Encounterism: The Neglected Joys of Being In Person

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It is not just poor urban planning that is to blame. Encounterism relates how technologies reduce the possibilities for random encounters – by allowing us to remain barricaded inside our SUVs, by using our smartphones or headphones to shut others out, or by avoiding going outside at all and staying home to binge on Netflix or shop online. Dolly Parton's Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Outfit For NFL Halftime Show Caused Everyone To Lose Their Minds: “Dolly Parton Just Won Thanksgiving” He cites cultural theorist Stuart Hall: “‘Cities condense difference.’ They connect and divide. Nowhere is difference more tangible, more uncomfortable and more apparent than in cities. And just being aware of difference and inequality doesn’t change anything, but it does make change more likely. It forces empathy.” Nowhere is difference more tangible, more uncomfortable and more apparent than in cities In Encounterism, performance artist Andy Field sets out to make our everyday activities – a taxi ride, a trip to the cinema, a visit to the hairdresser, going out for a meal, or a walk in the park – strange again. He does so to highlight the neglected role that public spaces play in allowing us to meet people different from ourselves, and how such encounters are vital for enriching our lives and knitting together the social fabric of our societies.

Field writes with tenderness and wit – born out of twenty years as a performance artist creating scenarios in which people are encouraged to see and interact with each other afresh. In Encounterism he not only examines how we physically encounter both strangers and friends – in all our human grace and awkwardness – but builds to a manifesto for the importance of real-world interaction. A rousing reminder that our cities, our residential and work places, must still allow for the possibility of spontaneity and shared, in-person joy. Directed by Yon Motskin, each episode of the series produced by Stephen Spielberg's Amblin Television, Boardwalk Pictures and Vice Studios explores a separate report of a mass sighting in a different part of the world. Does he see the way these encounters – these moments of randomness – have been designed out of life as a sinister conspiracy or merely a result of natural human desire to make the world as easy and non-threatening as possible? Not every encounter you have is going to be comfortable and wholly satisfying Face off against enemies in a fast-paced last-man-standing arena! With a large amount of champions and infinite combo strategies, there’ll always be new things to explore.

Derived forms of encounter

The Gist: In the first episode, a 2008 sighting of bright lights in the Stephenville, TX area is examined. It’s an unusual case because the sighting wasn’t just reported by one or two people, but by hundreds of people at the same time. The people who saw those lights, including businessman Steve Allen and constable Lee Roy Gaitan, were members of the community who weren’t inclined to tell tales about alien sightings, but they both saw what they saw, and both became obsessed with the fact that there might be something out there that was bigger than themselves. Allen admits that his experience got him so involved in finding answers that his marriage and business suffered. Stream It Or Skip It: 'Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man And The Pool' On Netflix, The Comedian Wades Into The Depths Of His Mortality Earlier this month, a UFO researcher sparked a fervor when he appeared during Mexico's first ever UFO hearing to present what he alleged were the mummified bodies of ancient aliens, a claim that has been disputed by scientists. Joy Behar Calls On Will Smith To "Get In The Ring" With Jada Pinkett Smith On 'The View': "He Sits There And Takes It" We're experts in what we do, and believe the best dating experience comes where you are matched with people who share your values and interests. Over 80% of Encounters Dating members say they are looking for a serious, long-term relationship and we do our best to help make that happen.

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Southern Charm' Star Olivia Flowers Shades 'RHOBH' Star Crystal Kung Minkoff After BravoCon: "I Thought She Was Rude" Field is also a child of the 90s so clubbing and dance music looms large, and in his book he talks of clubbing as a kind of pilgrimage: “A journey that takes us out of the confines of ordinary society and our everyday lives, enabling us to experience a collective joy in the temporary community.” Joy Behar Was Totally Lost On 'The View' As Whoopi Goldberg Tried To Make An Argument About Men And Abortion: "What Is The Point?"

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Master Gardener’ on Hulu, Another Subtly Sinister Drama From Master Storyteller Paul Schrader Beyoncé Gave The Beyhive A Little Something To Be Thankful For With A “First Look” At ‘Renaissance' During Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade But no matter what you say about the benefits of bumping into strangers, approaching people is hard, isn’t it? Do you need to be an extrovert? Is Field an extrovert? He grins: “If I arrive at a party, I will probably stand towards the edge. My friends would say I’m certainly loud enough to be an extrovert – and I think if I’m in print saying I’m introverted, they would give me a hard time about it – but I’m certainly not a super-confident person who is going to waltz up to every person I see.” UFOs, UAP's, non-human intelligence, whatever we might call it — I didn’t before but now I think it exists," Motskin told Netflix. "It could be non-human intelligence from far away, or from the past or future, or even us from the future. But I believe ‘the phenomenon’, as it’s called, has been around for a long time."How 'The Buccaneers' Crafted Josie Totah and Mia Threapleton’s "Joyful" Queer Romance: "Never Even a Discussion" I wonder, though, if this isn’t simply amped-up nostalgia? People of a certain pre-digital age getting all rose-tinted and irate about kids not looking where they’re walking as they swipe through private worlds swaddled in noise-cancelling headphones rather than talking to the greengrocer?