Pleasure and resistence

whatever you do, don't be boring

Whatever you do, don’t be boring

In Paris, when a student struggled, Philippe would interrupt

This one, when they try to do the exercise correctly, they are so boring. Like a bureaucrat in Ottawa. So boring. Adios, immediately. 

It was humiliating and embarrassing to be dismissed like this. The goal was always to bring a sense of pleasure and play to the work ESPECIALLY when we didn’t know what we were doing. 

Pick two

That was Philippe’s instruction. The expanded version? Pick two students to help you. Their job, if they agree, is to caress the inside of your arm and your neck. They can blow on your ear or on your neck. Pick two to give you pleasure as you do the exercise.

Time after time this happened. Time after time we saw people have pleasure to be embarrassed, foolish, idiotic and exposed. Time after time Philippe helped people find their joy to be idiotic. 

These situations were fraught. They were high stakes: Sensory pleasure with social anxiety and embarrassment. People would change…