The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, March 23, 2017 — 3B
“Make
an
installation,
illicit emotion, and make it
overwhelming” — these were
the instructions given to Art
& Design Sophomore, Perry
Stella, for the second part of
a project in one of her studio
courses this year. For part one,
Stella focused on the issues of
memory and storytelling, while
the second part was meant to
represent an obstruction to
those narratives. Though this
might seem a challengingly
broad starting point to some,
for Stella, her subject was
clear.
“Dissociative
disorders,
which can lend itself to social
anxiety, is kind of like having
the feeling that you’re not
inside your own body, or that
you’re watching experiences
but you feel like you can’t really
interact with the world around
you” Stella said, describing her
personal obstacles.
Stella, who has worked in a
variety of mediums, has most
recently focused on fiber work
and
installations.
For
this
particular
assignment,
the
project she ultimately created,
called “Shelter,” is a 3D audio
installation, wherein a four-
by-four foot cube is lined
inside with dark black faux fur.
On the inside, a composition
of old voicemails Stella had
collected and compiled played
on repeat, growing louder and
louder over a fifteen-minute
interval.
“The voicemails are meant
to
represent
all
of
your
responsibilities;
no
matter
how mundane they are, you
can’t interact with them to
actually take care of anything,”
Stella said of the recordings’
significance.
The
sound
ultimately became so loud
that audiences were unable to
understand the words.
Stella did not shy away
from using her own coping
mechanisms as a feature in the
piece.
“The fur lining is actually
something
that
I’ve
been
taught when I get into that
out of body state — to find
something very textural and
hang on to it and feel it so you
can ground yourself in your
own body,” Stella continued.
The idea of sharing her
experiences
and
exposing
this
kind
of
vulnerability
to strangers at first seemed
daunting.
Stella
further
struggled with avoiding the
frequently exhibited motif of
the “tortured artist,” while
honestly
reflecting
on
the
reality of her own mental
health. However, she soon
realized the importance of
sharing such experiences in
this visual way — it is accessible
to all.
“At first I thought maybe I
should water down the idea so I
don’t have to talk about certain
things, but I decided not to,”
Stella said. “I was thinking
about how art reflects how
you experience the world, and
how this dissociative disorder
majorly affects how I perceive
the world; it sometimes even
takes me out of my own body,
so how could I really ignore
that?”
Her piece was shown along
with the rest of her class in
their studio (seeing as Stella’s
box can hardly fit outside of
the door), with an expectedly
responsive
and
engaging
audience. Many approached
Stella to ask further questions
about her experiences and to
clarify their understandings
of dissociative disorders and
their effects. There were some
ironically
fitting
surprises,
too.
“I noticed something people
really liked to do was bang on
the outside of the box or try
to get in at the same time that
another person was in there,”
Stella said. “So those were
things that I didn’t expect
but ended up really lending
themselves to the project.”
Others left with chills.
Stella was given an honorable
mention for the 2017 Science
as
Art
Contest
exhibition
this year and further plans
on
expanding
“Shelter”
to
include a video documentation
of the work with additional
information about dissociative
disorders.
“Mental disorders are so
common even on campus, and
that’s not talked about enough,”
Stella said. “That really needs
to be overcome, and through
art and media, these things can
be normalized.”
ARTIST
PROFILE
IN
On and Off the Yoga Mat:
Mindfulness at aUM
A rapidly growing number of
students can be spotted toting
yoga mats around campus on their
way to one of the many studios
that subsist in Ann Arbor. The city
has over 37 Ashtanga Vinyasa (a
variety of yoga that synchronizes
breath and movement through a
set series of poses based on the
Ashtanga series) studios alone,
which represent a small sliver
of the mecca that the state of
Michigan serves as for those that
practice yoga. aUM is among the
newest — and some might say
more unconventional — of these
studios, but has grown immensely
since its opening in 2013.
It was in September of 2013
that owner and University of
Michigan alum Jessie Lipkowitz
heard herself say the words, “I
want to open up a yoga studio”
aloud, before opening what she
called “baby aUM” in an 800
square-foot basement to only six
customers. Since then, aUM — a
play on the Sanskrit word “om”
and the studio’s location — has
moved into a 7,000 square-foot
space on South University Avenue
with over 60 regular clients, most
of which are students.
When I first walked into
aUM Yoga Studio, I was made
immediately aware that I was
entering a unique space. A sign
in the doorway asks clients to
take off their shoes, physically
inoculating the space against the
outside world. That was back in
January, when upon returning
from winter break, I turned to
aUM in an effort to manage the
stress that I had felt building
inside me for months.
My
initial
experience,
however, wasn’t the meditative
austerity I’d expected. It was far
more casual. The bright tones
and weathered wooden decor
of the interior buzzed with a
similar energy to that of students
filing into class. Though students
are reminded to maintain a
“sacred silence” prior to and
during class, gentle murmurs
permeated the cozy room before
the instructor greeted everyone
warmly. Samantha Lincoln, an
LSA senior and student of aUM
Yoga’s Demystify Yoga Teacher
Training
program,
described
aUM as “different from a lot of
other yoga studios” that she’s
been to, “It’s a really great
(environment). Everyone is so
friendly and welcoming.”
Before being thrust into a series
of flows and positions I could
barely maintain, I felt at ease; all
while being reminded to consider
my
breathing
(something
I
had abandoned early on in my
efforts to contort my body). I was
surprised by the challenge, and
I left the class with a feeling like
nothing I’d experienced before.
“You feel lighter,” said Lincoln,
who in her third month of
training, is becoming increasingly
familiar with the physical and
mental benefits of the practice.
Yoga teaches non-reactivity, a
principle that aUM emphasizes
both in its teacher training
program and regular classes.
“When
you’re
doing
this
physical
practice,
the
whole
idea is that you need to be able
to take it off the mat … whatever
life throws at you, you want to be
calm and rational in the face of it,”
explained Lincoln.
Lipkowitz also described non-
reactivity:
“It’s being able to have an event
happen and have completely no
emotions towards that event until
you can actually analyze it and
immediately not react to it, and I
think that’s a huge part of taking
yoga off the mat and just being a
calmer, less reactive person.”
She also added that this
concept translates to greater
mindfulness and self awareness,
in turn allowing students to be
kinder and more compassionate
to themselves and to others. These
mechanisms for coping with the
pressures of life — whether trivial
or major — on a regular basis are
part of what makes the practice
so unique. Though, Lipkowitz
also added that she’s experienced
similar benefits from other forms
of physical exercise, such as
running.
“I think yoga relies on the
assumption
that
the
human
condition is that of suffering.
Everyone is suffering and we all
walk these different paths where
there’s trifles and adversity … we
all as human beings have to cope
with a lot, and all of our coping
mechanisms are different,” said
Lipkowitz.
But she believes that non-
reactivity is part of what helps
students cope with adversities,
be
it
mental
or
otherwise.
Every semester, aUM offers two
scholarships for student packages.
Over
one
hundred
students
submit
applications,
detailing
their individual motivations for
attending classes aUM. Many cite
anxiety, depression and stress
as their primary reasons for
practicing yoga.
Lipkowitz trained at Center
for Yoga and previously RussaYog
(now permanently closed), which
helped her envision the kind of
studio where she would build her
practice.
“Thinking
back
to
my
experience as an undergraduate
— what would have gotten me to
go to yoga — the first answer that
came to mind was something that
was a little bit less intimidating
and a little more fun … but then
the second thing that came to
mind
was
community,”
said
Lipkowitz of her philosophy.
Lipkowitz
was
interested
in targeting people who didn’t
already practice yoga. At aUM,
classes aren’t separated by level of
intensity. Talking about her early
experiences in yoga, Lopkowitz
said:
“I think it’s really easy in yoga,
and in any fitness studio that you
go to, to feel like an outsider … I
think aUM was really successful
in creating a market for new
people to explore and try yoga.”
However, it isn’t always easy to
get people to try yoga for the first
time, or to even stick with the
practice once they try it.
“Talking about bodies or doing
weird things with bodies is taboo.
Even getting people to come in
and trying to get them to connect
with the breath is really difficult,”
said Lipkowitz. “I think a lot of
people who come in here don’t
really get this yoga thing starting
out, but they still connect with it
because it’s a physical practice.”
For some, like Lipkowitz, the
mind-body connection doesn’t
come right away: “It took me
years to find that connection,”
she said. “But once you find that
connection between breath and
movement, I think that that’s
really the power in yoga.”
Lincoln echoed this sentiment,
saying: “You get this connection
doing things that are physical and
mental. I think at aUM they keep
it very centered on mindfulness.”
Achieving mindfulness can
become difficult when entering
college, especially at a highly
competitive
school
like
the
University of Michigan.
“I think it’s very much the
culture here to do as much as
possible, to be as successful
as possible, to compete with
everyone,”
said
Lincoln.
“And at its core, yoga is a very
noncompetitive thing.”
Though
finding
this
connection is challenging for
most, both Lincoln and Lipkowitz
stated that the hour of time spent
dedicated to self-care is a boon to
mental and physical health in an
environment where it isn’t always
prioritized. Lipkowitz recalled
that her time spent on fitness
was edged out by her academic
priorities when she was a student
at
the
University.
Similarly,
Lincoln reflected on her time here,
stating that she felt like there are
never days off. However, at aUM,
“It’s very much just about your
body and what you can do. The
classes are a very noncompetitive
environment,” Lincoln said. “And
you’re just taking time to take
care of yourself and to just focus
in on your thoughts.”
What aUM teaches students to
take off the mat can’t be taught
in an academic classroom, stated
Lincoln.
“It’s not something you learn
in school,” she remarked, “Even
beyond what I could do to be
successful or well-liked, do I like
myself? Am I doing things that
are making the world a better
place? Am I at peace with who I
am?”
While it may take years for
some to find the answers to these
questions, and while it may not
necessarily be through practicing
yoga, aUM offers a sanctuary for
students to go to and ruminate on
their own personal well-being.
As
Lipkowitz
previously
stated, yoga offers methods of
coping with some issues; though,
it’s a personal path, and one that
may be limited in what it offers to
some more than others.
“I’m not going to say yoga
cured any of my mental health
issues,” said Lincoln. “I think it
does help with body image a lot.
There are kind of two sides to
that. You start to be proud of what
your body can do, rather than
what it looks like. Also, you learn
to forgive it for things.”
Lincoln continued, “It’s not
like you do one yoga class and go,
‘Oh that cured my depression.’
I think if you’re doing it enough
and focusing enough on your
breathing and bringing that to
other situations it kind of seeps
out into the rest of your life.”
There
is
often
a
taboo
associated with mental health.
Lipkowitz
acknowledged
this
stigma, saying:
“You generally don’t talk about
those things,” but that at aUM,
“people are much more open and
honest about how they’re feeling
and just their general human
experience more so than other
fitness places or other businesses
or other communities.”
Lipkowitz stressed that it’s the
culture at aUM that she hopes will
continue to empower people to be
compassionate by connecting not
only their bodies and minds, but
also with others.
SHIR AVINADAV
Daily Arts Writer
SECONDARY
Ann Arbor’s aUM Yoga has become an unwitting refuge
of peace and meditation, illustrating the virtues of yoga
COURTESY OF PERRY STELLA
Stella’s art installation
Stamps’ Perry Stella’s
dissociative ‘Shelter’
Stamps sophomore explores the intersections of art, emotion
and mental health in her recent interactive installation in a box
GRACE HAMILTON
Daily Arts Writer
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COURTESY OF AUM YOGA