TRUE FRIEND : a friend-design workshop

Radu Lazar

- an encounter with your most desired friend - 

This is a workshop that is part of the Narrative Lab, which basically aims at consciously designing life, exploring vision and taking responsibility over one’s own experience.

One part of the Narrative Lab is the joy of inviting beloved souls, the ones you respect and long for most, into your life, to join your experience. (they can be historical figures - creators, heroes, artists, saints,  revolutionaries, iconic characters- ... but also fictional characters, real persons in your life, divine beings, invented beings… whatever…)

One of the challenges observed in this process of shared life design, is that when we invoke a certain person, the others will not be able to feel the person just like you feel it, even if its a very known figure. Even more trickier is that even us we are not always clear what is it that our hearts long for, what exactly we resonate with in these models…

So, this workshop opens a path for us to be specific and clear in what is the quality we desire in our beloved ones, so that it becomes easier to integrate. 

Also, it invites specialized forms of expressing materially these qualities, making them present and stable in our immediate field. Because words, even careful words, are relatively powerless.

So, for this process, each participant will chose a space, will design a setting and a body/ costume (or a presence architecture) for these qualities to manifest. Each one has the task of designing their IDEAL ENCOUNTER with THEIR IDEAL FRIEND, most longed for, most desired… and live it!

One other person will be the witness, the assistant or maybe even the channel…  with the secret intention that we all learn, slowly, how to be best friends for one another…

1.

Introduction (15 min)

Choosing pairs: we choose 2 sets of pairs (maybe random choice is best). So, each one of us will need a witness… but it will not be reciprocal… so there will be 2 different sets of pairs.

2.

(40 min)

Look around the property, scan it with your heart, and find the place that feels most sacred, that calls you in the purest, most intimate way.

Prepare the space and design there the encounter with your most desired friend.

How: think about 3 persons that you truly admire, love, respect, have passion for. They can be masters of the past, present, future… cultural icons, creators, geniuses, etc… they can be divine figures, mythological figures, fictional figures… even impossible figures that maybe your heart desires but they have not yet taken any form…

You will not communicate their names. You need to enter firmly into the exact quality of their presence and identify what is that most important quality that your heart longs for, in them… if you truly want to be like them, or if you want to have them close to you… what is it that you search for?

After finding 3 qualities, that belong to these 3 persons, please create their body in this sacred spot you found. Create an installation, make an arrangement of objects, make a costume… create a spontaneous architecture of presence that will be as evocative as possible of those qualities… It can be simple, improvised, but follow feeling, follow the subtle calling of materials…

Remember: you will need to invite your witness to inhabit it… so try to create it so as someone would, ideally, fit inside… but, of course, follow the inspiration of the space and the objects that call.

You will be able to describe to the witness the nature of the architecture of presence… to describe briefly the qualities… but we must gradually learn to not use objects just in a symbolic manner… meaning, that, ideally, we should be able to show the presence and need no explanations… and the qualities would be immediately evident by the expressive power of the installation…

Consider that this place and the installation might remain active and useful later...

3.

2 sessions of 20 min each (40 min)

Invite your witness to the prepared space… invite them to inhabit the architecture of the desired friend…. Speak about, present briefly the qualities of the presence… (5 min)

For 15 min, enter the event of the DESIRED ENCOUNTER. Spend this time with your most beloved friend, as if this being is there in front of you… and do what you most long for… maybe you wish to speak to them, to ask them questions, maybe just stay silent, maybe give them a gift, maybe just touch… whatever feels most adequate, desired, needed…. Feel free to decide and clarify for the witness how they are invited to respond… either by total silence, stillness, or maybe if they feel inspired to really respond and have a conversation, or answer through objects, or action, or singing, or dancing… etc….

4.

Discussion, sharing, feelings, ideas...