Activating the Inanimate: Visual Vocabularies of Performance Practice

This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2013. The dynamic exchange of perspectives that constituted the 2nd Global Conference of Performance: Visual Aspects of Performance Practice demonstrated that the foundational concept of the project is a vibrant platform for sharing and extending ideas within all aspects of scenographic practice in performance. This volume is a compilation of papers that formed the basic structure of that conference. The first four chapters present a developing schema of visual languages within theatre. From Beckett, Ibsen, Svoboda to Wilson, they navigate the symbolic and visual prioritizing of postdramatic scenographic forms. Part 2 reconsiders the predetermined divisions that deflate experiential encounters with the inanimate. Dance, puppetry and slapstick provide examples of interaction between performers and their environment. Part 3 addresses various renderings of design processes, exploring the role of drawing, fabric and body in creating a narrative. Part 4 negotiates the sensitive interface between public and performance while looking at the Burning Man Festival, flash mobs and opera media casting. The final chapters represent a global collective of process strategies that confront the production and methodologies of meaning. They engage with cultural presumptions and subjectivities in post Cultural Revolution China, Spanish flamenco, American Indian (post)colonial resistances and the traditions of Australian Aboriginal artists.