Jeff Kasper
b. 1990, Mineola, NY; lives and works in Northampton, MA
wrestling embrace (index), 2017 - ongoing (2025 edition)
PU composite fabric, polyester, EPE foam, vinyl text
wrestling embrace (deck), 2017 - ongoing (2024 edition)
Series of 40 playing cards
Courtesy of the artist
Exercising communication and healing. Jeff Kasper invites us not just to read or look, but act. Find a partner and take a playing card. Now, go to the mat to engage in exercises designed to generate awareness of practices of conflict and care in interpersonal relationships.
Kasper developed wrestling embrace as a tool to foster positive experiences of vulnerability. The work encourages consent-led, trauma-aware interactive exercises that allow players to reconnect with bodily sensations and emotions by enacting everyday social situations. How does the body store memories and norms? Can roleplaying help with communal healing and understanding? wrestling embrace asks us to pay attention, listen, and respond.
If you choose, please pick a card. Standing or sitting on the mats is encouraged.
Artist Description
Black gym mats arranged to create a large, padded surface for sitting, standing, lying down, and moving feature white textual design on the mats' surfaces. The design creates two concentric circles with phrases radiating outward, almost like a wheel of fortune. The phrases invite ways of being and perceiving, such as "SHOW, DON'T TELL," and "VALUE WHAT YOU ARE ENJOYING," and "SWITCH POINTS OF VIEW." A stack of cards, like playing or tarot cards, guide participants through embodied activities. One card reads "Hold a distance no more than 3 feet. If you draw this card, share it with your partner. Then, switch places. Each partner must perform as their idea of the other person. Take turns alternating impersonation." The backs of the cards are black with an image of a sailing knot known as a "sheepshank knot."
-- Description by Park McArthur
Basic Description
A large, padded mat with green cushions. A nearby table includes sensory tools like bells and timers, and a custom deck of instruction cards with phrases and illustrations that guide participants through physical and emotional exercises.