One-Meter Chain Reaction at UCL
About One-Meter Chain Reaction
One-Meter Chain Reaction is an ongoing participatory practice by Scrapheap Collective.
In the activity, participants form a linear body chain. The person at the front acts as the Leader, navigating and exploring the space, while the rest of the participants follow by observing and imitating the movements of the body in front of them. Each participant has the opportunity to become both Leader and Follower.
As movements are transmitted along the chain, each body interprets, translates, reduces, or transforms what it receives in different ways. In this sense, the chain is not a system of exact replication, but a structure that continuously generates deviation.
Entering the campus
On 14 June 2026, One-Meter Chain Reaction was activated at UCL as part of the Spatial Signal programme. This iteration continued the basic rules of bodily following, imitation, and transmission, while situating them within a campus environment with a clear historical and institutional context.
The event also brought together participants from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, including children, caregivers, and practitioners from fields such as philosophy, law, and the arts.
Before the activity began, participants joined a guided tour of UCL’s history and architecture. From the university’s origins to its wider social and political context, these conversations provided an important backdrop for the practice that followed. Space was considered not as a neutral container, but as a structure continually shaped by history, knowledge systems, and power relations. As the activity unfolded, these ideas were continually revisited and embodied through movement, observation, and direct engagement with the campus environment.
At the beginning of the activity, most bodies appeared relatively contained. Being inside a campus environment seemed to naturally produce a sense of “appropriate behaviour” for the space. Movements were cautious, restrained, and highly responsive to the surrounding atmosphere.
However, as the activity gradually moved from indoor to outdoor spaces, bodily states began to shift. Open space allowed for more possibilities. Movements became more extended, including jumping, pausing, bending, and more direct responses to the environment. The change of space directly affected the rhythm and expression of the body.
Unknown Routes
Unlike previous iterations, no strict spatial boundaries were defined for this session.
Usually, the movement area is clearly pre-defined. However, in this case, neither the organisers nor many participants had a complete understanding of the spatial structure of the UCL campus. People knew the main buildings, but not how they were connected, or what might be found between them.
As a result, the unknown itself became part of the work.
The chain is continually carried into new spaces: the gaps between buildings, corridors beside the cafeteria, roadside grass, and other transitional spaces that are usually overlooked.
Passing Through the Crowd
Along the way, participants also passed through the Bouncing Around market, which was taking place on campus. Compared to other areas of the university, this space felt particularly lively and crowded. Continuous flows of people, overlapping conversations, and various activities together formed a high-density spatial environment. In this context, the original one-metre spacing was frequently interrupted, and participants needed to pay closer attention to the movement of the body in front in order to avoid breaking away from the chain.
At the same time, the crowd itself gradually became an object of response within the chain. As the group moved through the market, certain actions began to be directed toward strangers in the surroundings. For example, gestures such as shaking hands with passers-by or gently tapping someone on the shoulder were incorporated into the transmission process. Interestingly, these actions did not always require actual physical contact during imitation; participants could retain the gesture in its formal structure alone.
However, in practice, some participants still chose to shake hands with strangers or extend the gesture into a real interaction. The same action therefore generated different modes of interpretation and execution: some replicated the gesture itself, while others replicated the relational implication behind it.
Accidental Entry into an Exhibition
After leaving the market, the chain once again entered more open areas of the campus. As the environment kept shifting, bodily responses to space also continued to change. Most unexpectedly, participants eventually turned into an exhibition space. Prior to entering, no one was aware that an exhibition was taking place there. The body thus unexpectedly entered an already existing curatorial context. The bodily chain of One-Meter Chain Reaction briefly overlapped with another independently operating spatial system. This moment of coincidence introduced an unplanned encounter and offered a new way of reading the space itself.
Leader–Follower transition
In the feedback session, the relationship between Leader and Follower became one of the most discussed topics.
When roles shifted to becoming Leader, the experience changed significantly. Vision felt expanded and movement became more proactive. Actions that might normally feel awkward or self-conscious became more acceptable when performed collectively. The chain itself provided a sense of permission, encouraging participants to explore their relationship with space.
At the same time, another tendency also emerged.
Some participants experienced a sense of responsibility when acting as Leader. They became aware that their movements directly affected the entire chain behind them, which led them to act more cautiously, and in some cases, to shorten their time in the leading position and return to following.
Since the duration of leadership was not fixed, roles remained fluid throughout the process. Participants could adjust according to their comfort level. This openness made visible the shifting relationship between agency, responsibility, and bodily expression.
Attention and Drift
Attention and concentration also changed over time.
Although the rules were explained at the beginning, participants were initially easily distracted by the environment. However, as the activity progressed, many gradually entered a more immersive state in which movement became embedded within the chain structure.
Care relations
At the same time, social roles did not disappear upon entering the activity.
It was observed that participants in caregiving roles, such as parents, frequently checked on children during the process and occasionally stepped out of the chain. This was not a violation of the rules, but rather an indication that real-world social relations continuously intervene in supposedly neutral systems of interaction.
The participating body and the caregiving body coexist simultaneously.
Real-life relationships constantly shape how bodies act, choose, and respond.
Acts of refusal
Another significant observation came from moments of refusal within the chain.
During transmission, some participants chose not to perform certain movements. These actions might have felt uncomfortable, awkward, or misaligned with their bodily state.
As a result, the chain was not always continuous.
Some movements were interrupted, some disappeared, and others were reinterpreted in the process of transmission.
However, these interruptions did not indicate failure.
Instead, refusal itself became a form of response.
It reflects how the body negotiates and evaluates rules, and how individuals maintain their position within collective structures.
From this perspective, One-Meter Chain Reaction is not a process of accurate replication, but a system of continuous deviation, omission, misreading, refusal, and reconstruction.
Two Coexisting Chains?
Participants also offered further reflections on the chain structure itself.
Since the sequence is fixed, each participant only directly connects with the person in front and behind them. This creates strong local connections, while limiting wider relational awareness.
As a result, a new question emerged: what would happen if two chains were running simultaneously, each with different rhythms and logics? What kinds of collisions or deviations would appear when multiple bodily systems intersect in the same space?
Looking back
Looking back at this iteration, One-Meter Chain Reaction is not simply a system of imitation.
It is a system that continuously exposes relations.
Space shapes the body, identity affects behaviour, responsibility alters attention, and the body feeds all of these back into the chain in real time.
The rules remain the same.
But every new context produces different outcomes.
And these unplanned deviations may be the most essential part of the practice.
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Bouncing Around for the invitation and support, enabling this iteration of One-Meter Chain Reaction to take place at UCL as part of the Spatial Signal programme.
Thanks also to Azure Bao for the UCL historical and architectural tour at the beginning of the event.
Special thanks to Xiaodu and Irin for documenting and photographing the event.
Finally, thanks to all participants.
Every imitation, hesitation, misreading, refusal, and deviation contributed to the ongoing formation of the chain.
One Meter Chain Reaction is not authored by a single individual, but continuously shaped through encounters and shared practice.
— Scrapheap Collective/DongDong
17/06/2026
17/06/2026
Project Initiator: DongDong
Leading Artist: DongDong
Historical & Spatial Tour: Azure Bao
Text:DongDong
Photographer: Xiaodu, Zheng Rui
Supported by Bouncing Around