Event overview
Performance Research Forum presents: Launch of Performance Research: "On Animism". Event is followed by drinks and a discussion with the audience.
Performance Research: “On Animism”
For a number of theorists today (Isabelle Stengers, Graham Harvey, David Abram, amongst others) animism is conceived of as destabilising the very distinctions through which it was historically formulated, and it now offers a significant instance of how oppressive modes of cultural understanding can be transformed from the inside as it were. What has been called “new animism” concerns what cannot be accommodated by the entrenched distinctions, for example, of subject and object, the animate and the inanimate, or active and passive – inviting a sense of the “re-enchantment” of the world, even as a self-styled modernity seems intent on destroying it. The contributors to this issue of Performance Research (24.6) explore a wide range of cultural practices, affirming a pluriversal understanding of performance, one not limited to that of human “actors”. Participating in the work of cosmopolitics and its ecologies, animism in these examples raises fundamental questions about the very “life” of social relations, as manifested here in the dynamics of theatre and dust, film and waves, art and fossil fuels, communities and landscape, and many more. This event, convened by the editors, will offer an opportunity for public dialogue about such themes, with and between some of those who contributed to the issue.
Carl Lavery is Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Glasgow. He has authored numerous books and articles on walking, ecology and ruins. He has also made performances from walking. His most recent publication is “What Can Theatre Do? Performance and Ecology” (Routledge, 2018).
Mischa Twitchin is a lecturer in the Theatre and Performance Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. His book “The Theatre of Death – the Uncanny in Mimesis: Tadeusz Kantor, Aby Warburg and an iconology of the actor” is published by Palgrave Macmillan in their Performance Philosophy series; and examples of his performance- and essay-films can be seen on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/user13124826/videos.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Mar 2020 | 6:15pm - 8:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
