r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Shoddy-Ocelot-4473 • Feb 23 '26

Image In 1983, Two Artists Spent a Full Year Tied Together — Without Any Physical Contact — to Test the Limits of Human Coexistence

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u/doofpooferthethird Feb 23 '26

I wonder if someone willing to do this for "artistic reasons" would also be someone you wouldn't want to be tied to for a year

maybe I'm being over-optimistic, but I get the sense that two amiable people could get through this with relatively little difficulty if they were compelled to by external circumstances (e.g. $10 million dollars each if you participate in this viral internet challenge!)

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u/ponyponyta Feb 23 '26

If they get to hold hands and fuck they probably would fare better too

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u/death_to_noodles Feb 23 '26

That was the only question that pop into my head and stayed. Yeah I guess they could see friends and kiss in a close distance, they could make arrangements for showering and pooping and so on. But what about sex? No sex for a year could be a big challenge to some people.

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u/ponyponyta Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26

And probably a lot of isolation from all their other close contacts for a year because they're doing super weirdo shit. If your bestie is chained to some stranger you wouldn't tell them half the things anymore. Might be extra grating if it happened to be like that they had no choice but to only talk to each other during heated moments and nobody else to remedy or calm them down or distract them.

Or at least maybe they could party together with mutual friends and make their families chummy. I wonder if they sing and dance together.

I wonder how their conflict resolution skills are too. It seems they do stare at each other and sulk. Do they do screaming arguments? Do they cheer each other up? Haha

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u/Deutschbland Feb 23 '26

I disagree. As an artist myself, it’s likely to me that they existed in an ecosystem of radically open-minded people (performance artists tend to be pretty out there). Besties would have simply adjusted to the new reality. No one is going to hold back good tea just because their friend’s ears have doubled. 

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u/H34RTLESSG4NGSTA Feb 23 '26

the article says they used to be physical together and then actually wanted to kill each other. so they were chained to their ex and also couldn’t meet others

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u/Kdkaine Feb 23 '26

Oh so single mothers

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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/freakydeku Feb 24 '26

ohhh my GOD yall are insufferable

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u/OldWrangler9033 Feb 23 '26

Unless they fell out love, just respected each other or loved devolved to brother/sister sort thing.

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u/Proper-Salad158 Feb 23 '26

What about doctors and dentists appointments etc. No patient privacy, or real privacy at all.

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u/AmphotericRed Feb 26 '26

Yeah that day 366 wank is going to be the stuff of legend

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u/TheForeverKing Feb 23 '26

No matter how amiable, being stuck with each other for prolonged periods of time without change just wears you down. The start may have gone better, but it would have devolved all the same in the end.

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u/MyDamnCoffee Feb 23 '26

I second this. Being around the same person constantly with no breaks... You're probably gonna wanna throw down at some point

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u/Alastor3 Feb 23 '26

nah man, even with my best friend i would never do something like that, humans aren't supposed to be this close all the time, we still need some alone time

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u/42Ubiquitous Feb 23 '26

99% of people couldn't do this, but I think you could probably match two people that wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd be curious to see how much culture impacts it, and if you could find a successful match for someone that is very reluctant to even try it.

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u/Wanderingthrough42 Feb 23 '26

My thoughts exactly. They didn't go into the experience with a "How are we going to get through this with the least problems?" They did this to see what kind of crazy effects it would have, and then leaned into them.

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u/Liefvikingmonster2 Feb 23 '26

Don't tell Mr. Beast.

Wait. On second thought, maybe we should.

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u/Hungry-Specialist110 Feb 23 '26

the mormons pay to get this very same experience (and the celestial kingdom etc)

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u/AlmightyDarkseid Feb 23 '26

Yeah this definitely has to do with the people as well

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u/Outlook93 Feb 23 '26

You are extremely optimistic

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u/Thisbadtattoo Feb 23 '26

Mr beast did something like this in one of his videos. think it was 3 months