Interim : understanding ‘in-between’ spaces : rethinking the waiting room

Abstract

This research focuses on a place and time which can be considered as an ‘in-between’ space; the waiting room. Within this time and space of waiting, often encountered in specifically designated waiting rooms, there is a coming together of aspects of past and future. The ones who wait do so anticipating the future, creating scenarios which are only possible through their memories of past experiences. Within the waiting room, where the intimately personal as well as interpersonal social elements meet and overlap, the awareness of the unknown future, which is encountered once the wait is over, provokes a sense of anxiety. Through this research I investigate the changes which occur within perception of time and identity, as one encounters and experiences different perspectives of the self, the other and of temporality, as one waits. A plan for an artistic intervention which embodies this experience is developed.