Het was echter pas door deze periode van lockdowns dat ze met die specifieke afstand begonnen te werken. Hoe verbinden we ons  - met ruimtes en mensen - op afstand? Hoe kunnen we elkaar aanraken juist door middel van die afstand?
 
“We zagen de dagelijkse gewoonten en vrijheden waaraan we zo gewend zijn geraakt, veranderen; de toegang tot bepaalde activiteiten, plekken en tot anderen werd beperkt. We vroegen ons af: Moeten we alles met eigen ogen zien, met onze eigen handen doen etc om iets werkelijk te laten zijn? Zou het mogelijk zijn een ander te vragen onze ogen, oren, handen te zijn? Zou het mogelijk zijn een (meest dagelijkse) ervaring te hebben voor en zelfs in plaats van de ander?"

Aan de hand van die vragen ontstond er een uitwisseling bestaande uit (on)mogelijke verzoeken. Voor ‘En nu?’ geven Hannah en Rita ons via twee fragmenten een inkijkje in deze doorlopende uitwisseling. Lees ze hieronder.

16/04/2020
Watching people

Dear Hannah,  

You chose a good moment of the day to watch the street. The sun was still on the balcony and ensured you could sit comfortably outside. You like watching this street from this position, observing the movements, small everyday scenes taking place below. It's interesting to see how there are particular spots in the street where people pause - 'Shall I buy a coffee here?', 'What is it that's written on this shopfront?' - besides the places of continuous movement. In the beginning you were actively watching the passersby, like the woman wearing a red jacket waiting next to a front door or the elderly woman on her flip-flops (you could hear the sound of the footsteps surprisingly clearly). But after a while you realised that this is not how you like it the most, sitting here, watching. A more passive attitude seems to work better for this activity, and so you leaned back and watched life repeat itself. The cars were different, but their movements remained the same. They drove, they parked, they left. Some of them were lucky since they showed up just a few moments after another car had left a parking place (they didn't know they were lucky, but you did). Also the pedestrians were different but similar. Their ages never more than 70 years apart. One man seemed to come back, popping up in different places of your view; in the queue in front of the bakery; strolling on the other side of the street; inside the pharmacy on the corner. You watched him eat something (a piece of bread?) Then the fifteen minutes were over, but since it was pleasant to be here, you decided to stay a bit longer. Nothing unsurprising happened and you didn't look for it.

At 12:43 the sun wasn't on the balcony anymore and you left. 

27/04/2020
Seeing the sea 

Dear Rita, 
 
I think this might have been the best part of your day today…
 
You had been postponing this trip to see the sea or rather trying to work out the best way, the best view in a time when it is illegal to go to the beach...
Eventually you realised that you could simply cycle towards the coast (even though also 'illegal') - you thought of a possible track which would lead you closer to the sea.
The day was grey with a cold wind. You cycled along the gravel road with the wind hitting your face. You suddenly wondered whether the sea would be visible with all the clouds but you continued. At first you went to the best viewpoint where you could watch the sea stretching out forever and hear the crashing rumbling sound made louder by the wind. After a short while you realised that the fence in-between you and the view made the watching feel a bit trapped so you cycled and found another road winding towards a small cottage and into the hills. You found a new place which was much more open and you sat down on the rough grass and watched.
A big silvery grey mass moving endlessly, reflecting the shadows of the clouds. Towards the horizon the water became lighter, almost white and you thought you could smell the sea but you weren't sure as the damp plants around you also smelt strong.
It was so good to be alone in this big open landscape watching the sea, even though you wondered what would happen if you got caught.

Inmiddels kijken Rita en Hannah ook naar de deelbaarheid van het concept en deze methode tot het ervaren van nabijheid op afstand.
Voor de serie ‘En nu?’ doen zij jou hierom graag een verzoek: