WAR (Erin) on the Keyword Performance

I wanted to add something to our discussion about the meaning of the word performance:

My most immediate take on the term is related to how I perceive it to be replacing the word 'Theatre' in contemporary practice (at least in the UK and to some extent North America).

In April this year, I organised a panel called "On Theatrical Behaviour." The panel was in part about one venue's shift away from using the word 'theatre', opting to re-brand/re-imagine its annual 'Theatre Festival' calling it simply: Behaviour instead... In preparation for the panel, I asked Deborah Richardson-Webb, now head of performance pedagogy at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, if she could tell me a bit about why a course that she developed at the Academy, formerly called Contemporary Theatre Practice, had been renamed Contemporary Performance Practice. She shared with me a document she had written called: Troublesome Horses: Radical Performance Pedagogy in the Conservatoire. I thought I would share a paragraph from this document that addresses this semantic shift:

In the title of the Programme we chose to use the word ‘Performance’ not ‘Theatre’ in order to clarify its position in relation to the education of its students within the broadest field of performance practices. By ‘Performance’, it is understood that whilst drawing upon the tradition of British and European Theatre, the Programme seeks to address the wider phenomenon of performance in human cultures from ritual practices, through performance in everyday life to art-making processes. The Programme draws upon and synthesises a wide variety of disciplines and discourses including, improvisation, physical performance, writing for performance, voice, movement, visual art, feminist studies, gender studies, queer theory, semiotics, ethology, pedagogy, media and popular culture theory and cultural studies.

This seems relevant to the title of our course as well.

Performance for me, in part, means a shift in thinking about/experiencing/making contemporary 'theatre'--it is in some respect a way of distinguishing the old from the new.

happy end of induction week

Sorry we got cut off, it would have been nice to toast the end of the course together. Thank you for all your contributions and responses, and happy week-end and beginning of course for some of you, lets keep this conversation going...

AMS GROUP B: Petra's comments based on H. Belting

The notions of medium, image and body and the possibilities of theatre (as a site of transformation) .

Images happen or are negotiated between bodies and media. - Belting

So the three parameters in reception and circulation which are at stake (according to Belting) are:

1. Image(s) --> do not exist by themselves; they happen/ take place via transmission. Therefore image is framed by the terms:

• 2. Medium the agent by which images are transmitted and

• 3. Body meaning the performing or perceiving body on which images depend.

How is this important for theatrical performance? Well when brought together in the theatrical space, these parameters can “swap places” meaning when the triangle is physically put together it appears as a non-static exploration in the splitting up of both reception and circulation process, it exposes the mechanisms of medial distribution, of power and violence in our highly mediated society. It is a way of overcoming the complicated relation between the what and how of an image. (The what of an image being what the image serves as an image or to what it relates as an image is steered by the how, shaped by the visual medium in which an image resides). As we all saw with the GGP performance the “device”/”medium” became an ACTOR/(the IMAGE itself)

What striked me this week, during the reflection upon Kati’s lecture, was that this insight in visualization of circulation and perception processes/mechanisms, in theatre as a sight of transformation can not only be explored on a metatheatrical and scholarly level (analysis), it is as much a usable concept in the creative modality as a tool/strategy. There is action. Theatre being part of and present in the world, transformation and reflection.

Amsterdam Group A Creative Presentation

Warwick Please Click Here: The link is just audio no visuals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvVmmYTmn0Q


Tampere Please Click Here: The link is, again, just audio no visuals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF0PKo6kYKE

Projected Images from Presentation:



Thank you!

Group A/Amsterdam

AMS GROUP C final presentation

India:


China:

México:

Grand 'finale':

Summer school?

Response to Hanna's Lecture, TAM: Sarah, Katie, Marjukka - Radars and the Performance of a Book

Main Entry: ra·dar

Function: noun

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: radio detecting and ranging

Date: 1941

1 : a device or system consisting usually of a synchronized radio transmitter and receiver that emits radio waves and processes their reflections for display and is used especially for detecting and locating objects (as aircraft) or surface features (as of a planet)

We thought it was interesting to think of research in term of a radar because a radar is a sound that you send off, and then you get back a message that you have to interpret. It's a process that you do blindly, you can't see what you're looking for or fuly comprehend it, but only get a sense of it through the feedback of this signal. As well as hearing radio waves you can feel them so it involves a process of feeling with your body. This helps us imagine what it means to do embodieid research or practice. It is a more sophisiticated and nuanced sense of research than a conceptualization of it as re-search, looking through a body of established knowledge and trying to create something "new". It destabalizes the Western idea of sight as the dominant and most trustworthy sense in gaining knowledge and truth about the world, as in "seeing is believing" or "I saw it with my own eyes."

In some sense the idea of radar differentiates performance scholarship from scientific inquiry because the latter refers to something that is quantitative, where you can "see" the results. But in another sense, the concept of radar points to performance research as scientific inquiry because it is a method of exploration in unknown territory that yields unpredictable results.

The performance of a book

"One must want to experience the great problems with one's body and one's soul. I have at all times written my writings with my whole heart and soul; I do not know what purely intellectual problems are." (Nietzsche 12)

Another part of Hanna´s lecture that we picked up on was how passionate she was about the modality of curation, we especially liked her diagram of over-lapping circles in marine hues that denoted how the modalities of scholarly research and practice are centrally mediated by curation.

We got to thinking about one ostensibly scholarly medium - the academic book - and how (especially in performance studies) it is creatively curated and performed. In the following excerpts from the introductions to books by Diana Taylor, Rustom Barucha and James Clifford, the authors express their curatorial strategies, or the ways that they have have chosen to perform their authorial role.

In the paragraphs below, you will see some different approaches: Bharucha describes his book as enacting a linear "theatrical journey" while Clifford envisions his book as a series of criss-crossing paths, or "collage." Taylor talks about her book as being a series of conflicting voices and perspectives. These are all approaches to performing research and problematising the fact that in favour of the "objective", "academic" voice, scholarly writing is often not transparent about the curatorial modality that mediates their work.

"Some readers may be somewhat dismayed by the diverse 'styles' of these essays, which include autobiographical interventions, fictions, excerpts from a dramaturg's log, invocations, switches between the first and third person, polemics and even a letter. All I can say is that these 'styles' were necessary for what I had to say. They enabled me to find my voice as a writer where more academic essays with all their constraints and seeming 'objectivity' would have prevented me from representing myself...I would be perfectly happy if my book could be read as a theatrical journey, beginning with 'Points of Departure', leading to 'Transition' and finally proceeding to a state of 'Returning', that continues." (Bharucha 9)

"The essays gathered here are paths, not a map. As such,they follow the contours of a specific intellectual and institutional landscape, the terrain I tried to evoke by juxtaposing texts addressed to different ocassions and by not unifying the form and style of my writing. The book contains extended scholarly articles, supported and argued in conventional ways. It aslo includes a lecture, a book review, and several essays that respond to specific contexts of cultural display - museums and heritage sites - in immediate, sometimes frankly subjective ways. Experiments in travel writing and poetic collage are interspersed with formal essays. By combining genres I register, and begin to historicize, the book's composition - it's different audience and occasions."

Clifford 11-12)

"Because it is impossible for me to separate my scholarly and political conundrums from who I am, the essays in this book reflect a range of tone and personal interventions in the discussions. The first three chapters, particularly map out the theoretical questions that inform the chapters that follow; How does expressive behaviour (performance) transmit cultural memory and identity? Would a Hemispheric perspective expand the resitrictive scenarios and paradigms set in motion by centuries of colonialism? Although the theoretical implications are no less pressing, the tone in the reminaing chapters becomes increasingly personal. As my reflections come out of my own role as participant in, or witness to the events I describe, I feel compelled to acknowledge my involvement and sense of urgency. And, as I argue throughout, we learn and transmit knowledge through embodied action, through cultural agency, and by making choices. Performance, for me, functions as an episteme, a way of knowing, not simply as an object of analysis. By situating myself as one more social actor in the scenarios I analyse, I hope to position my personal and theoretical investment in the arguments. I chose no to snmooth out the differences in tone, but rather let them speak to the tensions between who I am and what I do."

(Taylor xvi)

Bharucha, Rustom. Theatre and the World. Routledge, 1990.

Clifford, James. Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century. Harvard University Press, 1997.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus spoke Zarathustra: a book for everyone and no one. London: Penguin Books, 1969.

Taylor, Diana. The Arcvhive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas. Duke University Press, 2003.

Tampere’s response to Hanna’s lecture (Johanna, Naresh, Nese)

Tampere’s response to Hanna’s lecture (Johanna, Naresh, Nese)

Looking back on the keyword lecture by Hanna our discussion began reflecting on the curatorial work (in performance context). The following thoughts came up. We could think of the curatorial task in terms of mapping and framing.

We noticed how in our respective countries of origin there were differences in curatorial tradition and practice. The lecture brought to our attention the ethical responsibility of curatorial task but also the problematics of taking part in the global economy (of projects). Curatorial work involves “radaring”, tutkiminen of the terms/people/projects it functions with.

This is actually a difficulty we face since the beginning of the week. The hardest part of the keyword/lecture responses was not the within group discussions or coming up with ideas, but to put them in a written format that would be presentable/consumable in the international/cosmopolitan/transnational/multicultural blogspot that we share with our “hybrid” MAIPR colleagues. Similar to the curator’s work, there is this layer between the execution and the presentation of the project/discussion. Moreover, there is the multiplicity of propositions. Dealing with that multiplicity includes negotiation and compromises to say the least. To account for all the forms and ideas that are proposed in a group work, so much is lost in transmission to written form/expression. While reading the blogs, nobody hears the tears or sweat we shed on each other.

This brings us to another discussion that came up in Hanna’s lecture: What/How is the methodology of performance research scholar?

Remember the blank sheet in Hanna’s lecture? It had the title ‘What about performance research?’ We talked about the impression that maybe a week ago, or earlier for some of us, the blankness of the sheet could have been scary AND/OR caused long walks in the forests of Tampere looking for berries that have been already picked by others, AND/OR chain smoking in the freezing backyard of the non-smoking student housing with the company of hedgehogs AND/OR could have interfered with the loving conversations you could have over Skype with your wife …”My God”…

But rather that blank sheet was welcoming and welcomed. We thought it was leaving us the flexibility and responsibility about what we choose as long as we are ethical and able to justify it. Accountability and responsibility to your object of study, we thought, was at the heart of scholarly research, distinguishing it also from a scientific approach as mentioned by Hanna. We want to listen to our objects of study, to each other but also to ourselves and hopefully come up with a framework of what we have experienced. Challenge remains in keeping a reflexive attitude towards the relational space between the doer/done/how/about of the research.

Johanna & Naresh & Nese

Response to Hanna's lecture from Rania and Rui Rui, Tampere

We found Hanna's lecture very interesting and engaging on a number of levels. Like Jess, we found great pleasure in her address of disciplinarity. How convinient that Finnish has such an all encompassing term :) !

For the purposes of this entry, we've chosen to focus on two points. Both relate to Hanna's reference to the wording of the Prospero project's proposal, and her problematizing of the 'political rhetoric' therein.

The first concerns the sentence, "To encourage the work and circulation of artists" and Hanna's question: "Who are these artists and who gets this possibility?"

Rania commented about how she wonders how much grant writing and the current art economy (based on grants) informs art works themselves these days. In her work as a art critic, she saw a good deal of projects for example using the concepts of Michel Foucault or those which included a social service aspect as part of a (forced) "community interest" agenda. This, she added, works in both positive and negative ways.

She wondered however, how common it is for artists to feel constrained, i.e. not free to pursue their own aesthetic interests because everything has to be so officially justified. How is "art" itself, and more specificallly funded art, compromised under current socio-economic conditions?

We then moved on to the section of the lecture where Hanna refers to a second written agenda of the project. "To contribute to the emergence of European citizenship". Hanna at this point had questioned, 'Why? What kind of citizenship? Who is European?'

Rui Rui commented that while Europeans are currently crossing their own national boundaries to create a centralized power, she believes that the selection of the artist for this sort of funding depends on the sort of state (in this case 'Europe') that those in power would like to build. Where, in these cases does the artist change their interests to fit the taste of the authority?

AMSTERDAM GROUP B 'European Citizen'

Tampere’s lecture today touched on a few very interesting points. It seemed to direct problematization toward a few terms. It did not expand on why or what ‘provoked’ concern. For instance the idea of a “European citizen” as mentioned seems to be a quite vague concept. Why in the first place is this ‘label’ or ‘identity’ something desirable enough to receive funding? What are the economic and/or cultural benefits of homogenizing ‘European performance’?

The fact that a performance research program named Prospero (prospero-caliban à post-colonial notion) gets funding by attaching a “European citizen” label to it is actually shedding a light on the fact that “Euro-citizenship” can be seen “AS” performance. Grouping the countries together in a psudo-allience in order to create a more prosperous (powerful?) political institution appropriates the continental allegiance and ignores national and regional differences. The problemitization of the concept of a ‘European Citizen’ occurs as it establishes and suggests an essentialist view of what it means to belong to a transnational organization.

These are image results for the term 'European citizen' according to google.

Ams Group C response to today's presentations

In this entry we are going to talk about Warwick's and Tampere's provocation exercises and Hanna's presentation today. 

Warwick's exercise was clearly about the miscommunication that has been prevalent throughout the week between the students and the staff of the three universities. We really couldn't find a coherent narrative in what was presented. Extensive use was made of technology in the form of images and text but there was a gap that couldn't be mediated between what was articulated and what was perceived or perhaps the mediation itself became a barrier in communication. The fragmentation of the 'message' achieved the purpose of being provocative. There was this dire need of finding a 'meaning' in the presentation, to build a narrative whether or not it existed. This led to multiple stories being created in everybody's mind which might not exactly correspond to what the Warwick group had in mind. The multiplicity of images, stories, narratives, ideas is what we have been experiencing during the entire week.\

Tampere's exercise on the other hand, was a theatrical/performative comment on Desmund Tutu's  TRC in South Africa. Basing our comment strictly on the footage shown, which focused on the rehearsal process, we can say that we found it to be a very interesting path to explore collective memory. The access to this shared memory, was attempted through the 'musical' recollections of the participants. Maybe it's not the songs itself, but the memories (both intellectual & emotional) that flow through the actor's bodies, what makes it terribly interesting. An example (maybe) of what Walter Benjamin considered a 'true experience': the coming together of collective and individual past within the locus of memory in a process of redemption of the past. 

At another level, we found a conflict between the form and the content. The form was beautiful, but the memories that were engaged were traumatic. Is that a conscious meta-comment on the TRC? 

Hanna's lecture. We thought it was useful to go through the different modalities of research that are being adopted in our programme. However, we felt it probably fell a bit short. It might have been productive to stop and dwell upon the idea of the 'radar'. The idea of the 'radar' (which by the way Guillermo Gomez Pena uses too) is very descriptive of an embodied approach to the object of inquiry. However, it would have been interesting to go deeper into the idea and explore the possibilities of playing with it. Are there any rules around it? Does this 'animal' have a certain character? What are it's strengths? What it's weakness? 

Ian, Swati, Diego

physical/technical structure of today's Warwick provocation

Hi all,
It is a shame that our conversation was cut short today. Before we wrap it up tomorrow, Martin, Sarah, Jasmine, Jo and I wanted to clarify the structure of our provocation.

Here is a layout of the room where we were:


So essentially, at Warwick the 'audience' could hear everything and see the faces and Jasmine and Jo who were provoking me. They could also see the two people (Martin and Sarah) typing and see my body in the chair from behind.

In Amsterdam and Tampere, (we think!) the 'spectators' could see my face and see/read the typed words of Martin (objective recording of the live act) and Sarah (subjective recording of the live act) in the chat box.

I couldn't see what was typed or my own image on screen. Martin and Sarah couldn't see the faces or expressions of the provoker but could see my face on screen. Jasmine and Jo didn't have the opportunity to read anything that was 'recorded'

We can talk about what we hoped to convey/provoke discussion about tomorrow, but just wanted to clarify the logistics for everyone.

Amsterdam Group A Response to Tampere Lecture

We here at Amsterdam were extremely pleased to see such an active and in depth lecture upon the modalities of the program. Recently we have been discussing our concerns and confusion regarding the removal from the MAIPR website of the modality structures as delineated geographically per university. Many of us felt that the requests we initially made upon our admissions process for allocations were strongly influenced by the notion of each university specializing in a certain modality. Thereby we were concerned by the modalities removal according to location. However, we found this lecture to be quite reassuring as it reinforced, and explicated upon the meaning and mechanisms of, the central functions of the modalities within the over arching pedagogy of the program. Thank you for this!

Links to all three Staff lectures

Warwick - Tuesday - http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/theatre_s/maipr_uploads download
Amsterdam - Wednesday - http://www.vimeo.com/6816258 streaming

Tampere - Thursday -http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/theatre_s/maipr_uploads/

Another Individual Keyword from Jasmine

Just today, I thought of another keyword in my native language I wished I had used on our first day. It's kind of late now, but I'm going to share it anyway.

"Sue (สื่อ)"

As a noun, it means:

1) media

2) medium

3) mediator/intermediary/liaison

As a verb, it means:

1) convey/express/communicate/pass on/impart/transmit

2) connect (with someone)

One Thai word VS twelve English words. At least I find this interesting.

I might try to analyse/find more to say about this when my brain functions better. Ciao for now :)

Janelle again

I forgot to mention that one of our Dutch students (home institution and also by nationality) is doing a dissertation on Dutch multiculturalism and its discontents. Lonneke will be at the session on Friday and will say a few words about her very interesting and important topic.

Janelle responds to response to key lecture

I was really surprised and pleased by your posting about my keyword lecture, because I thought the fact that we didn't have any discussion meant I wouldn't get any feedback. So thank you first just for the post.

Second, I really like the challenge of the idea that 'multiculturalism' is an important keyword in our macro-analysis. I have been working with multicultural theory for many years, first in the US as part of trying to put race gender and sexuality into play in theories, in the classroom, in the academy more generally. But it is really in the political realm that it became important--and productive--for a while. Similarly in the UK, 'multiculturalism' became official Labour party policy after Thatcher. The difficulty with the term right now from my point of view is that it is in flux in the public sphere. Right-wing conservatives have mobilized against it as a 'failed' policy in both the US and the UK--in the UK, even rather leftish liberals are saying that the policy of multiculturalism lead to separatism and a silo effect in communities that missed the chance of coalition politics. I think a program-wide discussion on this concept could be really interesting for us because it will be differently useful or problematic in many places. Singapore is another country with a state policy of multiculturalism, but as our Singapore students in the first MAIPR cohort eloquently explained, when a concept becomes ideology it sometimes becomes oppressive or just plain false (I should say we had three Singapore students who would express their ideas about this topic quite differently.) So...I am reluctant to install the term too definitely, but I am really interested in reading and discussing about its complexity. And I loved the diagrams which you made to show what conceptual model you preferred. At Warwick, we will be taking up some readings and discussion on multiculturalism, but from a limited standpoint--what it means in a situated circumstance of postcolonial Britain. Other situated circumstances could be teased out by our students--that's what I meant about why we need you in the course, in the room, thinking together with us.
Janelle

TAM Group Z (Katie, Nese, Rania, Ruirui) Response to Keyword Lecture by Janelle

TAM Group Z –Katie, Nese, Rania, Ruirui

In the second day of the induction week, in her Keyword Lecture Janelle Reinelt dealt with the “macro-terms” of our programme: globalization, internationalism, transnationalism and cosmopolitanism. She explained why the name of our MA journey in the three countries, four cities, in a vaste area of theory/practice/research is called International Performance Research and not Globalization and Performance Research or any other name.

As an exercise, we would like to suggest an alternative to what M-A-I-P-R stands for: Multicultural Analysis of International Performance Research.
As group Z, we thought that these concepts still take as their starting point the idea of an entity called “nation”. Not to refute today’s lecture but with the hope of enriching it, we would like to add the term “multiculturalism” and its problematics to our discussion.

There is a great deal of literature around the meaning and the political implications of the term multiculturalism. To take a basic quote from Asu Aksoy’s lectures in Bilgi University, multiculturalism is the awareness of the heterogeneity within the previously homogenously imagined nation/communities. This awareness is marked by a reification of difference and claims to rights and entitlements based on the unique status of that identity/experience of communities that mobilize within and across national borders. While the 1960’s mobilization of black citizens can be considered an instance of multiculturalism –claim to citizenship rights within the national borders of USA, the term can also stand for Turkish Gay and Lesbian Community mobilizing itself within Turkey, among diaspora in Germany and getting support/sharing a larger community-agenda with the world LGBTT movements while at the same time being part of the fight against patriarchy along the various feminist struggles.

One of the critiques of multiculturalism related to demanding group rights on the basis of a uniquely shared difference is that it continues to reify that category and ensure the continuity of any discrimination based on that category. On the other hand, the term multiculturalism can be taken in a broader sense. We propose that multiculturalism is inherent in every member of any category. One can detect the potential for flexible transversal politics that mobilize not around a fixed category of being/doing –an identity- but around a cause. As a woman, one can choose to be a conscientious objector against a militaristic regime -even though women are not obliged to do their military service in that given nation, and ally with the other women and men who are in favor of antimilitarist policies and against military service. On the other hand, she can ally herself with women against a group of men on the basis of her feminism and even against some groups of women on the basis of her sexual orientation.

To illustrate the point, we started the journey here based on the terms Janelle presented:


And here is what we suggest based on our discussion on multiculturalism:



We would have preferred to come up with a three dimensional matrix with different shapes in a variety of colors. The figure, ideally, would be so-encompassing that while the same color would signify a particular group, the difference in the tones of a particular color would signal to the differences among the members of that group, yet still account for the possible social/political/cultural alliances that they (could) have.

While as MAIPR “people”, we mobilize outside of our country and come together for a cause related to “performance” that apparently we are not even able to define collectively; some other groups in the world mobilize transnationally based on their sexual orientation under the international discourse of Human Rights and in cosmopolitan ways.

TAM C response to Kati Rottger's lecture

Tampere Finland 16:30- 17:30
Conversation between Naresh, Rania, Johanna
Interview with Naresh by RAnia:
Naresh, what did you think of the clip?
N: I really thought he was a Mad guy! I thought of it as a live performance, not as a video. I asked the question what would the spectator think and feel if a real gun would be pointed in front of him or her? Really I got scared. So I saw it a as a behavior of a particular fellow. Is he acting? Maybe he could really kill the camera man.
Rania: What informs your perception of madness?
N: I’m thinking of my Indian contextuality, I can’t not think from a global context. Maybe he is a great actor. I believe what he says… that’s what we believe, that [it’s because] he’s a great actor.
R: Is he an actor?
R: In his opening he said, ‘I am not an actor, I don’t believe in artifice’. Something like that. What do you think of that?
N: That’s what I’m confused about. I don’t know of him before. This comes back to the question of what is performance. Because in PS everything is performance. In India my main subject has been the Natya Sastra [the first book about drama in India, and the world]. There is a specification in the book ‘those people who are feeling sadness, working for a long time, who are crying for a long time’. People come to theatre to relax themselves –this is our main context in India (from the book). For enjoyment, for relaxing. So what happens when this tension, being afraid, comes in front of the spectator in the context to which I am used to. It is hard to see this kind of performances for me. This performance was rare for me, that is perhaps why it is difficult to analyse, think about for me.
R: When in university do they ask you what you think?
N: We mostly had conversation about theoretical things, more about practical issues. About when to compromise.
R: Outside of theatre do people ask you what you think about things?
N: Not exactly.
R: What is like for me to ask you that question?
N: It is difficult. Where is the place to put these experiences? [If we did this] In our schools and colleges professors would ask ‘are you questioning, critizing me?’. I notice it more now.
Johanna interviews Rania:
What did y oU think of the video?
R: I really like GGp. I’ve seen his work a lot. And I think I watched the video on different levels. First, it is interesting how immediately I agree with him. When I watch his videos, it is almost like reading a book that I accept immediately. I am immediately taking his challenge, I am saying yes to his challenge. The gun – I say ‘yes the gun is scary’. Which I think is interesting because if you’re watching a movie you don’t think a gun is scary. But with him I do. I accept his challenge. I also felt when he raised his arms up with his chest bare that he was vulnerable like ‘you can shoot me’. I wanted to protect him as if someone was shooting him. I guess in terms of the reading, Elin Diamond talks about identification. I feel identified with GGP he is so outspoken and brave. As a person of color when you get pushed into a corner, you have two options.. well more than that, but anyways for the sake of argument, let’s say you either kneel down and curl up, or fight. I identify with this instinct. Like to say ‘it is this fucked up, it is this in your face’.
Naresh to Johanna: -What did you think of the movie?
J: Can you remind me how it began?
(we remind her) I felt the performance became more immediate when he took out a gun, but also I was there, and not there. There was a screen, but he was not pointing the gun at me, but at the filmer. So at that moment you realize that it’s not happening in real time, but in recorded time that is made real to you in the medium of film that he is pointing the gun towards.
Naresh: if you go to the film house to watch a film, do you feel scared or that immediacy?
J: Yes I feel if there would not be so much action, as there is in these movies, and if it was pointing at me, then I might feel the immediacy. If it was framed in the same way, but of course here he framed it as a performance game. I thought it was really interesting that he framed it as this game, a performance game.
N: How did you feel about the gunshot at the last.
J: I wish I could get back to that emotion. Now it’s disguised in the assignment and the provocation exercise and I can’t feel it any more.
N: I really felt it. He’s like a mad guy maybe he really would do it!
J: if he talks about how to take a risk in front of a camera in a certain performance situation, then I don’t know….
R: just say it, I think you do know.
J: He said I want to take a risk, so then my question is, why is it interesting to explore the area of a risk? Is it to make it immediate, performance as action? What do you want to attain? And what is the risk? Because in that situation, you said, you start to believe in the gun…
R: did you ever believe in the gun?
J: in what sense?
R: in any sense.
J: Yeah, it’s a good question. Yeah, maybe he when he started to seem more convinced by it himself. But then I began to think, this is all so scripted. I did have the feeling that it would end in a shooting. I did believe in it as an object, like yeah it’s a real gun, it’s loaded. But I didn’t necessarily believe in the risk about risking someone’s life or getting killed himself.
Yours Truly,
Tampere Finland 16:30- 17:30
Conversation between Naresh, Rania, Johanna

Response to Kati's lecture: Keyword 'risk' (Group A Tampere)

Our group started discussing the performance by Guillermo Gómez-Peña, A Muerta. We first tried to discuss the mediality, but we were distracted by the question of risk because we find it confusing. We tried to link the ideas of mediality and risk, but were not able to find any answers whatsoever. Hence we will propose some questions.

What is a risk in performance? Who is in danger? If we as audience weren't in danger then what was the point of his performance? Was he in danger and in what way? We were talking about the danger of being exposed. What is it? Why is it dangerous to be exposed? Is it a risk when the performer is being mediated? Does mediation introduce artifice into performance art and therefore corrupt its purpose? What consequences does this have for documenting performance art?

Amsterdam Group B- Comments on Gomez Pena Video

Guillermo Gomez Pena’s performance highlighted several key notions and provocations concerning mediality, theatricality and the gaze of spectatorship. Firstly the gun behaves as a visual mirror or visual metaphor for the nature of a camera. Like a gun, a camera ‘shoots’ which clearly has an inherent violence to it. The gun brings into light the ‘invisible media’ that directs our gaze. This is a self-reflective process that Pena is taking part in, realizing the violence of the medium that directs our spectatorship and gaze. Secondly I would argue that a television screen is in a constant process of appearing/disappearing or absence/presence as images and signals are sent, relayed and immediately disappeared in place of the next. This is a constant process of live, performative re-configuration, which constitutes a theatrical performance.

In terms of shared experience with audience and performer I would argue that this does take place, even though it is a recorded piece. Whilst the circumstances of the performance are altered, Pena would be repeating or imitating his prescribed set of actions even if we were in the same physical space as him. Derrida argues that imitation is re-mediation, so whatever space this is viewed in we are experience a process of re-mediation. It is this re-mediation, which Philip Auslander argues is a characteristic trait of Performance as a response to Peggy Phelan’s assertion that irreproducible ‘liveness’ is an ontological trait of performance, which he is working against. If we use Auslander’s performative understanding and Derrida’s re-mediation then it is possible to see the video work as containing key characteristics of performance.

Furthermore, the idea that an actual audience is required as co-presence to make something a ‘performance’ or theatrical and that this criteria is unfulfilled in visual media, specifically in this case video, seems quite problematic. Gomez Pena is fully aware that he is being taped and that this tape has the potential to be viewed by an audience. The knowledge that the performance is not only during the here-and-now of Gomez’s actual embodied performance, but will be archived and re-viewed affects the actual live performance. Thus there is an audience inherent in the mediality of the act. Co-presence is not necessarily defined by the sharing of physical space between two people, nor the shared self-consciousness of both being watched and watching. A good example of this would be the nature of advertising and the presence that it has in society.

WAR Group B Keyword Response Performance/Spectator

Justin: Following an entertaining but not especially enlightening discussion of the distinction between “live” and “recorded” performance, I commented on how Kati seemed to prefer the word “spectator” to “audience”, choosing to emphasize the “viewing” as opposed to the “hearing” of a performance. To be honest, I never liked the word “audience”, but I’m not overly-fond of “spectator” either. Both of these words seem to limit the sensory experience of attending a performance. I like to say “witness” instead. Actually, I really like the French word, “assistance”, closely associated with the verb “to help”, which removes the term from the realm of the senses and concentrates rather on the participation, the action of those in attendance. We quickly found a range of remarkable related vocabulary from our different cultural backgrounds.

Nevena: In Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia (three of five former Yugoslavia countries which are supposed to have similar languages) there are different words for “theatre”. In Slovenian language it is “gledalisce” (from the verb gledati – to watch), in Croatian it is kazaliste (from the word kazati – to say) and in Serbian it is pozoriste (from the old word pozor, a place where something is happening). It is quite interesting that the three words coming from the same cultural space express different relations to theatre. It is the often case in many languages though.

Jasmine: In Thailand, two words that are commonly applied to those who attend performances are both related to the “viewing”, or the visual—with the literal translation of khon doo as “[the] people [who] watch”, and phoo chom as “those [who] view”. The word phoo fang (“those [who] listen”), interestingly, is used mostly—if not only—to refer to those who attend conferences. This, in my opinion and knowledge, can be traced back to the traditional theatre culture in Thailand. In the past, people went to shows to socialize and be entertained. Talking amongst themselves and eating while shows were being performed were common activities, and hence the visual was the only thing they could rely on. There was no need to be quiet or pay attention to the performers.

Lu: In China, there are two words, “guan zhong” refers to people who watch or who watch and listen at the same time. “ting zhong” refers to people who only listen, i.e. listen to radio.

Performance Anxiety - response to Katti's lecture TAMPERE GROUP B

performance anxiety



Katti´s lecture was very interesting in how it drew directly on the format and experience of this telematic induction week to illuminate performance theory.



I would like to problematise this some more. I have seen in myself, my colleagues in Tampere, and my colleagues in Warwick and Amsterdam(gleaned from voyeuristic electronic glitchings and gleanings) evidences of performance anxiety and feelings of inadequecy sparked by I think by the there but not-there format and structure of this week.



With my Tampere classmates, I initially had an electronic represenatation of them (this was so clearly illuminated by Amsterdam in their "identity" video today.) Subsequently, however, we have had a month to walk together, eat together, drink together...we have had a chance to observe a wide array of gestures, facial expressions, tremors of voice, gradations of energy...we are people to each other, and the same goes for how we have been able to get to know our professors.(I know that the experience of Warwick students is different, they have not had this time together yet)



Experience is the keyword here. We have a physical, visceral and live experience of being together - a sustained live performance as it were. In this induction, however, as Guillermo Gomez-Pena points out in his video, all interaction is mediated through the lens. His lens was an especially violent one, so opressive it could only be confronted with the physical force of a gun.



It seems absurd to equate the seemingly tame and blurry MAIPR teleconference camera with the violence of Gomez-Pena´s documenter, but the stress I have observed in myself and my classmates under the scrutiny of that lens speaks to the fact that it is in fact a powerful, dominating presence.



As Nick insightfully commented today in response to Katti's lecture - Gomez-Pena's performance speaks to the liminality of bodies in electronic representation - how they are there and not there. In this same way, the participants in this induction accross three locations are both present and absent. We are not constrained to the familiar and comparitively safe and clearly "absent" realm of written words, where we have time to construct, mediate and even spell-check our contributions to each other. Instead, we are encouraged to formulate opinions and make off-the-cuff presentations to each other, where a form of liveness is communicated - or a representation of our live selves, a gesturing, talking animated being. However, while that animation represents liveness it doesn't actually constitute liveness, and for me that is where performance anxiety comes into play.



All of our contributions are mediated through a tri-continental timetable with lapses in connection. Today we found ourselves shouting and gesturing wildly at the screen as we watched oblivious bodies in Amsterdam and England shuffling off and leaving the room. We were trying to communicate that we weren't ready to break, that we would have liked to respond to yesterday's provocation comments so that we would have fresh minds and clean slates from which to view the next provocations. The liveness of our bodies, the energy of our gestures weren't enough to penetrate the power of the technology seperating us from our colleagues. Also, our contributions are framed by the angle of the camera, the (lack of) sound quality..we are encouraged and in fact set a task to "provoke" each other but don't have the chance to afterwards discuss thoroughly the effect of the provocation, or direct level or penetrating stares in each other's directions to clear up what we mean, or place hands on each other's shoulders to communicate affirmation, or comfort, or whatever.



This on-the-spot quality reflects a beloved exercise of drama teachers: improvisation. As Jon McKenzie commands in the title of his book, "Perform or else!" And perform we will. We will also gather insights about mediated performance and performance theory, as was provoked by Katti's lecture today, and insights about the simultaneously alienating, disempowering and also connecting effects of "globalisation" as Janelle discussed yesterday. We have been happy to glimpse you, colleagues and professors around the world. But we look forward very, very much to meeting in the flesh.

**naming the author(or author anxiety)
This piece was written by Sarah when it was fresh in her mind, but reflects an intense working relationship and many conversations with Nese and other group members, and has been given feedback and consent by her as group partner to be released in our name.

AMS GROUP C: A comment on Kati's presentation

This post is going to try to comment on Kati Röttger's presentation on her use of the concept 'performance'. She draws our attention towards theatrical performance, and in doing so, she underlines the importance of being aware and reflecting on the medium (mediality). The video of Gómez Peña, is just an example of this. It exposes the loadedness (non-neutral) of the apparently transparent medium, i.e. the video. Upon analyzing this, we have come to the following understanding:

• The video has the power to manipulate our gaze. Through close-ups and framing we are constantly guided in our perception of things. We are made to see what the camera wants us to see in the way it wants us to see it. There is a forced identification of our gaze and that of the camera.
• We also thought it is interesting to think upon the relationship of the stage and the camera. The camera man is also a performer. If we stood as a spectator on a third point, apart from GGP and the camera man, we would be able to see him performing. Although, this is not the case through the video. 
• There is a parallel (mirror-like) structure between the two 'shooting devises' involved in the video. One is the gun, which is pointing directly to the camera man and indirectly to all of us, spectators. The other, we never see and realize the presence of, is the camera. The camera is also 'a gun'.
• The camera 'shoots'. The use of the same verb for both camera and gun is not innocent. Coming back to the example, we realize that in fact the most violent event is not the portraying of a man handling a gun pointing at us. It is probably the use of the medium, the purposes it serves, that can have a destructive power, through selection and marginalization of the images portrayed. It is the 'use' of the image on the screen which is really violent.
• Mediality 'lives' in-between 'performance' and 'theatricality'. It is both a theoretical and practical tool to be used. Therefore, it is terribly well suited for a field such as 'performance studies'.

Swati, Ian, Diego

Amsterdam Group A Response to Kati's Lecture

Gomez Pena's use of the conception of "risk" as a driving force behind the A Muerte needs to be challenged. Due to the work's mediality, the risk inherit in being confronted with a loaded gun is depreciated on several levels. Firstly, formalized conventions and archetypes at work within mass media, namely the presentation of the gun and the inherit risk for violence, are strikingly familiar and thereby devalued of its shock. Secondly, due to the idea of representativity the spectator questions the verisimilitude behind the gun and whether it is actually loaded or merely an illusion, requiring our suspension of disbelief into a fictitious world. Ultimately, though, regardless of whether the spectator invests fully into the reality of the loaded gun the immediate risk of violence is removed due to their lack of physical co-presence in the same space of Gomez Pena. While the lack of physical co-presence does not reduce the theatricality of the piece it does subdue Gomez Pena’s conception of risk.

These issues appear as secondary modes of inquiry when juxtaposed to Gomez Pena's attention to laying bare the processes of mediality present within A Muerte. That is, rendering the invisible mechanisms of video mediality visible. Through paralleling the pointing, and potential shooting, of the gun at the cameraman to the pointing, and "shooting", of the subject by the video camera Gomez Pena transfers the direction of the gaze.

We find A Muerte especially intriguing in the context of the Gomez Pena’s larger body of work, a taste or which can be sampled at his blog:

http://www.pochanostra.com/dialogues/

Gomez Pena’s exploration/exploitation of physicality through archetypal gestures within A Muerte is reminiscent of his work within The Chica-Iranian Project Orientalism Gone Wrong in Aztlan.

http://www.pochanostra.com/chica-iranian/

Thank you for your presentation, Kati! Hope this finds you all well in the digital sphere.

Jess and David.

War Group A response to 'language as a border' provocation and technological borders!

Just a few thoughts/feelings about our exchange this morning around the provocations:

1. We would like to echo what Rania said to preface her remarks. Whenever a member of our group speaks on behalf of the others there is a part of what is expressed that comes from the group as a whole and a part of what is said that is coming from the speaker alone. Not every one in our group for example has always felt represented by what the speaker has communicated on our behalf. We expect that we all have a common understanding about this, but at the same time it is important to say so thank you Rania.

2. Related to 1. we really appreciated the opportunity today to hear many voices and see many faces. It was valuable to hear from each member of the Tampere group--this takes more time but is fruitful. For this same reason the two of the three of us sitting here making this blog who didn't create today's Warwick provocation also appreciated the chance to hear our colleagues voices in their native tongues--as well as having been given the time and space to see how each person expresses him or herself in gestures and tones while speaking in her or his own language.

3. this (2) is why we would like the opportunity to be connected via skype. To be able to connect more one on one--both academically and personally- after these initial glimpses of one another.

Thanks for reading,

Min, Sarah and Erin

WAR Group C reaction to danca pessoal

Hey all! We're back, today it's just Martin and Jo. We had more fun looking at some of the postings, and here are some thoughts we wanted to share on David's key word.

Jo- I'm coming to this from an acting (particularly movement based) and dance background. The videos of the inspiration (butoh, push pull, Grotowski) were things familiar to me. It was nice to see how these came together in the performances of the LUME theatre. What I found intriguing was how this danca pessoal was not originally meant to be a performance style. These are exercises that help performers (well, anyone, really) learn how to access their bodies, to engage in unfamiliar movement patters, to possess qualities of control and specificity in their movements, and how to utilize this in performance to communicate things to an audience. I would love to hear more of the story of the LUME theatre and see how this developed into the performances. Did the story come first, and elements of the dance style were used to give life to the piece? Or did they want to turn these exercises into a performance style and this is what came about?

Martin - Coming from a total different background (social urbanism),the "danza pessoal" took me to the opposite, to collective (unaware) dances. Can we think of our daily trips as "choreographies" in a broader sense / space?
Specially the part of the coat dressed performers running in place, took me automatically to Buenos Aires` rush hour, with thousands of daytrippers "travelling without (really) moving".

This might be a funny example of somebody making art of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4nS6ke6gms

Warwick Group 1 Provocation Piece Clarifications

Hello all. We just wanted to clarify a couple of things about our provocation piece.

First, there was some curiosity as to how we chose to whom to address our individual remarks. For the most part, we chose individuals who we assumed would not understand our native languages, as well as, in some cases, individuals with whom we had some other connection. Except for me, Justin, who, of course, speaking mainly in English, assumed everyone would understand me (as much as the technology and my own cold-damaged voice would allow). I chose David just because I have a very close friend named David!

There was also some curiosity about what was actually said. Part of the appeal we hoped the presentation would have was in the mystery of non-comprehension. For the most part, even we didn't know what our partners were saying. Hence, we chose not to provide any translations as a group. If you really REALLY want to know, please feel free to get in touch with us individually-- I'm sure the secrets can be begged or bought!

SKYPE communication proposition

Hi all,

A few of us were thinking that it might be nice to have the capacity for one on one live communication with other students in other locations. (we know that the Amsterdam students also thought this would be good...)

A good way to do this might be SKYPE. Some of us likely already have skype accounts. You can download skype for free and set up an account by visiting: www.Skype.com/download
Usually you can simply find people by searching for their names--though some people have pseudonyms (bunch of posers!)For example you can find me by searching Erin Brubacher but my skype name is Jabacher.

Once you have a skype account you can see when people are online whenever you have the program open--if you have the program open and don't want to be disturbed you can always set your status to invisible.

Finally on another note, for all us internationals, skype is a cheap way to communicate back home. You just buy credit and can call any phone from your computer for very cheap. Skype to skype computer calls are FREE.

Maybe people could respond to this post with their skype IDs/names/accounts so that we can find each other?

Thanks from Warwick!

Vidly

Visly.com is an easy to use video recording tool. It uses your laptops webcam, creates a post which you can share via Twitter and Facebook. I'll create a facebook account for you all, erik

What is a Performance? - Deleted Scene

A'dam Y team

War Group A Keyword Language (cosmopolitanism...)

On Language...



We have been having a conversation about what is enriching, empowering, hindering, advantageous about being a native speaker of a dominant or minority language in a given environment--this stemmed in part from Janelle's discussion of cosmopolitanism: we wondered if cosmopolitanism negates a firm sense of local identity,
and, by the same token, is protecting and supporting the literacy within and use of a language in a specific locality in opposition with the notion of being a world citizen fluent in whichever languages are (economically/communicatively) useful.

In an international environment where English is the linguistic meeting place, there are obvious advantages to English speakers...But... these same English speakers who are not required to learn another language in order to communicate are deprived from an enriched and extended vocabulary--and broadened capacity to understand....As language shapes our thoughts...

There is a very important distinction between the benefits of learning / knowing an 'other' language for economic/employability or for cultural/ emotional/ intellectual enrichment. Would a more multilingual society be a more empathetic, just, enriched world? (where an economic pecking order is more moot?)

What is the importance of helping 'non-useful' (as defined by economic or global measures) languages to thrive?
If you don't need a language functionally, is its formative influence still doing the work of defining a culture even if another non-native language is more commonly used.

WAR Group B Keyword Response Pi Ying Xi Shadow Puppets

We were intrigued by Ruirui Liu’s post on pi ying xi, shadow puppetry, and we started riffing on the topic of puppets, realizing how many significant and exciting productions we've seen involving puppetry of some kind.

Ruirui wasn't satisfied with the Oxford entry on ‘puppet’. Neither are we. Too limited and limiting.

Here’s another, from Wikipedia (yes, sometimes they do have decent material).

'A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by a puppeteer. It is usually (but by no means always) a depiction of a human character, and is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre. The puppet undergoes a process of transformation through being animated, and is normally manipulated by at least one puppeteer.'

This definition allows for non-human-like, and even non-animal-like representations. Any thing can be used as a puppet. Any thing can be animated, manipulated, given character, made a part of a story: chess pieces (the first photo below is from the show "The Boys of the Paul Street" for youth by Malo pozoriste "Dusko Radovic" from Belgrade, Serbia), tableware (the second image below is from "Hippotheatron" by France's Compagnie Aie Aie Aie), sand, water, paper, vegetables.






Puppetry has political connotations as well, of course. How often do we hear of puppet regimes, of governors or governments governed by others?





One of the things we discussed was the tendency in Western countries and cultures to think of puppetry as a children’s diversion, whereas in the East puppetry has a broader age appeal. Of course, we immediately thought of exceptions to the rule: "Avenue Q"’s racy spoof of "Sesame Street", Jeff Durham’s grown-up stand-up act, Bread and Puppet Theatre, Pierrot Puppet Festival for adults in Bulgaria, popular shows like "The Lion King" and "War Horse", Philippe Genty's "Lands' End" with larger-than-life-sized puppets, and the RSC/Little Angel’s recent production of "Venus and Adonis". All these challenge the common kids-only connotation of puppetry.













Also, in companies and productions such as these, the boundaries between live performers and animated puppets shift. The blurred line begs another question about agency in puppetry and perhaps in performance in general: is there a distinction between animator and animated?

What is Performance: mediated- marifetluk

Here's the second (and final) version to the provocative (or not?) performance example. Feel free to comment.



A'dam Y team

WAR Group C reaction to 'ervaringstheater'

We (Jo, Dana, Martin) read the description, watched the piece, and wanted to jot down our reactions and thoughts...

After reading the description of the word, we had some notions about what the piece would look like. Martin thought it might be a kind of street theatre, but the setting, the location, was super designed and set up specifically for the piece, and was almost the most important component. We thought about the differences between a controlled performance environment (as seen here) and an uncontrolled space (as in street performance). This set took an every day situation (a room with a bed is a familiar convention) and made it unfamiliar (isolation, mirrors...) and make us rethink the location.

We thought visibility was a key word in this piece. In here the people could see themselves, and sometimes others, but the focus was always controlled. This perspective allowed people to see themselves and to reconsider themselves in relation to others. Seeing others had to be a huge surprise to the audience, and we were forced to reconsider who is the audience and who is watching who. There is the possibility to change roles unexpectedly.

This also raised the question of 'what is theatre?' To fit this into the definition of theatre, we had to look at the components of this piece. If theatre is an audience watching an actor, than this isn't theatre. But we can manipulate the definition of theatre to include this piece. Maybe the definition is more broad.

We wondered if it was important to understand what the woman was saying. We guessed she was an audience member talking about her experiences, reflecting after the fact. But what if she was talking about politics? What if she was part of the performance and this was played live to the audience members? How would this change the performance, if at all?

WAR Group C

Keyword: Information

I thought of my keyword in terms of my disciplinary background in information science (or library studies). It's a concept that relates to performance in the sense that it is an act of communication, it exists between people in social contexts, and it relates to and impacts our structures of knowledge. Performance is information in all of its formats - visual, behavioral, textual, audio - and information can be studied as performance. For this reason it may be productive to look at information as a keyword.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines information in many ways, one of which can be related to performance:

1. The action of informing; communication of the knowledge or ‘news’ of some fact or occurrence; the action of telling or fact of being told of something.

Information is seen as an action, as related to knowledge transfer, and as a process involving human interaction. It is a process that is dependant on an imperfect state of knowledge, a social relationship, and a shared language. Information is also importantly produced by the imposition
of order or arrangement, this is how it is contrasted with raw data which is random. For example the "action of telling" imposes order through discourse and narrative. By extension we can say that curatorial practice, classification systems, genre, and norms of behavior also produce or construct information and define how to and who can access it.

The methods of imposing order and arranging facts are culturally specific. The potential barriers to information are language and the rules used to organize the information which are institutionalized in a culture, and misinformation. Misinformation problematizes the concept of information because, although it may be performed like information, it is the opposite. Misinformation is the same as being deprived of information - it results in ignorance.

This is an example of misinformation, masquerading like information. The image is a mishmash of ostensibly, First Nations symbols, confusing and conflating the particular genealogies of the various nations' stories resulting in a chimera that is part Japanese animation character and part orca, bear and thunderbird - as if these were superpowers. It certainly tells a strange story. The blurb of text is seductive but misinformative and also ironic - using First Nations' symbols as a way to tell a story about multiculural Canada - to tell the story about immigration and inclusion. This is not a very provocative example in the sense that, it's essentially information for children about a toy. But these mascots were designed for export - they tour the globe advertising the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, British Columbia, First Nations and Canada. Who is benefitting from this "information"?

http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/profile_s.php

TAM Keyword Nese C. Tosun

Temaşa: (Turkish, from Arab origin according to Nisanyan Dictionary[i] and from Persian origin according to TDK Dictionary[ii])

(Definition according to Turkish Language Institution Online Dictionary, TDK –Translated to English by Nese C. Tosun)

1) To contemplate, to watch.

2) The thing to be watched, that is worth seeing.

3) Travel, “Seyir” (course, movement, motion, progress, contemplation)

4) Game, representation, play, theatre.

This word is also an equivalent of Greek word Theoria according to Turkish philosopher Nami Baser. The idea of ‘contemplation’ is central to both concepts. Furthermore, according to the definition of Wikipedia[iii], “Theoria is used to express the experience of life as ‘one who watches a play or activity’, the state of ‘being’ is defined as spectator.”

Yet, the meanings of game and representation implied by the word distances itself from the word Theoria. In Turkish, to express an event in the past that you have not witnessed personally, you would conjugate the verb in such a tense that would resonate the meaning “as if” (-miş gibi). It would also be used to define a present situation, to denote that it is, but not quite: When kids play, they would say “as if I were a doctor” while performing the doctor’s profession in a game.

Trying to come up with a Turkish equivalent of “Performance” has been a long journey for me. I would look for words, expressions that would have a history in the locality I live in as words like “performans, tiyatro, piyes” were turquified foreign words with no etymological memory but with meanings added throughout a recent history. I was searching for a sound that was more ‘local’ I guess. Problematic though, as I was refusing a recent past, in the search of a more genuine and local Turkish terminology to denote performance.

While preparing for this exercise, I have discovered the word temaşa that answered some of my concerns. It had multiple meanings, in a range that would both enable me to think in the sense of ‘performance’ as in perfournir>parfournir but also in a way that would signal to a contemplation that would be both practice and research. However that word is not in use in Turkish language except in historical documents and/or theatre encyclopedias. It does not exist in current online theatre and performance dictionaries. In the official Turkish Language Dictionary of TDK, there is a note that it is an old usage.

I believe that the absence of this word from current theater and performance vocabulary can be seen as a consequence of the secular republican elites’ idea of ‘purifying’ Turkish language by ‘cleaning’ it of its Arabic and Persian words to arrive at the Central Asian roots of the language. Of course, over the years most of the originally Central Asian but extremely old words would not satisfy the elite and instead words from Western/European languages would be borrowed. Hence the journey of our words such as tiyatro(theatre), piyes(pièce), performans(performance).

Unfortunately my history with this word is marked by its absence. I dont have a memory of it, only its discovery in a past that is not yet that distant. Its absence and my unaccomplished rediscovery of it –as I cant even find the language of origin- shows my attempt of ‘as if’. My own attempt to Theoria that was hoping to direct to my locality is marked by a Temasa in relation to my history.

---

[i] http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/search.asp?w=tema%FEa&x=0&y=0

[ii] www.tdk.gov.tr

[iii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoria