’ll look at artwork from a fresh and new perspective. You will be invited to follow simple movement scores to attune to your senses, change your perspective through space and challenge our normal default position of focused forward vision. You will learn to trust your body and its subtle felt sense in response to artwork letting go of preconceptions about how you should conduct yourself in an art gallery. What more can we learn about art and an artist’s artwork when we’re engaging our full sensory bodies and its ability to shape and express through space rather than just trying to understand with our minds?

For this second iteration of this series at IMT Gallery we will have the pleasure to dialogue with The House, a group exhibition exploring home-as-exhibition and gallery-as-home. It features work that all, often through degrees of autobiography, speaks to some of the discordances of being at home: perhaps the anticipation of order amidst the everyday; or an expectation of comfort, often amidst insecurity or tension.

The first edition was in conversation with Thick, Stretchy, Sticky Space, an exhibition of Fran Hayes’ artwork. 

What to expect

• • Guided movement scores designed to gently disrupt habitual ways of looking and moving in gallery spaces
  • Practices that invite you to shift perspective through space, orientation, and attention
  • A slowing down of perception, allowing felt sense to lead before thought
  • Permission to let go of learnt gallery etiquette in favour of embodied responsiveness
  • Collective exploration within the exhibition space, without performance or spectacle

What you will explore

• • How perception changes when the whole sensory body is engaged, not just the eyes
  • The limits of ocular-centred approaches to art, and what they exclude or silence
  • How bodies negotiate thresholds: private/public, inside/outside, home/exhibition
  • The relationship between movement, memory, and affect when encountering artworks
  • How spatial awareness and bodily orientation shape meaning before interpretation arrives

What you will gain

• • A richer, more complex way of encountering art that includes sensation, emotion, and intuition
  • Increased trust in your body’s subtle responses as a valid form of knowing
  • Greater awareness of how disciplinary norms shape behaviour in cultural spaces
  • Tools for engaging with art that do not rely on explanation, expertise, or verbal mastery
  • A felt understanding of how bodies, spaces, and artworks co-create meaning

Who is it for?

This workshop is for anyone curious about engaging with art beyond interpretation and critique: artists, curators, students, movers, thinkers, and those who feel constrained by how they are meant to behave in galleries. No movement experience is required—only a willingness to listen to the body and to question how perception has been trained.

Testimonial

by Fran Hayes, the artist whose work we moved with in the first iteration of the workshop

The experience of Claire’s workshop ‘Seeing Art with the Whole Body’ was truly transformative for me, both as the artist whose work was involved and for my wider life and practice.

The workshop was well structured, allowing participants to get to know each other in a relaxed, informal, and gentle setting. Claire introduced us to exercises that encouraged alternative ways of viewing the artwork, such as using different areas of our vision or restricting it. These exercises enabled us to perceive the work in novel ways, engaging different senses and using our bodies in ways that are often frowned upon in traditional art spaces.

It was exciting to see how everyone relaxed as the workshop progressed. As people became more comfortable with the space and each other, their movements became more liberated and exploratory. By the end, the group had coalesced into one living, breathing entity, mirroring the content of the show. For me, as the artist, it was incredible to witness a group of individuals who did not previously know each other come together so organically, and I believe that through Claire giving us permission to engage with the work in radical ways, the audience was able to connect with the work on a deeper level.

As a predominantly visual artist, it was fascinating to have so many bodies interacting within the space. Seeing people engage with the work started me thinking about it in a more performance-based way, and since the workshop I have been considering different ways to incorporate the body and performance into my practice.

I often feel restricted by the boundaries imposed by art institutions, which limit physical engagement with the work. Claire’s workshop transcended these boundaries, encouraging us to explore every aspect of the work, from visual to auditory and tactility. Being encouraged to play and explore within the exhibition was liberating, and being part of a group enhanced this experience, as we were all learning and experiencing together.

Claire’s workshop has had a profound impact on my artistic practice and perspective. It not only broadened my approach to the work I make but also fostered a deeper connection between myself, my work, and others. I highly recommend ‘Seeing Art with the Whole Body’ to anyone looking to engage with art in diverse and radical ways.