HVAC: Thermal Comfort
By Dana Hemenway & Surabhi Saraf
HVAC: Thermal Comfort uses sculpture, movement, and sound to contemplate how HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) systems play out on the human body. Our current building practices and the complex systems they rely on override any discomfort generated by our natural surroundings. This helps us mitigate uncontrollable bodily reactions (sweat, dehydration, shivers, frostbite) to extreme temperatures. Interior space is highly filtered and thermally regulated, further distancing us from nature. Through this project we question the implications of such a distance philosophically and concretely in relation to how it is rendered in the body: specifically, how HVAC and our embodied experiences of it can act as an example of our complacency within invisible structures that support capitalist agendas’ extractive impact on the environment.
COLLABORATORS AND ROLES
Sculptures & Conceptual Lead: Dana Hemenway
Sound, Choreography & Conceptual Lead: Surabhi Saraf
Dancers: Gabriel Christian, Stephanie Hewett, Felix Sol Linck-Frenz, Randy Reyes, Javier Stell-Frésquez, Tiffany Tonel
Curator: Sophia Wang
Writers: Christian Nagler, Luna Izpisua-Rodriguez
Additional Choreography Support: Christian Nagler, Dana Hemenway
Fabrication Support: Charlene Tan, Jerome Rivera Pansa
Graphic Design & Printing of HVAC Poster: Colpa
Documentation: Ben Leon, Anirudh Mistry