The concept of “Boundaries” is loaded with contradictions - it is a very seductive and a provocative word. It bears a noose of threat and ring of protection at the same time.
Boundaries surround, protect, divide, and enclose spaces.
Spaces stimulate notions of freedom.
The two are interconnected.
Key words for Spaces – physical spaces, emotional spaces and intellectual spaces and many other others’. Space - that all consuming feeling of lightness and being. Do spaces without boundaries become anchorless and drift?
Boundaries are dynamic in themselves; rigid boundaries create conflicts within and without; Yet boundaries are frequently created – mostly to protect, someone, oneself, something or the other.
We protect, only if, we perceive threat – so when we create a boundary, we must also understand what have we perceived as threat – how real or unreal that threat is. This threat can be from within and from without. This threat can be perceived or real.
Key Questions; Who creates boundaries, for who, from what and for what – these are questions that are constant to the issue of boundaries – where space is a question of – whose space and why space.
Spaces and Boundaries.
Boundaries and Spaces.
A dynamic relationship – one without the other is vapor and noose.
Any act of creativity/design begins by identifying the space and then creating boundaries to mark that space.
Boundaries infect/affect/define your status, relationship with the spaces/environment around you – the more boundaries are created, that much more complex the relationships become. But boundaries are frequently used to simplify problems by humans; they also use boundaries to create hierarchies between each other. (Will it?) If rigid, the relationship between the inner and outer slowly cuts off – the inner space is likely to rot if not connected with the outer space. The outer space is likely to drift away if not connected with the inner space.
It means different things to different people, in relation to who is on which side of the boundary and for how long. Inside the boundary, the same ring of protection can be perceived as a noose/a threat. From outside, the boundary from being a signal of limits can be threatening imposition of authority and ownership. A flexible boundary, constantly churned, can keep the balance in relationship.
The seductive boundary, protecting and creating space within, it can turn into the provocative threat of confinement.
In human relationships – we have created several boundaries. These boundaries restrict and release at the same time.
Boundaries have been created to divide/protect/confine/restrict to create a society on the basis of hierarchies of sex (feminity/masculinity, male/female), age, caste, class, religion and region.
What does it mean to have space without boundaries?
Can we have spaces without boundaries?
Must we have boundaries?
How will we know when the boundary from being protective is turning into a noose of threat?
Will My boundary be threat to Your space?
Does my boundary protect you as well?
Are we looking for common spaces? Is it possible to have a common space?
There are no quick answers’ – there are only processes to find out; the moment an answer is found – it must be churned again before it confines itself.
