Collective Body is an interactive performance and installation presented as part of DXC 2026 at OCAD University.
In this project, I take Arts, Advocacy, and Activism as a reference. I would like to thank Prof. Charles Reeve for making it possible to conceptually expand and reframe this work within the framework of the Democracy Exchange.
Collective Body is positioned as a living structure shaped through economic systems, shared labour, and interdependence. In this system, bodies move together to carry a structure, making visible how stability depends on collective participation rather than individual action.
The work explores how value is produced and sustained, how labour and responsibility are distributed, and how weight is carried within a system.
Key Concepts
Shared labour
Economic systems
Interdependence
Value production
Distribution of responsibility
Collective stability
Event Info
DXC 2026 – OCAD U Exhibition
April 16, 6:00–10:00 PM
OCAD U Waterfront Campus
130 Queens Quay E
Credits
Reference: Arts, Advocacy, Activism
Prof. Charles Reeve
OCAD University
Democracy Exchange (DXC 2026)
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COLLECTIVE BODY: A LIVING STRUCTURE OF SHARED LABOUR
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ART INSTALLATION NOTES AND SHORT BRIEFING
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This interdisciplinary installation combines textile sculpture, performance, and participatory public art. The work consists of a wearable structure that is activated simultaneously by multiple participants.
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The project began as an exploration of collective presence and shared physical space. Initially, the focus was on how bodies come together to form a temporary structure through movement, balance, and interaction.
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Through the Democracy Exchange (DXC) framework, the work shifted toward a more explicit engagement with systems. The collective structure came to be understood not only as a physical form but also as a model of how social, economic, and political systems operate.
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The requirement for multiple participants to sustain the structure revealed a key condition: stability is not individual but collective. This realization positioned the work within questions of labour, interdependence, and system maintenance.
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EXHIBITION DESCRIPTION
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This participatory installation explores the relationship between shared labour, economic systems, and democratic structures within the context of Democracy Exchange (DXC).
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Participants inhabit a single structure that can only function through coordinated effort. No individual can maintain it alone. This condition reflects how economic systems operate: labour is distributed, responsibility is shared, and stability depends on collective participation.
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By making labour visible and embodied, the work draws attention to how value is produced and sustained. It also raises political questions about distribution and power: who carries the weight within a system, and how is that weight shared or unevenly assigned?
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Within this framework, democracy is approached not as an abstract ideal but as an ongoing process shaped by participation, negotiation, and the continuous balancing of shared responsibility.
