Coalescing hearts twirl into one; sinewed in difference, their pulses syncopate. A coalescence can mend and heal; by leaning on another, we are recast in a passage that emanates in and beyond ourselves. We can bathe and splash in another’s hiccups and fumbles. Our vulnerabilities dovetail with those of a stranger. Reacquainted, we learn through the enamours and enigmas of the other. It grows clear that the trails we’ve treaded are, and always were, overlapped. Knotted and severed by those who waded through similar waters before. Solidarity awaits, humming in places left unchecked or avoided. It stirs a curiosity for closeness that pulls away branches hindering the other. Always together and apart, we see and speak into an intertwined future.
Coalescence is a space to ruminate on the ways art connects us with and through others. As art students we understand knowledge to be immeasurably personal and indistinguishably political. Unneutral in its accessibility, practices of learning and the spaces that facilitate (or gatekeep) this learning are deserving of critique and collective remedy. Through conversation and collaboration, we can create more language and autonomy in ways only community can offer. We can engage with, support, and be invested in each other, acknowledging what overlaps and what differences we each uniquely bring forth. We dive again and again into coalescence; retwining the web of communities, histories, and futures we are part of.
Coalescence collects content created as part of the 2022 Art Start volunteering program. Check back for regular updates throughout the year.
Graphics by Kieran Butler
Text by Emma Harbridge
