playful performance

Recently I published my master thesis Theatre Studies online. It is available in Dutch on Igitur, the publishing and archiving service of the Utrecht University. You can access it here: studenttheses.library.uu.nl or download it here (.pdf). A revisited version will be published in October by the Utrecht School of the Arts.

In this thesis I elaborate on how a heterogeneous and relational perspective can provide new insights in collective transdisciplinary making processes. The main focus is on the creative process of making live art. Live art, in almost every form, is a product of multiple actors; both human (director, performers, spectators) and non-human (props, technology). In what way could a heterogeneous and relational perspective add to the knowledge of theatrical making processes? By using the actor-network theory of Latour, Law and Callon to develop an analytical model this paper suggests a possible method to analyse these processes. This paper aims at gaining knowledge of the making process of live art by focussing on the relations between the different actors in the ever-changing process. The analytical model that is developed takes the questions formed by the actors as a starting point. By selecting one question that is an obligatory passage point for all the actors it is possible to place the actors in their relative positions. Then the method looks at the translation by the actors of this question. By repeating this several times the changes in the making process can be determined.

In deze scriptie ga ik in op hoe een heterogeen en relationeel perspectief nieuwe inzichten kan geven in collectieve transdisciplinaire maakprocessen. De focus ligt daarbij op het creatieve maakproces van live art. Performatieve kunst is, in bijna iedere vorm een product van meerdere actoren; zowel menselijke (regisseur, acteurs, toeschouwers) als niet-menselijke (rekwisieten, technologie). Op welke manier kan een heterogeen relationeel perspectief bijdragen aan het begrip van hedendaagse theatrale maakprocessen? Door een analysemodel te ontwikkelen op basis van de actor-netwerk theorie van o.a. Latour, Law en Callon suggereer ik in deze scriptie een mogelijke methode om deze processen te analyseren. Het analysemodel start vanuit de vragen van de actoren zelf. Door een vraag te selecteren die voor alle actoren een verplicht passagepunt is, is het mogelijk om de actoren te positioneren in hun relatieve posities. Vervolgens wordt gekeken naar de translatie van de vraag door de actoren. Door dit enkele malen te herhalen kunnen de veranderingen in het maakproces worden vastgelegd.

In November 2008 PACT zollverein organised imPACT08. Some documentation is available on the website: PACT_impactdoku08.pdf

The interactive symposium started of with a lecture by Igor Stromajer and Bojana Kunst: Ballettikka Internettikka. In this lecture they spoke about the idea behind Ballettikka Internettikka and showed examples of different projects they did under this name. The idea behing BI is to use the internet to gain an audience in live (ballet) events. The advantage of the internet for broadcasting in combination with wireless internet access with both video and audio streams is that you can make a ballet almost anywhere, from the basement of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to a factory in Velenje (Slovenia) and show it everywhere at (almost) the same time. Stromajer and Kunst describe B.I. as “an ongoing artistic study of the internet guerrilla performance”.

One of my favorite pieces is Hydraullikka. The audience is the spectator of two robots being flattened into one by a large hydraulic press. The performance plays with the fact that it is easy to sympathise with antropomorf robots. Because you cannot do anything about the pressing you start to feel guilty and sorry. It reminds you of live footage from warzones of the news and the images of murder. This feelling accurs even when the video is not shown live.

The performance Mind out by Station House Opera was shown the samen night. Being out of your mind got a whole new meaning for me during and since that performance. Imagine that my body is thinking and saying what your mind is thinking and your body is doing. My body is doing what my mind is thinking, but my mind is in your body, so you are saying what I am thinking and doing.  In other words your mind is in my body and vice versa. This is the easy part. In Mind Out there are five persons. In the begining the order is clear: 1-2-3-4-5-1-2 et cetera. In this way five persons can poor themselves one cup of tea. “You take the pot” “And poor the water” You “take a tea bag” “…”. But after a while things are being mixed up. People are losing other people’s mind, bodies are disobeying their minds, bodies seem to control the mind of other bodies and give orders in stead of just saying what they are thinking. In the workshop on Sunday 1st, we learned to be mindless.

The third presentation was by two architects of OMA. OMA developed a plan for the redevelopment of the old Zollverein area where PACT Zollverein is based. We worked in small groups in the area that day to rediscover the site. “During IMPACT08, OMA architects Floris Alkemade und Alex de Jong will illustrate working processes and research strategies in architecture. Taking the Zollverein Master Plan as an example, they will look at how the arts can potentially use architectural thinking as a creative resource”.