We loose more and more body contact with people - touching each other and coming close. To greet each other is becoming one of the only daily „rituals“ when we experience a close and intimate moment with somebody else. With my project „Guesstures“ I am analyzing different movements, positions and gestures we are performing. For this purpose I designed clothing that expresses and intensifies this short encounter.

While guiding, extending, deforming and confusing this moment a new visuality and experience is achieved. The two participants follow the proposed guidelines their garments are offering them. These suggested possibilities should not be seen as commands but rather as markers revealing the options that can be explored. With all the given examples the protagonists are linked together more closely experiencing a more intimate but also awkward interaction. The encounter creates a new experience that is not limited only to the two people greeting, but is extended to by standers. The merging of the bodies can be seen by the viewer in different ways. On one hand, the interaction creates a sense of confusion; how many arms are involved, which body part belongs to whom. On the other hand, the stretching of the worn garments - a kind of chewing gum effect - filling up the in-between space of two bodies, leaves a fading trace of a transient encounter. This extraordinary interaction highlights and claims attention for this normal interchange.