Chapter Two: The Media of Touch

This chapter details aspects of Gaga practice and considers them in light of work in the philosophy of touch. The improvisatory movement tasks which center on reversible touch show that work in classical phenomenology presents an overly generalized account of the phenomenon and, in turn, encourage a reconsideration of how the notion of “the flesh of the world” has been delineated. Whether a cool breeze, a cotton t-shirt, the bark of a tree, or the floor beneath one’s feet, the many things that touch the body elicit responses from various zones and layers of the flesh. The notion of “contexture” is developed to account for such interactions and is elaborated by analyzing two costume designs composed of organic materials that procure novel embodied experiences for their wearers. Cunningham’s work does not directly factor into the discussion, but points made in this chapter will be essential for those made in later ones.