Church of our Savior
In preparation for our Long Study Tour to Greece this coming week (!!), my philosophy class went on a field study to the Church of our Savior. There, we were lead through a series of excerices by a guest philosopher, Rasmus, so as to better dwell in the space.
The first exercise Rasmus asked us to do was a blind walk through the church space. Each of us lead around a classmate by the hand and was lead in turn. This gave us a particular introduction to the space. We had the whole church to ourselves, which was really special, and meant we had the liberty to explore in an inhibited way.
Our second exercice was to explore the space using only one of our five senses. I moved around the space attune to sounds: the sound of my feet on the floor boards and the carpet, the sound of the pew doors opening and closing, the sound of the organ echoing in the hall, the sound of my classmates moving through the space. Focusing on the space through a chosen lense helped discover the place in a new way.
When Rasmus asked us to find “our place” in the church for our last exercise, I knew immediately which spot I wanted to claim as my known. During our blind walk-through exercise, I was often disoriented and unsure of where I was in the church. But when I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin as I walked through the patch of sunlight coming through the church windows, I knew exactly where I was situated in the church. I had noticed the strong ray of light at the right of church when we had first walked in, and was able to re-orient myself in the space. As I lay my stomach on the carpeted floor, letting the sun radiate on my skin, I felt at home- both figuratively and literally. My home in San Francisco is carpeted, and I often lay on the floor in front of my radiator. The texture of the carpet below me and the warmth from the sun from above brought me right back to that place, my place. Once we settled into our places, Rasmus asked us to write short 11 word poems about the place. Doing so allowed me to actively turn the space into my own; describing the space in writing gave me a sense of ownership over the place. In writing, we can create for ourselves a sense of place in any space.
I can't wait to apply these exercises and lessons in Greece as I try to find "my place" among the temples and ruins.
