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It Is Indeed a Dance is a project exploring the emotional, psychological, and cultural shifts within contemporary romantic discourse. Using the metaphor of dance as a dynamic, often asymmetrical interplay between self and other, the project investigates love and post-love conditions marked by ambivalence, hyper-awareness, and emotional fatigue. Drawing on concepts such as limerence, attachment theory, fantasy bonding, and “situationships,” it examines how psychological language has entered everyday dating vocabulary—shaping not only how we talk about love, but how we experience it. Through autotheoretical writing, visual media and spatial compositions, the project seeks to map and mediate intimate dynamics in an era where connection feels both over-analyzed and elusive. It reflects on the contradictions of contemporary intimacy, where vulnerability is praised but rarely safe, and communication is vital yet often ineffective in post-romantic conditions.

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  • contents
    • Intro
    • Navigation
    • Trapped in the Liminality of Contemporary Romance
    • The Self in Romantic Situations
    • YOU*ME*US
    • Love in Conditional Mode
    • After the Happily Ever After
    • Don’t You Think It’s Time for Limerance?
    • Short Term Affairs
    • Post Notes On Post Love
    • Navigating Post-Romance: Zines Instructions and the Map
    • References
    • Colophon
    • Polina Masevnina
  • navigation
    overview
  • abstract
    It Is Indeed a Dance is a project exploring the emotional, psychological, and cultural shifts within contemporary romantic discourse. Using the metaphor of dance as a dynamic, often asymmetrical interplay between self and other, the project investigates love and post-love conditions marked by ambivalence, hyper-awareness, and emotional fatigue. Drawing on concepts such as limerence, attachment theory, fantasy bonding, and “situationships,” it examines how psychological language has entered everyday dating vocabulary—shaping not only how we talk about love, but how we experience it. Through autotheoretical writing, visual media and spatial compositions, the project seeks to map and mediate intimate dynamics in an era where connection feels both over-analyzed and elusive. It reflects on the contradictions of contemporary intimacy, where vulnerability is praised but rarely safe, and communication is vital yet often ineffective in post-romantic conditions.
  • Polina Masevnina - It Is Indeed a Dance - 2025
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1 Trapped in the Liminality of Contemporary Romance


2 The Self in Romantic Situations


3 YOU*ME*US


4 Love in Conditional Mode


5 After the Happily Ever After


6 Don’t You Think It’s Time for Limerance?


7 Short Term Affairs: Reassurance as a Form Of Protection


8 Post Notes On Post Love


9 Navigating Post-romance: Zines Instructions and The Map

НАПОЛОВИНУ ПУСТ / HALF EMPTY (Polina Masevnina, 2023)

IT IS INDEED A DANCE