De la hibriditatea inerent
performance-ului la
singularitate. S nu m prseti
Performance-ul este o noiune care ncape greu n limba romn. Despre el i despre
religie nu se poate vorbi dect foarte din interior sau foarte din exterior; mai ales n
plan local, dar nu numai, un interlocutor relaxat-curios este foarte rar. Ruptura dintre
cei neobosii, care duc lucrurile tot mai departe, alunecnd tangenial prin discursul
public autohton, i lipsa copleitoare a disponibilitii i abilitii (cu cteva excepii)
de a aborda performance-ul, fenomen i discurs, cu mai mult firesc i de a-i permite
transformare, nu-mi d pace. Pe de alt parte, poate nici nu are cum s existe discurs
relaxat n relaie cu performance-ul. Textul meu oscileaz ntre cele dou perspective
extreme, eund de dou ori. Totodat, de la un punct ncolo, textul prsete orice
dihotomie i urmeaz logica hibrid a obiectului su - abandonndu-se capacitii
virtuale a discursului de a accesa spaiul neverosimil n care gndul se curbeaz i
unde contradiciile coexist, iar forele exterioare i cele imanente lucreaz mpreun,
permindu-i acestuia (performance, text) s participe la propria formare. Un spaiu
indeterminat i bntuit, de aducere n proximitate.
Egon Schiele i dorea, n 1916, ca aceast perioad, cea mai rea din istorie, s se
termine. i era indiferent crei naiuni i aparinea, o prefera pe cealalt. Scrie n
Muzeul Leopold din Viena. Am citit ast-var, ntr-o sal cu totul alta dect cea n care
se ntmpla un performance de Tino Sehgal. Printre peisajele lui Schiele, care, toate,
reluau din memorie gesturi antropomorfe ale copacilor i cerului, i, la fel, printre
portretele care, toate, captau micri sufleteti vagi de nepotrivire, lips i ndrzneal
amar (cnd, n timpul verii, n Viena, corpul tu poart pe dinuntru un copac uscat),
erau expuse i fragmente din jurnalul i corespondena acestuia. Performance-ul,
duraional, alctuit dintr-un montaj hipnotic de slow-motion nonfigurativ i incantaii
(mai puin beatboxing-ul obinuit) al unui grup de doi-trei performeri aezai pe podea,
nu fusese construit special pentru Schiele i nu era prezentat pentru prima dat ntr-un
muzeu. De aproape, performance-ul te confisca, avea calitatea implicit de eveniment
elaborat, pe care o aduc performance-urile de black box n temporalitatea vizitei la
muzeu. Din restul camerelor, afectul murmurat, ca un corp strin cu multe tentacule,
nu tiu nc ce fcea exact.
M voi referi n textul de fa la performance-ul asociat cu logica scenei (diferit de cea
a artelor vizuale, dar care a devenit ceea ce este fix n urma intersectrii cu aceasta, n
black box sau n white cube) i cu istoria dansului contemporan (aflat ntr-o relaie
complicat cu istoria teatrului, mai ales faza sa postdramatic). Cu precdere acele
forme aliene de via performativ care, migrnd spre alte orizonturi (contexte),
pstreaz i poart cu ele black box-ul/cubul negru/scena ca logic intern, dup
60
Adriana Gheorghe
care, uneori, integreaz noile orizonturi, transformndu-se n veritabile nave
spaiale, resemnificnd pn la alienare elementele iniiale i invitnd la producerea de
stranietate i singularitate. (Aplicnd strategii SF de literalizare a conceptelor, coregraful
Florin Fluera considera Black Hyperbox o nav spaial pe cale de desprindere de
lumea veche a teatrului, iar post BHB, n cartea Bezna BHB scria c black-box-ul s-a
mutat n interiorul lucrrii. Tot strategii SF de literalizare, cu efect poetic sau speculativ,
folosete Alina Popa, artist vizual i performer, n relaia cu gndirea abstract, pe care
o trateaz cu afeciune i cruzime alintnd i plimbnd punctul/animal de companie
sau captnd dou perspective n aceeai linie a orizontului vertical care secioneaz
corpurile celor coregrafiai.) Ideea de baz a acestui text este aceea c performance-ul
este inerent hibrid (propune scrierea experienei i, implicit, a percepiei) i poate
deveni generator de un anume tip de constelaii de hibriditate destabilizatoare pentru
noi, oamenii, n formularea noastr safe (neleg unde mi se oprete nelegerea i simt
c nimic, nici din exterior, nici din interior nu-mi spune ce experimentez, nu sunt nici
mcar invitat la experine contradictorii i alienante, toi, performeri i receptori,
ne-am putea abandona proximitii n acelai mediu i forelor imanente
transformatoare, fr s cutm, fr s construim sau s ateptm ntlnirea, acceptnd
c ea s-ar putea ntmpla. Sau inem cu dinii de reperele subiectivitii noastre).
Oare ne-am putea ntlni n singulariti, n loc de individualiti? (parafrazarea
societii de singulariti a lui John Rajchman, citat de Andr Lepecki). n cea mai
recent carte a sa Singulariti: Dansul n era performance-ului (t.m) , criticul de
dans Andr Lepecki introduce termenul de singularitate n relaie cu dansul i
performance-ul (concept pe care l lansase/aruncase nainte la Bucureti, n urm
cu doi ani, cu ocazia atelierului i lecture-ului susinute n cadrul E-Motional, la
From the Inherent Hybridity
of Performance to Singularity.
Never Let Me Go
Performance remains an alien notion to Romanian. One cannot but approach
performance in one of two ways, just as one can hardly approach religion either
from a distance or from within. There is no real chance for a relaxed, interested
discussion. The gap between the ones inside, that cannot not accelerate things, and
the ones outside, unwilling and unable to let it evolve and gain a common sense, is,
of course, not a typically local thing. Maybe there should never be any relaxed text
connected to performance. This text will try and get busy with the (hybrid) nature of
its object, going from intensely satisfying two different extreme desires, failing twice, to
losing any dichotomic thinking and trusting more the virtual forces of the discourse
while entering an a-perspectival (whose voice, no voice), trans-dimensional logic of
the mind-curving space where it is both and neither inside and outside, anything is
haunted by something different and through their co-existence and movements of
displacement and lingering, old voices get silent but meetings do occur.
In 1916, Egon Schiele wanted desperately for his time, the worst time in history, to end.
Indifferent to which nation he might belong, if any, he would prefer the other. There
is a note in Leopold Museum in Vienna. I read it last summer in an exhibition room
different from the one in which a Tino Sehgal performance was taking place. Amongst
Schieles landscapes, that were all visions of landscapes out of observing bodily
movement of mountains and trees and amongst the portraits that were all paintings
of displacement and wistfulness (like the feeling of an autumnal tree inside your
body while in Vienna, in summer), there were also the notes and fragments exhibited.
The durational performance proposing 2-3 sitting performers looping in slow-motion
and chanting (really chanting, very little beatboxing) was not produced especially
for Schiele, nor was it presented in a museum for the first time. In proximity, the
performance was arresting, it had black box implicit event temporality and elaboration
diffused in whatever the experience of visiting could be. From the other rooms, it
was not so clear what it did, but it was an alien body prolonged in all the corners and it
messed with attention and temporality.
Artists Lilach Livne and Uri Turkenich propose yet another way to fluidly institute
how one could meet the others pattern of thinking and making performance in the
form of Mamash (an intensifier, meaning really and exactly, not very far from hyper
or from singularity). I met them via Skype and shared Lilachs pattern of thought with
them in a displaced self-interview continuously looping astray. They become you
in addressing and you are a space that can carry your pattern of thought and mine
and hers also. And her is not the one that initially occupies my space (in a mutually
generous and vampirizing situation) but something else formulating itself out of
turning points and scary meetings between our deep movements of wistfulness.
This text (which differs from its Romanian version) follows and focuses on the
performance coming from the black box of theatre (distinct from the performance
in the visual arts/white cube logic, but that became what it is exactly due to the
theatre-visual arts intersecting in black box or white cube) and from the perspective of
contemporary dance history (in a complicated dialogue with the history of modern/
post-modern theatre, especially its postdramatic stage).
Speculating, especially when migrating towards other horizons, performance keeps
the black box inside. And then integrates other horizons, too, turning the work into
a spaceship, resignifying and alienating familiar phantom limbs, perfect for generating
strangeness and singularities. (Choreographer Forin Fluera thought of the Black
Hyperbox constellation to be a spaceship in relation to the old world of theatre
and, later, in the discursive BHB formation, he wrote that the black box moved
inside the work).
The premise of this text is the inherent hybridity of performance (that aims at scripting/
choreographing experience and, implicitly, perception - you tell me what I experience,
I tell myself what I experience) and that can generate spirals of hybridity, redistributing
the possibility of understanding and experience in counterintuitive strange places of
mingled perception and reception (I understand where my understanding stops and
I sense nobody is telling anything, not even inviting for contradictory or alienating
experiences but we all leave each other alone in proximity in the same environment for
our immanent forces to transform us continuously and in some unstable moments we
might even meet a.s.o.) thus destabilizing the safe formulations of ourselves.
61

invitaia tefaniei Ferchedu). Singularitatea ca purttoare i generatoare de
stranietate. Lepecki prefer, n spiritul Deleuze/Guattari, s foloseasc reformularea
conceptului celor doi propus de filozoful i istoricul de art Georges Didi-Huberman.
Singularitatea ireductibil, diferit de individualitate i productoare de multiplicitate
i bifurcaii. Singularitatea ca un anume tip de eveniment care conine i actualizare,
i non-actualizare.
A doua oar, ne-a ignorat, fiind deja ntr-un trip al ei, n care a i rmas blocat mult
dup ce s-a ncheiat performance-ul. i, n acelai timp, ne-a cerut insistent i tot mai
dezamgit s o nsoim ntr-o Rugciune pentru Abstract, s atingem mpreun non- aciunile, a avut utilitate, consisten, temporalitate i limbaje diferite pentru fiecare
imaginea, acoperii fiecare de cte o burka, s ne inem de mn, ntini pe jos, privind participant, lansnd, n acelai timp, propunerea/realitatea unui nou mod de a gndi
sau dansnd n loop frazele Isadorei Duncan. Ne vorbea netulburat i cu gravitate, nu
se uita la noi, consumat de spaiul propriului trip, bntuit de altceva, care izbucnea, din
timp n timp un rs proaspt i complice ca un virus. A fost un eec, n-am urmat-o.
A fost perfect. Locul de manifestare pentru performance-ul lui Lilach Livne, bazat pe
strategii de resemnificare pentru a fora apropierea ntre lucruri imense (lingvistice,
cognitive, fizice, afective) i a provoca altfel de ntlniri, a fost un apartament din
Bucureti, n cadrul Lorgean, accentund stranietatea. Prima dat ne sedusese i apoi
ne ceruse, cu succes, s o urmm ntr-un Joc deschis de-a scanatul (ficionalizndu-
ne i acceptnd, implicit, s performm) i de-a aplatizarea, (devenind bidimensionali,
virtuali i reali). n ultima vreme, Lilach Livne propune aceleai strategii de
resemnificare (sau de numire de-a dreptul) n spaiul virtual oficial al Facebook-ului:
invoc limbajul confiscat, riscant, imposibil al dragostei i al rugciunii, alturi de selfie-
uri cu expresii de profund tristee. Propunerea nu e departe de Aurel Ilie sau de efectul
contraintuitiv al textelor religioase, e o invitaie la tot ceea ce intuiia sau constructul
propriei subiectiviti ne spune c nu e ok, fornd ntlniri cu o altfel de textur (de
parc ne-am alinta unii altora direct creierele). Acesta poate fi un test. Oare ct de greu
sau ct de uor i este minii s primeasc o astfel de provocare?
Performativitatea este acea capacitate, convenional, a limbajului de a aciona,
instaurnd realitate n via i n art, iar performance-ul este arta vie, care i i modalitile). Lor li se mai adaug corpuri relativ amestecate, executnd
inventeaz ncontinuu limbaje pentru mediul ei eluziv. Dorothea von Hantelmann,
curatoare i specialist n istoria artei, vorbete despre noua direcie/perspectiv
performativ, conform creia toat arta este performativ (produce realitate) i
prefer termenul de noua direcie/perspectiv experienial pentru a distinge
preocuparea artei fa de efectele ei asupra privitorului i asupra contextului.
Atitudinea convenional i eficient hiperstiioas cu care vine la pachet performarea
face din performance un moment foarte interesant, de hibrid deja n aciune, depind
gndirea dualist (gndire, limbaj, reprezentare de o parte i realitate, experien,
62 De la hibriditatea inerent performance-ului la singularitate. S nu m prseti
invizibil de cealalt parte). Odat depit gndirea binar, hibriditatea
se rostogolete n spiral, complicnd fiecare parte. Astfel, un termen ca ordinul
simbolic intr n tensiune att cu dimensiunea material, ct i cu cea imaterial.
Pe de alt parte, planul fizic poate fi reconceput n termeni de logic a materialului,
vizibil sau invizibil, poate fi guvernat de afect sau poate combina un limbaj
nonfigurativ cu simpatia kinetic.
Platforma Black Hyperbox (BHB sau doar HyperBox), o minciun productiv,
aruncat n viitor ca zarurile lui Florin Fluera pentru a ne circumscrie, retrospectiv,
in Bucharest (thanks to Lorgean) and this added to the alienation effect. Check her
gndirea, n care conceptele sunt operaionale, chiar violente, nu reflect, ci fac imersie
n schimbarea continu a lucrurilor. Post-BHB a urmat publicaia Bezna BHB, un
mediu nou n care unii dintre noi i-au urmat preocuprile vechi. Detalii despre
preocuprile fiecruia din BHB n varianta infidel a acestui text n limba englez.
Contextul scenei vine cu o logic a vizibilitii, virtuozitii, focus pe modalitate i
dramaturgie, pe care performance-ul o accentueaz, o viruseaz, o neag, n general, o
complic, astfel nct apar ali hibrizi operativi de tip coregrafie devenit score invizibil
pentru aciuni pe scen, executate de performeri virtuoi sau nevirtuoi etc.
Un alt aspect interesant al hibriditii este situaia complex n care, pe de o parte,
dualitatea este depit i noua form de via performativ scap n contexte noi,
continund hibridizarea (performance-urile de black box n white cube, de exemplu)
i, n acelai timp, tensiunea intrinsec rmne activ (una din accepiunile hibridului e
mix de tehnologii i alimentare din dou surse). Practica de ncorporare
a imaterialului (sau de perisabilizare i vulnerabilizare a obiectelor) a Alexandrei
Pirici i a lui Manuel Pelmu, de exemplu, adreseaz, chestionnd i afirmnd
deopotriv, posibiliti contradictorii ale materialitii i imaterialului n art, prin
performance-uri elaborate i duraionale, nu lipsite de o virtuozitate a neutralitii
(execuie bun, performare detaat) n spaii de expoziie (combinnd temporalitile
reenactment-uri de reprezentri materiale sau imateriale. O soluie interesant,
ecologic, de neutralizare a subiectivitii, ntr-o conversaie mai larg despre
memorie, muzeu, art, putere, element uman.
Att Andr Lepecki, ct i Mrten Spngberg, fiecare cu discursul su i avnd
ca numitor comun gndirea lui Deleuze n combinaie cu Guattari, consider
performance-ul (ca spaiu de manifestare a identitii i subiectivitii) compromis i
dansul sau performance-ul de dans i coregrafia drept modalitile (independente ntre
ele) de a produce singulariti sau alte forme aliene de cunoatere.
In his most recent book Singularities: Dance in the Age of Performance, the dance critic inside) inviting us to the opposite of what our intuition and construction tell us it is
theorizing performance extensively, Andr Lepecki, introduces the term singularity acceptable, stretching for meetings with different fabric, real, while caressing each
in connection to dance and performance (in Bucharest he had so fittingly thrown others brains. Test yourself. Check how close or how far you are to receiving this. <3
the concept ahead two years ago when invited by tefania Ferchedu to give a Performativity means the capacity of language (convention-given, in art and in
lecture and a workshop inside the E-Motional program). In the spirit of Deleuze/ life) to act building/changing reality, while performance is the live art endlessly
Guattaris treatment of concepts, Lepecki prefers to use art philosopher Georges inventing new languages for its elusive medium. One could also argue that this is the
Didi-Hubermans reappropriation of D/Gs concept of singularity as bearer and performative turn and that there is no non-performative (non reality-producing)
generator of strangeness. Could we, instead of meeting as individualities, meet in the artwork (art historian Dorothea von Hantelmann, who also preferred the term
coreless core of singularities? (paraphrasing Lepeckis quoting of philosopher John experiential turn for contemporary arts concern with an artworks effects on the
Rajchmans idea of a new society of singularities). viewer and with the situation in which it takes place).
First, frontally addressing the audience and piercing through the 4th wall of the The conventional-effective hyperstitional attitude associated with performing turns
theatre got confiscated and its effect understood and overcome, now the landscape performance into a very interesting hybrid already acting as such and surpassing dualist
type of diffusing experience should also get confiscated as the right way to do it thinking (thought/language and its compounds on one side and reality/experience
(with the neutral non watching the audience attitude keeping a tiny twisty bit of the on the other). Once binary schematism irrelevant, hybridity spirals and complicates
representational feel in its general feel of happenings from the negotiating space of each side and their relation to the context. This way a notion like symbolic order
visiting art). I wonder about the possibility to work inside the frontally addressing enters opposition with both material and immaterial dimension. Also the physical
(and even using/meditating through and around representation) and not frontally plane can be ordered by the very logic of material, visible or invisible or could mix
address but create an unstable space of multiplicities inside the perception. There can nonrepresentational language with kinetic sympathy, while verbal language can affect.
be obliqueness inside frontality, different instantiations of it. Where even me using Black Hyperbox (BHB or just HyperBox, anyways a productive lie, thrown ahead
language tricks and sharing someone elses perspective is very little that. Or Florin of us like Florin Flueras dice, to work on us retrospectively), had different utility,
Flueras spaceship-solo Artificial Emotional Intelligence in the white cube temporality. consistency, temporality and language for any of the performers involved. Concepts
The second time she just ignored us, trapped in consuming her parallel trip from are similar to violent things or acts that we make, break and remake alongside a moving
before the performance started and long after it was over. And kept on asking us to join horizon, paraphrasing Gilles Deleuze, but also artist Alina Popas passionate take on
her Prayer for the Abstract. No seduction, not like the first time, when the invitation abstractions in her ongoing conceptual tension between perspective and horizon (the
was to become flat and virtual and real by scanning ones own existence (and point pet, holding two perspectives in one vertical horizon slicing the body and the
their awkward Deleuze/Lacan shadows of significance) language resignifying self or the possibility of a second horizon cutting the perspective in the middle etc.).
fictionalization and the interactive performativity of the Open Game. This time only In both writing and performing, she applies science-fictional strategies of dealing with
grave disappointed insistence that all of us reach the non-image while covered in abstractions literally or figuratively (with poetic or speculative effect). In the written
highly charged burkas, holding hands or looping Isadora Duncan style. Maybe just a extension of BHB labyrinth (Bezna BHB book published by PUNCH), some of
bit of her viral complicity laughter haunting her trip and the performance. Still no one the performative practices or theoretical interests will find a way to transform or just
followed. And it was perfect. Lilach Livnes performances happened in apartments spread in the new medium. If I am not mistaken, paraphrasing, Alina Popas thought
climbs the vines of liana and theatre jumps to the narrators throat.
very Facebook account. She is using the same resignifying - or naming it like it really While, if I remember well, artist Ioana Gheorghius intensity towards reduction and
is - strategies (eating away enormous distances between most delicate things) in the sound turned from reducing verbal language into essential affective meaningful
official virtual space and she gets away with invoking the confiscated language of love chanting (in the performance space) to reducing the texts of the BHB book, its
and prayer accompanied by grave, intensely sad selfies. And the same failure reaches transitions, into partitures, visually, conceptually and imaginatively rewarding while
us somehow (still I wonder where/when is the laughter here?). She is not so far from provoking the strangest meetings. (I wonder how the proximity of my text to the one
Aurel Ilie or from the counterintuitive forces of religious texts (stay away if not already signed by Blake Victor, highly emotionally intelligent entity too busy with his work
From the Inherent Hybridity of Performance to Singularity. Never Let Me Go 63
Una dintre strategiile care m intereseaz de adresare a acestei probleme este
transformarea limbajului n material perisabil i instabil, uncanny sau literal / artificial,
separat de sens i subiectivitate (limbajul i sensul coexistnd n planuri paralele).
Tehnologiile performative ale coregrafului Ivo Dimchev, de exemplu, (culmea
ireverenei fa de orice urm de semnificaie) produc i nu produc deloc o continu
performare a subiectivitii performerului, iar strategia sa din Operville, care ntlnete
strategia coregrafelor Mdlina Dan i Agata Siniarska din Mothers of Steel, propune
fix separarea palierelor sunet / muzic i sens / limbaj n abordarea unor forme de
performance de oper contemporan.
O altfel de meditaie asupra implicaiilor separrii i re-suprapunerii planurilor (vizual
i sonor) i a mediilor artistice s-a ntmplat la nceputul iernii, la galeria Anca Poterau
din Bucureti, n expoziia artitilor Irina Botea i Jon Dean, curator Daria Ghiu, n
jurul ideii de ce i cum pot mprti oamenii (sau vecini i radio). Un spaiu plin de
urme vizibile ale (technicalitilor) radioului sau urme vizibile i sonore ale vecinilor
nevzui, un spaiu viu, plin pe jumtate i bntuit n cealalt jumtate. i un alt spaiu,
exagerat, de dou ori construit (un film despre cum se produc sunetele pentru teatru
radiofonic), i n care informaia vizual nenecesar despre sunete (un limbaj cu o
logic paralel) perturb i bntuie, aparine i nu aparine coninutului sonor. Dar,
cel mai grav, dnd sonorul mai ncet n prima camer, Irina Botea a ncorporat, mai
mult sau mai puin accidental, povetile vecinilor, ntr-o practic de reenactment
empatic, discret i proprie. Astfel de accidente mici pot seta receptarea ntr-un quest
suspicios-ireverenios de tip care/unde e lucrarea transformnd ntreg eafodajul
elaborat al expoziiei ntr-un pretext pentru acea intervenie performativ (exagerez,
dar nu m pot abine), asemntor cu un alt accident mic de anul trecut, la ODD, cnd,
n cadrul unei proiecii & lecture despre Felix Guattari, Fernand Deligny i clinica
La Borde, parte din foarte interesantului poiect KNOTS (curatori Vlad Morariu i
Cristina Bogdan) i n contextul articulrii unei situaii de comunicare deja disjunctive
i problematice (& n condiiile coincidenei cu un meci de fotbal transmis n direct
n Centrul Vechi), Cosmina Moroan a vorbit insistent despre Guattari cu deosebit
cldur i familiaritate.
Practica lui Krt Juurak de a (se) performa, pe scen i n afara ei, urmnd o coregrafie
supus contingenei, de task-uri explicite sau implicite de stri rele, normale, ok,
prietenoase, artificiale etc. i doznd performarea cu o precizie automatizat de
inteligen artificial, produce nelinite profund i experimente umane riscante, de
hiper skill amestecat cu delegarea controlului/subiectivitii, care extind noiunile de
coregrafie i performance. ntlnirea cu ea promite situaii n care aceasta pare s delege
nsi calitatea de autoare a propriei contiine, este ca un ecran/oglind neagr care
atrage i respinge n acelai timp proieciile i reflexiile, invitnd la alunecri n gol.
M surprinde, de fiecare dat cnd deschid Mii de platouri (1980), ct de devoratoare
este influena acestei cri asupra gndirii contemporane i, n special, asupra practicilor
(i a ideii de practic, neleas ca un alt mod de a organiza i distribui cunoaterea
artistic), asupra discursului din performance-ul de dans din ultimii ani (i a felului
poetico-virusat / speculativ de a folosi limbajul) i, n general, al felului n care sunt
regndite producerea, prezentarea i receptarea performance-ului. i ct de potrivit
este acesta ca mediu pentru filozofia imanenei.
ntunericul, noaptea sau seara continu ca invitaie a virtualului de a-i emana
64 De la hibriditatea inerent performance-ului la singularitate. S nu m prseti
latenele, nvluind literal, conceptual i poetic siluetele dansatorilor i promisiunea
scenei, deschide, o dat n plus, posibilitatea unei experiene i cunoateri de tip
mediu nconjurtor, cu iz de reverie la trezirea dintr-un somn n public, unde nu
e limpede dac lumina aprins sau stins e mai safe sau mai unsafe. n piesele lui
Mrten Spngberg se poate tri o vreme. La piesa Dawn, o variant indiferent i
mai dubioas a lui Natten cea horror, am tot adormit, cu sentimentul c ceva mi
coregrafiaz aceast reacie. Iar oaptele performerilor suporteri mprtiai strategic
printre spectatori se amestecau cu vocile interioare care dezbteau ncontinuu despre
ce mai poate fi nepotrivit, unsafe, plcut etc.
Parafrazndu-l pe Andr Lepecki din cea mai recent carte a sa s reuim s
facem lucruri modeste, neeroice, improbabile, s reuim s nu ne dorim s fie / fim
recunoscute / recunoscui. n legtur cu singularitile se poate face aluzie, ele
scap reprezentrii. Se poate spune c ele populeaz lucrurile. i oamenii, i
conceptele etc. Dansul se alieneaz astfel de imperativul de a aduce ceva nou, dar
i de subiectivitatea autorului su.
n urm cu civa ani, ntr-o cafenea din Centrul Vechi a avut loc o Mascarad,
organizat de Valentina Chiri i propus de HitGirl, un avatar virtual din lumea
literar, care a invitat-o pe Maria Mora, performer, s citeasc, la prima vedere i chinuit,
un text despre telekinezie, dar i pe Aurel Ilie, specialist n telekinezie, s explice i
s dovedeasc. Aurel Ilie a stat cu spatele la public, a povestit despre pregtirea lui
special, ntr-un discurs halucinant (Pot mica obiecte, indiferent de mas, singura
condiie e ca raportul mas, mprit la distan, s fie constant, deoarece momentul e
fora ori braul forei. Adic dac eu vd luna, o pot mica la fel de uor cum mic un
obiect, singura diferen e c luna o rotesc ntr-un unghi foarte mic, iar obiectul mic l
rotesc n unghi mai mare, deoarece e mai aproape etc., etc.), a cerut lumin mov i a
on humans, sounds like; or artist Irina Gheorghes clean and limpid text on deviation
meeting with the devouring transumweltic composition by mathematician Gabriel
Catren; or, for that matter, the entire music of the editors vision on BHB).
Black box belongs to (and implies) the realm of visibility, virtuosity, focus on
constructed temporality, modality and dramaturgy that performance stresses or
messes with so that other operational hybrids may appear (such as choreography
reduced to invisible chance scores for actions on stage performed by unskilled
performers a.s.o.) There is also this interesting complexity about hybridity that allows
for duality to be surpassed and a new form of performative life to emerge into new
contexts or to bring new contexts inside spiraling on the hybridity (performances
with black box processual logic in white cube or just outside any cube), while, at
the same time, maintaining active the phantom limbs and their initial tension (the
other definition for hybrid states mixing different technologies and feeding from
two sources).
The practice of Alexandra Pirici and Manuel Pelmu, for example, of embodying
the immaterial addresses, both questioning and affirming, the contradictory
possibilities of what is material and immaterial in art, through hybrid durational
discretely skilled performances (not without a virtuosity of the neutral or
recognizable Brechtian alienation), in exhibition spaces, mixing black box and white
cube temporalities and modalities. The clean execution and detached performing
of relatively mixed bodies and trained voices re-enacting representations of other
material or immaterial artworks is also one interesting ecological way, among other
things, to neutralize the performance of subjectivity, in the larger conversation tackling
topics such as memory, museum, art, power, humans etc.
Both Andr Lepecki and choreographer Mrten Spngberg (approaching discourse
From the Inherent Hybridity of Performance to Singularity. Never Let Me Go
differently while sharing the influence of Deleuze in combination with Guattari)
consider performances elusiveness - as mainly a space manifesting and screaming
identity and subjectivity, implicitly language - compromised and dance or dance
performance and choreography are being proposed as (distinct) modalities for the
production of singularities or other alien uncapturable knowledge.
One way to address this problem would be turning the very possibility of language
into frail unstable material, uncannily or literally/artificially separated from meaning
and subjectivity. Ivo Dimchevs performative technologies, for example, (the most
irreverent one could be towards significance) are producing just as are not producing
a continuous performance of the performers subjectivity, but of borderline affect,
while his take on contemporary opera performance in Operville, that is interestingly
similar to Mdlina Dans and Agata Siniarskas strategies for the powerful Mothers of
Steel, introduces exactly this thing of separating the layers even more, not only body/
face/verbal language but decomposing aria into music/sound/crying and, in parallel,
language/meaning.
Choreographer Krt Juuraks (self) performing practice (crafting the dosing of
performativity pretty close to Artificial Intelligence), on stage and outside it,
traversing contexts and following a contingency-driven score of explicit or implicit
tasks of moods (bad, trying to have fun, normal, nice etc.), produces terrible
uncanny-ness and uneasiness. Her black box skills mix with delegating the authorship
of her very own consciousness shaping existential experiments, turning herself into
a screen inviting projections, a black mirror inviting dark reflections or an unsettling
mirror reflecting the void, this way expanding once again the possibility
of choreography or performance.
The influence of Deleuze shall never cease to amaze me (especially the work
A Thousand Plateaus, with Guattari) on contemporary speculative thinking and
performance and dance discourse, on the rethinking of thinking and the introduction
of practice as another way to organize and share artistic knowledge, and generally on
the practices of making, performing and receiving dance, and how good a medium
performance is for the philosophy of immanence.
Darkness or continuous evening as an invitation for the virtual to literally unfold
its potentiality, conceptually and poetically hiding the dancers individualities
and denying the scenes promise of visibility, while opening the possibility for the
actualization of a landscape kind of knowledge out of the fabric of public
daydreaming, where it is not clear which is un-safer - lights off or on. One could
inhabit a Spngberg dance performance for a while. Dawn, a more indifferent and
dubious variant of Natten the horror dance, joined me in my falling asleep as an
intuition of it being somehow choreographed. And the nice strategy of mingling
whisperingly cheering performers in the audience felt like inner voices debating on
what is improper, unsafe, nice and ok.
Paraphrasing Lepecki, let us succeed in doing modest, improbable, un-heroic things
and desire not so much, for them and for us, to be recognized. Singularities escape
representation, they can only be alluded to. They are said to populate things and
people and concepts. This way dance alienates itself from the urgency to be new and
also from its subjective authorship.
Some good years ago, in a coffee shop in the Old Center of Bucharest, there was
65
 ncercat timp de cteva ore s mite sticle i borcane. Publicul a fcut mito, a tremurat
de emoie, s-a plictisit, a fost la limita ndoielii, a vibrat, a plns, s-a plictisit din nou,
a nceput s converseze i s consume de la bar sau a plecat acas. n a treia parte a
performance-ului, dup mai bine de dou ore de ateptat, Aurel Ilie a micat primul
borcan, aproape imperceptibil. Spre final, cnd nu-l mai urmrea nimeni, mica sticlele
pe podea cu o vitez neverosimil.
Singularitile, diferite de individualiti, sunt puncte de tensiune i potenialitate n
interiorul materiei sau n interiorul unui lucru cnd acesta intr ntr-un anume cmp
de fore i sunt absolut unice pentru acel lucru. Sunt un joc de fore i ntlniri ntre
lucruri. Pot fi deduse prin angajarea n aciune fa de material.
Doar observarea nu e suficient.
Mascarada a jonglat cu strategii de punere n aciune a unor fore coregrafice i
hibrid-necoregrafice surprinztoare de tip - spectacolul dispersat n public i dislocat
n timp, coregrafia mai multor platouri de intensitate (cadru discursiv virusat, cercuri
concentrice de autodenunare, ncadrare i diluare a unei experiene improbabile i
minunea de la final), regim al ateniei dislocat (necoincidena continu dintre climax
i anticlimax n fiecare dintre pri, rateu continuu sau mod de a se conecta la propria
singularitate i de a iei din subiectivitate), strategii de alienare continu a mediilor i a
spectatorilor, valene noi, literale, pentru filozofia / ontologia centrat pe obiect.
Un performance de Benot Lachambre, mai ales n ultima sa faz, ofer, literal,
experiena unei coregrafii a materialitii energetice n micare, purttoare de
singulariti ntr-un proces continuu de deformare, transformare i transfer. Nimeni
nu decide / transmite / capteaz propriu-zis nimic. Dansatori i spectatori, deopotriv,
toi devin materie n formare, inaccesibil privirii sau gndirii, doar afectelor
neidentificabile. Coregrafia i transferul se mut fix n aceast dimensiune empiric-
spiritual. Artistul canadian coregrafiaz cel mult energiile, spiritul i aerul. Cnd acesta
promite, n textul de prezentare (parafraznd), c vor pica toate constructele sociale,
individuale, conceptuale, ca atunci cnd un strin perfect vine la tine i tie s ofere
exact acel lucru secret, indefinit, care i lipsete cel mai tare, sun lame, dar exact
asta se ntmpl. Aa ar putea arta societatea de singulariti. Muli coregrafi perete la teatru de tip peisaj care nu focalizeaz i nu solicit atenia continu etc. E
vorbesc despre acest deziderat amanic al coregrafiei, Lachambre chiar reuete
s pun n micare ceva enorm.
Un alt fel de a vorbi despre coregrafia lui de ast-var de la ImpulsTanz ar fi micare
repetitiv neinteresant, trip dubios de ore ntregi, pic de sens, de bucurie vizual sau
olfactiv, e aproape indecent s rmi martor la aa ceva, i este plin de cruzime, invit
la un abandon pe care nu toat lumea e dispus s-l accepte. Dup o vreme, de cele mai
multe ori, perspectiva dinafar dispare.
Ce face, n fapt, performance-ul, n general? Nu att ce este, ct ce face pentru c
acesta deja acioneaz. Inventeaz limbaje noi. n contexte vii, dezordonate, pe care
le ordoneaz. Alt fel de a ordona experiena pe scen, sub influena artelor vizuale,
alternd treptat premisele teatrului i dansului ca reprezentare i iluzie, n favoarea
realitii performrii/prezentrii. n cartea sa Teatrul postdramatic, aprut la sfritul
anilor 90, teoreticianul Hans-Thies Lehmann propunea o schimbare de paradigm
n istoria artelor spectacolului prin noiunea de teatru postdramatic, care aparine
istoriei teatrului, dar invit i la o tergere a genurilor, mixnd oper, dans i arte vizuale.
Teatrul postdramatic (sau logica proprie performance-ului) propune deplasarea
ateniei de la drama-text la ce se ntmpl n momentul performrii n spaiul dintre
scen i public (textul scris nainte sau n spaiu devenind doar unul din elementele
66 De la hibriditatea inerent performance-ului la singularitate. S nu m prseti
and hybrid-non-choreographic forces (a bit like Spngberg does), the spectacle
got literally dispersed in the body of the public and in their subjective temporality.
What was choreographed were several planes of intensity: bugged discursive frame
denouncing itself diluting an already improbable experience followed by the miracle
in the end, misplaced regime of attention (non co-occurrence of climax and anti-
climax between sides, continuously missing the point or maybe a way to connect to
ones own singularity exhausting subjectivitys preconditioned reactions)and last, but
not least, strategies for ongoing alienation of the mediums and of spectators providing
for new, literal, take on the object-oriented ontology or philosophy.
A Benot Lachambre performance, especially as of late, offers literally the experience of
a choreography of energetic matter in movement, bearer of singularities in an ongoing
process of transformation and transfer. Dancers and spectators, they all become un-
thought of, unrecognizable spirited matter. What the Canadian artist choreographs
is energies and air, very close to the society of singularities above. Lachambre
accompanies his performances with short correct texts promising the breakdown of
all social, individual, conceptual constructs as when an ideal stranger comes to you
and knows to fulfill the very secret unnamable thing that you miss the most. It sounds
so lame and it even delivers entirely. There is much talk about a shamanic approach
to choreography but he really puts in motion something enormous. Another way to
talk about it is that it is not much to look at, it smells badly, it feels cruel and awkward
to watch, it requires something not everybody is willing to give (up) and, maybe, this
perspective does not stay long.
() Real communication does not take place via understanding at all but through
impulses for the recipients own creativity, impulses whose communicability is
founded in the universal predispositions of the unconscious(). [Robert] Wilsons
scenes are not meant to be rationally interpreted and understood but are intended to
spark peoples own productivity and associations in the magnetic field between stage
compoziionale), de la reprezentare/iluzie la realitatea performrii, de la conflict i a Masquerade, organized by poet Valentina Chiri and proposed by HitGirl, a and spectators. This is one of the modalities of postdramatic theatre as theorized by
naraiune, la text non-narativ, de la anularea brechtian a conveniei celui de-al patrulea virtual literary avatar, that invited performer Maria Mora to read, first hand and in a Hans Thies Lehmann and he places this example in a space that does not belong only
careless improper manner, a pseudo scientific text on telekinesis and, also, Aurel Ilie, to the history of theatre, but transgresses genres meeting with dance, opera, visual
fascinant cum noiuni de tip teatru-peisaj apar nc de la autori ca Gertrude Stein specializing in telekinesis to do the deed. Aurel Ilie never faced the public, asked for arts, all under the name of postdramatic theatre or the logic of performance. I would
i continu la Robert Wilson, care prin tehnica sa de separare a mediilor micare/ indigo light and tried to move several glass bottles, while explaining his technique in a argue that although the desires of the black box, be it theatre or dance performances,
text verbal/gesturi/vizual/muzic revoluioneaz teatrul i opera, mixnd alienarea hallucinatory speech (I can move objects regardless to their mass, the only condition ultimately continuously alternate between understanding and experiencing the work
lui Brecht, cu un puternic formalism care nu se adreseaz nelegerii, ci, dimpotriv, is that the mass divided by distance is constant, since the moment is the force or the differently, the modalities and their rationale differ. They did not necessarily influenced
subcontientului spectatorilor i potenialului cmp magnetic dintre scen i sal. Iar forces arm. That is, if I see the moon, I could move it just as easily as moving an object, each other directly. The use of verbal text in dance performances, for example, does
n prezent spectacolul-peisaj domin discursul dansului contemporan. A susine the only difference is that the angle of rotation for the moon is very small, while the not automatically relate to the history of theatre and its modalities but to the dance
(parafrazndu-l pe JacquesRancire) c performance-ul de black box, fie c vine angle of rotation for the closer object is larger). The audience made fun of him, got history and conceptual moment of Jerme Bell (together with its assimilation of
pe tradiia teatrului sau a dansului, va oscila ntotdeauna ntre cele dou posibiliti anxious, got bored, doubted, got struck, vibrated, cried, got bored again, started poststructuralist philosophy). On the other hand, they might have influenced each
teatrul cruzimii sau cel epic, adresndu-se nelegerii sau experienelor de alt conversations and took drinks from the bar or left home. After two hours of religious other obliquely. It is fascinating to hear Gertrude Steins language on landscape theatre
calitate dect raional, dar a insista asupra faptului c modalitile de manifestare waiting, Aurel Ilie moved the first bottle in an almost unperceivable manner. kind of defocusing experience in the case of Robert Wilson and his separation of
i argumentele din spatele acestor modaliti difer puternic n cazul celor dou arte. Towards the end, when there was almost nobody watching, he was moving the the layers verbal/movement/gestures/music and, generally, in the way he totally
Folosirea discursului verbal n performance-ul de dans, de exemplu, solicit o alt bottles on the floor at an implausible speed. imploded theatre and opera, but also in the contemporary dance discourse today
citire dect asocierea automat cu teatrul, vine la pachet cu momentul anilor 90 de Singularities, distinct from individualities, are points of tension and potentiality inside (and with different argumentation behind it rethinking dance as abstract machine/
asimilare n metodologia dansului a filozofiei poststructuraliste, n timp ce spectacolul matter, or inside a thing when the thing enters a particular field of forces. They are a Deleuze concept producing indeterminacy etc., or under the spell of speculative
de dans de tip peisaj e conceput din raiuni cuantice sau speculative, ca o regndire a play between immanent forces and circumstantial encounters, absolutely unique for philosophy, or just mixing white cube/black box temporalities etc.).
dansului ca mecanism abstract care produce indeterminare sau prin interaciune cu that thing that gets to take part into its transformation, and can be deduced only by Taking some steps back, what does performance actually do? It keeps inventing
temporalitatea white-cube. Exist mai puin o influen direct i mai mult transgresri commitment (to action) towards the material. Observation only is not sufficient. languages in live contexts (to make itself stay). And ever since art got busy with how
pe diagonal. n anii 60, black box-ul a invitat n spaiul su logica performance-ului The Masquerade succeeded in its strategies to activate surprising choreographic the experience and the context produce layered (contradictory) significance and
From the Inherent Hybridity of Performance to Singularity. Never Let Me Go 67
din artele vizuale (happening-uri, chance theory, mecanica corpului nevirtuos) i apoi,
n anii 90, a urmat performance-ul conceptual, corpul ca discurs identitar i critic, pe
filiera artei dansului contemporan, o art preocupat de nscrierea unei anume dorine
n legtur cu corpurile n micare, ntr-o experien determinat temporal.
n aceste cercuri concentrice de semnificaii ntre contexte i logici diferite de lucru, a
aprut preocuparea de a formula limbaje noi, pentru a propune receptorului o altfel de
atenie i relaie. Parte din experiena spectatorului a devenit descoperirea codului.
Clasici ca Jerme Bell sau Joo Fiadeiro au reuit, cu metodologii diferite, s fac vizibil
un discurs ct mai clar, apropiindu-se cel mai mult de mirajul unui neles comun
pentru spectatori, reducnd din subiectivitatea experienei. Logicile propuse de ei tot
ce apare pe scen e informaie i discurs, material de lucru ntr-o logic mai mare au
devenit noi convenii. Jerme Bell a afirmat puterea scenei n timp ce a dezvrjit-o
total. Corpurile performerilor amatori strigau discurs identitar fr a fi vorba vreo clip
despre asta, ntr-o conversaie despre critica instituional i a reprezentrii. Bell a atras
tot aparatul critic structuralist n pliurile logicii sale.
Din acest moment, performance-ul nu mai poate fi despre ceva, enunat n textul
acompaniator sau pe scen ca material de lucru. (Spectacolul Nud de femeie brunet al
Andreei David, cu temporalitatea i dramaturgia propuse, nu mai poate fi doar despre
feminitate i discurs identitar). Ceva s-a schimbat puternic la nivel de percepie, s-a
alunecat dintr-o dimensiune ntr-alta. Fiadeiro i a sa compoziie n timp real au propus
o nou iluzie a unui soi de nivel 0 de obiectivitate i neutralitate a discursului.
Felul n care funcioneaz hibriditatea n singularitate, specia de hibrid care apare n
urma acesteia, afirm deopotriv virtualul din lucruri, ca for prezent n lume, i
interdependena interior-exterior, imanena experienei, ca mod de funcionare,
organizare, ntlnire i existen. n orice aciune a noastr n lume, care treptat ne
formeaz ca subiectiviti, exist zone intense de umbr i indeterminare, ca un acid
coroziv pentru limbaj i gndire. O mulime de astfel de entiti disparate, co-existnd,
n paralel, n companie, conectate la o preocupare entuziasmant i sensibile la mediu,
nconjurate, fiecare, de un soi de spaiu abstract / afectiv, pe care i-l pstreaz n
interaciuni (un spaiu individual de negociere / ruptur cu propria subiectivitate, un
spaiu protejat de perspective, exterioare i interioare, un spaiu de contradicie maxim
pn la linite sau n care ceva se retrage ca s lase loc de altceva).
ntr-o paradigm care aparine cmpului energetic, cu implicaii n toate planurile
i care reprezint nti de toate un fel diferit de a organiza gndirea, percepia i
aciunea, felul n care e afectat limbajul (i noua lui posibilitate) este speculativ. Acesta
are o altfel de performativitate. Pe de o parte, i pierde din capacitatea de a fixa
lucrurile, ncurajnd fluiditatea, pe de alt parte, alunecnd ireverenios i incontient,
transgreseaz imanena, oglindete, concentreaz i acceseaz abisuri conceptuale,
nghite spaii de semnificaie imense, iar oblicitatea lui face posibil un anume tip de
afirmaie / existen, fr certitudine i fr subiect. Este o modalitate de a crea spaiu
sau cea n jurul propriei subiectiviti (strategie care m intereseaz) i de a produce
Aurel Ilie performnd telekinezie n Mascarada lui HitGirl. Foto: Adriana Gheorghe, 2012 (pag. 60)
Mascarada, treizeci de minute mai trziu. Foto: Adriana Gheorghe, 2012 (pag. 61)
Viena, 2015 - prima form a duetului imanent cu Alina Popa, un centiped prezictor spectaculos: o
sptmn mai trziu mi rupeam piciorul. Un an mai trziu descopeream, n imagine, retrospectiv,
solo-urile fiecreia din BHB. Foto: Rodrigo Andreolli (pag. 62)
Solo-reenactment al fotografiilor victoriene cu mame invizibile, abstracte, mbraind fiine imobile
cu ochi sticloi sau Prad. Foto: Adriana Gheorghe, 2016 (pag. 63)
Par trist dar aa arat fericirea n adncuri. A vrea s ating din nou realul. Am fost la not i acum
ne rugm. Transcendem, pentru pace (Lilach Livne, Tel Aviv)
Foto: Sveta Sheleg & Robert Zlotnick, 2016. (pag. 64-65)
Black Hyperbox la Akademie Schloss Solitude n cadrul evenimentului Dreaming the End of Dreaming
Curatori: Alina Popa i Florin Fluera. Foto: Adriana Gheorghe, 2015. (pag. 66-67)
68 De la hibriditatea inerent performance-ului la singularitate. S nu m prseti
manifestare, virusnd, n acelai timp, stabilitatea perspectivei individuale. E un soi de
poezie i se cheam filozofie. (Acest fel de a aborda limbajul, aplicat n performance,
face ca experiena s fie singura certitudine etc.)
Ce moduri noi de organizare a cunoaterii, a interaciunilor i a realitii pot aprea de
aici, din nevoia iminent a unei schimbri de paradigm conceptual, care s permit
o astfel de ntlnire ntre oameni, lucruri, limbaj, medii, domenii, concepte, instituii,
situaii? i care se regsete n mic ntr-o gam de experiene specifice receptrii that appears on stage is information (Real Time Composition method plus the Real/
performance-ului. Hibridul cel mai puternic care apare n momente de singularitate
este ntre interior i exterior, cele dou sunt supuse imanenei i formuleaz o nou
specie, dincolo de ruptura minte / corp. Nu chiar ontologie centrat pe obiect, dar,
potenial, o nou form de contiin.
Cadrul de lucru i via Black Hyperbox propunea fix o astfel de platform aerisit
i fluid, un gest ct se poate de politic, n adevratul sens al felului n care arta
acioneaz i devine politic. O spaiotemporalitate n continu formare, n care nu se the technologies of interiority and exteriority, but also trying to surpass the duality
rezista ntotdeauna uor i unde singura condiie era fix disponibilitatea reciproc de
transformare ntre interior i exterior, de mai sus. BHB a alunecat prin medii fizice i
simbolice, de la studiourile Centrului Naional al Dansului Bucureti (care l-a gzduit
aproximativ un an de zile, ratnd nelegerea a ceea ce a gzduit), la spaiile Atelier 35 i for a new consciousness. One that allows for contingent encounters between people,
ODD, Paralel Fabrica de Pensule, Pa-f, parcuri, apartamente etc.
n structura aceasta rizomatic, bazat pe disensus, care propunea cercetarea limitei
performance-ului de black box, i a efectului de hiperintensificare, trecndu-l prin ct
mai multe medii i contexte, fiecare i-a adus interesele specifice. Interesele specifice ale
iniiatorilor, Alina Popa i Florin Fluera, distincte de cadrul conceptual, dei derivat
din acesta, au fost realismul speculativ i studiul contiinei, amndou n relaie cu
testarea performance-ului n black box. Cei doi se camufleaz explicit n concepte
nomade, pe care le arunc nainte, iar arta lor nu este niciodat doar performance-ul x
sau textul y, ci parte din textura acestor constelaii puse n micare de anumite strategii
(strategii acionate de ei i care acioneaz asupra lor deopotriv).
Cu background-uri diferite, majoritatea deja hibrizi, acionnd dincolo de discipline,
suntem o adunare de entiti disparate, cu potenial de a deveni, on and off, o reea
de singulariti. (Alina Popa, Florin Fluera, Andreea David, Ioana Gheorghiu, Larisa
Cruneanu, Ctlina Gubandru, Xandra Popescu, Cristi Nanculescu, Bogdan Blan,
Cosima Opartan, Ion Dumitrescu, Bogdan Drgnescu, Anastasia Jurescu, Alexandra
Ivanciu, Adriana Gheorghe).
n ceea ce m privete, BHB, cu spaii, temporalitate, oameni, situaii i propuneri
artistice, pe ct de pline de consisten, pe att de inconsistente, de folosit precum
doresc (i toate tensiunile generate de aici), a rezonat perfect cu preocuparea mea
pentru strategii de a ine mpreun (i co-exista cu) numeroase contradicii interioare
i de a face posibile ntlniri de o intensitate insuportabil ntre zonele de sensibilitate
stranie, singulariti care traverseaz domenii i planuri.
Persoana (a treia, mai ales, dar nu doar ea) i perspectiva (n continu schimbare) sunt
foarte importante pentru tine pentru a accesa un spaiu uncanny chiar n interiorul
limbajului, ca o linie de fug ntre interior i exterior (stil indirect liber i proiecii
multiple), unde cuvintele, bntuite, ntr-un gest oblic de deplasare continu, nu
mai aparin anumitor persoane ci alimenteaz o entitate nou, un copil, martor la
intimitatea unei iubiri aa de mari nct nu ar trebui s continue s triasc (parafraz
dup J.M. Coetzee). Vorbeti despre preocuprile tale la persoana a doua, faci proiecii,
pui ntrebri i rspunzi prin asocieri cu preocuprile altora, n acelai spirit cu ale tale.
De ce?
Lepecki i dedic cartea, n chip surprinztor, vieii continue, chiar dac n alt
formaiune de materie i spirit a apropiailor i le cere ajutorul, lor i celor vii,
pentru a gsi sensul acestui cuvnt puternic, straniu, nspimnttor de mbucurtor
i crucial singularitate (t.m.).
also affects the spectator, discovering the (newly) proposed code (and the relation
it established with a charged context) became part of spectatorship. Using different
methodologies, contemporary dance classics such as Jerme Bell or Joo Fiadeiro
managed to make the building or deconstruction of a code visible, getting as close as
possible to the mirage of the audience common understanding of the same thing (and
also the possibility for a neutral discourse). The logics they proposed everything
immanent & circumstantial transformation in any hyper relation to a hyper black box.
open process implications) and discourse (critique, meta, stripping the theatre naked
but also while doing it etc.) and belongs to a larger logic turned into conventions.
Performance could not be about something anymore, the performative logic implied
a strong inter-dimensional switch in perception.
Also an inter/(even) trans-dimensional shift but a different one - the new species of
hybrids that come out of mixing hybridity and singularity are the ones feeding from
serious negotiation practice between let me in/never let me go/leap of faith kind
of a problem that is not small, such as the body/mind gap via the philosophy of
immanence (and not only in object-oriented ontology style) but by conceiving of
performance as the immanence of the practice and still formulating the potentiality
because I am bad, and when I am bad, I really am extremely bad. It is like a sance -
things, fields, concepts, institutions, situations etc. and works at the energetic field level
reverberating in how thinking is thought, affecting perception, action and language
and trusts the spatiotemporality of singularity. (And it is the reiteration of the very
experience one could have receiving a performance).
The only possibility for language in this paradigm is speculative, another kind of
performativity, losing the capacity to fix, but, by irreverently devouring enormous
distances in significance while mirroring conceptual abysses, also diagonally making
possible a kind of statement/existence lacking certainty/subject.
Any action in the world that inscribes our subjectivity hides a shadow, an area of
intense indetermination corrosive for language and thinking. A gathering of these
kinds of shadows carrying the subjectivities along might have been from time to time
the work&life platform for performative research called Black Hyperbox, that artists
Alina Popa and Florin Fluera initiated and that went on for the last couple of
years in Bucharest.
A platform for anybody to use as they please (and visual artist and acting-affectionate
Larisa Cruneanu decided to curate it by staging its spirit and, in general, she and
artist-curator Xandra Popescu traversed the BHB with their total curating practice
- accompanying artists in life and work processes for years); a platform based on
dissensus (choreographers Andreea David, Ctlina Gubandru, Cristi Nanculescu
and Bogdan Drgnescu developed a dramatic larger than art borderline on&off
relationship with the black box, as we all did at one point, while for the visual artists
Anastasia Jurescu and Alexandra Ivanciu the black box proved a strange alien object,
quite a refreshing perspective), inviting disparate entities to collaborate (alienating
oneself from the work by mixing ones own material with other perspective or
other material with ones own approach in the company of artists with practices so
beautifully different than my own, like Andreea David or Cristi Nanculescu, is one of
the most intense memories) or to just co-exist (polyphonic undisciplined entity called
Bogdan Blan produces singularity just by showing up); entities sensitive to a shared
environment (agonizing over black box and ones own relating practice to theory
while also consuming or being consumed by the initiators proposal of speculative
philosophy) and traversed by an intense preoccupation (the same agonizing over the
margins of black box - the most agonizing might as well have been Ion Dumitrescu,
choreographer turned musician and interested in theory, that cannot let go but
ties himself willingly and conceptually to the black box by not being present and
announcing it, while being present, with all his black box skills, in the same space
From the Inherent Hybridity of Performance to Singularity. Never Let Me Go
but different temporality, one night later, in the different medium of music concert
performance and project Raze de Soare, together with Cosima Opartan - the more
plausible ending to the BHB presentation at the Center of Dance).
A multitude of undisciplined hybrid entities coming from different backgrounds
each surrounded by an abstract/affective space busy with alienating themselves from
interior/exterior perspectives, often reaching paroxysm and silence, or in which the
subject exercised its ability to withdraw allowing for something else to appear. A very
political gesture - this fluid open system traversing symbolic and physical mediums
(The Center of Dance in Bucharest that hosted it for almost a year and still missed its
understanding, or maybe just got entangled in the disparate co-existence thing, and
also exhibition or process-oriented spaces as Pilot in Cluj or Atelier 35 and ODD
in Bucharest, Pa-f, Akademie Schloss Solitude, apartments, parks etc.) and only held
together by the commitment of its members availability to allow for continuous
The consistencies and inconsistencies of the highly intense and also contingent BHB
resonated with my own research for strategies to hold together (and coexist with)
inner contradictions and to make possible meetings between the immanent areas of
strange sensitivity, or between the singularities that traverse fields and planes.
Maybe this is why, in my latest research with choreographer Susanne Grau (a different
kind of Masquerade), we try and train, body & soul, in an ongoing invisible deadly
of jumps and doubt, suspicion or fear, that lies underneath us meeting or not in the
same performative code or dramatic mode because, when she leaves me with my
melodrama and withdraws in neutral or even in alienating Brechtian mode, it is
one could never know what lingers underneath theatre.
The voice (third person, but not only) and the perspective (moving) are fairly
important for you to access an uncanny space within the very language, as a line
of flight between inside and outside (indirect libre style and multiple projections),
where words, haunted, in Schieles continuous oblique gesture of wistfulness, do
not belong to persons, but feed and breed a new entity, a child loved too much, an
object of such intimacy that it dare not be allowed to live (J. M. Coetzee). You talk
about your research in the second person, you project on what came out of your solo
performance inside the BHB book, you ask questions and answer by association with
others research sharing the same spirit with yours. Why?
Lepecki invokes the ongoing lives even if in another formation of matter of the close
ones dedicating the book to them and to the living ones. All of you, help me find the
sense in that powerful, strange, fiercely joyful and crucial word singularity, he writes.
Aurel Ilie performing telekinesis in HitGirls Masquarade. Photo: Adriana Gheorghe, 2012 (p. 60)
HitGirls Masquarade, 30 minutes later. Photo: Adriana Gheorghe, 2012 (p. 61)
Viena, 2015 - One shape of the immanent duet by Alina Popa and myself, a spectacular singular centipede
inscribing ourselves, predicting me hurting my leg the following week or both our solos inside the BHB the
following year etc.etc. Photo: Rodrigo Andreolli (p. 62)
Solo-reenactment of the Victorian pictures of invisible mothers caressing the abstract child or Spoils
(my solo inside the BHB). Photo: Adriana Gheorghe, 2016 (p. 63)
I look sad but this is my deep happiness. I wanna touch the real again. This body is so small so full of sings.
Transcending, for peace. (test yourself, see how far or how close you are to receiving this)
Photo: Sveta Sheleg & Robert Zlotnick, Tel Aviv, 2016 (pp. 64-65)
Black Hyperbox at Akademie Schloss Solitude within the Dreaming the End of Dreaming event
Curators: Alina Popa and Florin Fluera. Photo: Adriana Gheorghe, 2015 (pp. 66-67)
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