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Matèria que performa. Estudi ontològic de la matèria i el sentit a Henri Bergson i Karen Barad
Article
Estudis escènics: quaderns de l'Institut del Teatre. 2021, Núm. 46
Open Access
<p>En aquest article aprofundeixo en com es concep la matèria en l’obra d’Henri Bergson i Karen Barad, qüestionant així la divisió cartesiana entre cos i ment.</p>
<p>D’una banda, exposo com Bergson entén la matèria, no com una cosa sinó com un procés, i destaco com aquesta té un paper clau en l’experiència de la durada, configurant per tant la realitat com un procés d’esdevenir-amb. Malgrat que els diagrames de Bergson sovint es representen com a estàtics, soc del parer que en realitat estan impregnats de moviment i que hauríem d’entendre’ls com que estan movent-se. Aquest vincle de la matèria amb la durada i la transformació desdibuixa les distincions habituals entre matèria i llenguatge i demostra ser especialment útil quan pensem en la dansa i la performance com a arts de la matèria, que materialitzen i es materialitzen (arts of mattering).</p>
<p>D’altra banda, segueixo la descripció que fa Barad de la mecànica quàntica per tal de subratllar que la matèria no es pot separar del sentit, atès que el coneixement no es pot produir a partir de la matèria, sinó que sempre es construeix des de dins de la matèria. La insistència de Barad en l’elaboració de coneixement com una pràctica encarnada fa palès un fort compromís polític amb el món com un procés continuat de materialització que ens obliga a repensar el significat de l’agència des d’un punt de vista posthumanista.</p>
<p>Tant per a Bergson com per a Barad, podem dir que la matèria performa. A tall de conclusió, plantejo com un enfocament semblant ens pot ajudar a pensar i practicar la dansa i la performance més enllà del marc cartesià de la primacia del llenguatge.</p>...
<p>In this paper I elaborate on how matter is thought of in the work of Henri Bergson and Karen Barad, thus challenging the Cartesian split between body and mind.</p> <p>On the one hand, I disclose Bergson’s envisagement of matter not as a thing but as a process, and stress how matter plays a central role in the experience of duration, therefore shaping reality as a process of becoming-with. Although Bergson’s diagrams are usually figured as static, I argue that they are actually imbued with movement and should be seen as moving. This bond of matter to duration and transformation blurs common distinctions between matter and language and proves especially useful when thinking of dance and performance as arts of mattering.</p> <p>On the other hand, I follow Barad’s description of quantum mechanics in order to highlight that matter cannot be torn apart from meaning, since knowledge cannot be produced out of matter but is always constructed from within matter. Barad’s insistence on the production of knowledge as an embodied practice reveals a strong political commitment to the world as an ongoing open process of mattering that asks us to rethink the meaning of agency from a posthumanist point of view.</p> <p>I argue that, for both Bergson and Barad, matter can be said to perform. I eventually raise the question of how such an approach can help us think about and practise dance and performance beyond the Cartesian framework of the primacy of language.</p>...
<p>In this paper I elaborate on how matter is thought of in the work of Henri Bergson and Karen Barad, thus challenging the Cartesian split between body and mind.</p> <p>On the one hand, I disclose Bergson’s envisagement of matter not as a thing but as a process, and stress how matter plays a central role in the experience of duration, therefore shaping reality as a process of becoming-with. Although Bergson’s diagrams are usually figured as static, I argue that they are actually imbued with movement and should be seen as moving. This bond of matter to duration and transformation blurs common distinctions between matter and language and proves especially useful when thinking of dance and performance as arts of mattering.</p> <p>On the other hand, I follow Barad’s description of quantum mechanics in order to highlight that matter cannot be torn apart from meaning, since knowledge cannot be produced out of matter but is always constructed from within matter. Barad’s insistence on the production of knowledge as an embodied practice reveals a strong political commitment to the world as an ongoing open process of mattering that asks us to rethink the meaning of agency from a posthumanist point of view.</p> <p>I argue that, for both Bergson and Barad, matter can be said to perform. I eventually raise the question of how such an approach can help us think about and practise dance and performance beyond the Cartesian framework of the primacy of language.</p>...
El joc de taula com a performance. Reflexions sobre el procés de creació d’«El candidato (o candidata)»
Article
Estudis escènics: quaderns de l'Institut del Teatre. 2021, Núm. 46
Open Access
<p>A partir del procés de creació d’El candidato (o candidata), un espectacle basat en un joc de taula, em fixo en la performativitat inherent alsjocs i en com es pot traslladar al disseny d’un dispositiu escènic.</p>
<p>Tot partint d’Eiermann i Fischer-Lichte, exploro les similituds entre joc i realització escènica, i proposo aplicar el concepte de dispositiu a la comprensió de l’esdevenir teatral. Entendre una realització escènica com a dispositiu ens permet analitzar-la com un conjunt de relacions de poder entre participants, sense cap distinció a priori entre actants i espectadors*. Subratllo la dimensió tecnològica del dispositiu tal com el presenta Agamben, on les normes tenen alhora la funció de restringir i potenciar la llibertat dels participants. Aquesta dinàmica s’exemplifica paradigmàticament en la tensió dialèctica entre normes i incertesa que trobem en els jocs.</p>
<p>En resseguir les implicacions polítiques que se’n desprenen, aprofundeixo en una sèrie d’aspectes característics dels formats artístics participatius. Proposo una distinció entre un punt de vista representatiu i un de performatiu, així com entre game i play, i recolzo sobre el binomi formulat per Rancière entre política i policia per analitzar les relacions de poder en joc dins un espectacle, i detectar si els seus components lúdics s’utilitzen per generar espais de llibertat o per desplegar resultats pre-programats. A més de basar-me en la meva pràctica, comento peces de Rirkrit Tiravanija, Rimini Protokoll, LIGNA, Kate McIntosh i Mónica Rikić per exemplificar diferents graus d’agència dels espectadors.</p>...
<p>Drawing on the creative process of the El candidato (o candidata), a piece based on a board game, I focus on the performativity inherent in games and how it can be transferred to the design of a performance device.</p> <p>Through Eiermann and Fischer-Lichte, I explore the similarities between game and scenic realisation, and propose applying the concept of device to the understanding of theatrical development. Understanding a scenic realisation as a device enables us to analyse it as a set of power relations between participants, without any a priori distinction between actants and spectators. I emphasise the technological dimension of the apparatus as presented by Agamben, where the rules have the function of both restricting and enhancing the freedom of participants. This dynamic is paradigmatically exemplified in the dialectical tension between rules and uncertainty that we find in games.</p> <p>In tracing the political implications, I explore a number of aspects that are characteristic of participatory artistic formats. I propose a distinction between a representative and a performative point of view, as well as between game and play, and I rely on the binomial formulated by Rancière between politics and police to analyse the power relations at stake in a performance, and detect whether their ludic components are used to create spaces of freedom or to deploy pre-programmed results. In addition to drawing on my practice, I comment on pieces by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Rimini Protokoll, LIGNA, Kate McIntosh, and Mónica Rikić to exemplify different degrees of audience agency. </p>...
<p>Drawing on the creative process of the El candidato (o candidata), a piece based on a board game, I focus on the performativity inherent in games and how it can be transferred to the design of a performance device.</p> <p>Through Eiermann and Fischer-Lichte, I explore the similarities between game and scenic realisation, and propose applying the concept of device to the understanding of theatrical development. Understanding a scenic realisation as a device enables us to analyse it as a set of power relations between participants, without any a priori distinction between actants and spectators. I emphasise the technological dimension of the apparatus as presented by Agamben, where the rules have the function of both restricting and enhancing the freedom of participants. This dynamic is paradigmatically exemplified in the dialectical tension between rules and uncertainty that we find in games.</p> <p>In tracing the political implications, I explore a number of aspects that are characteristic of participatory artistic formats. I propose a distinction between a representative and a performative point of view, as well as between game and play, and I rely on the binomial formulated by Rancière between politics and police to analyse the power relations at stake in a performance, and detect whether their ludic components are used to create spaces of freedom or to deploy pre-programmed results. In addition to drawing on my practice, I comment on pieces by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Rimini Protokoll, LIGNA, Kate McIntosh, and Mónica Rikić to exemplify different degrees of audience agency. </p>...