Tuesday 26 May 2009

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings...

Just wanted to flag up the notion that just because the symposium is over, it doesn't mean that the discussion has to end here.
I'd be interested in furthering and continuing our discussions as I feel there was alot of ground that we didn't cover. Also, listening again to my own conversation and the ensuing discussion I felt there was alot of emphasis in the end on process and technical issues and less about the critical content of the work at its relationship to the theoretical concerns of my project especially in relation to the role of documentation, given the historical context. I think the discussion could be opened up alot more for all of us.

I came across an article today which I'd forgotten about which might have been a better text to have discussed, given our collective concerns. It's a piece by Philip Auslander and it's called 'The Performativity of Performance Documentation'. It nicely takes up the Phelan and Jones texts and points toward the performativity of documentation itself as 'the act of documenting an event as a performance is what constitutes it as such.'

Anyway the text appears in Performance Art Journal 84 (2006), pp 1-10. You can also access it if you have an Athens account on

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/performing_arts_journal/v028/28.3auslander.html

It's definitely worth a read. I'm looking forward to ensuing conversations. Meanwhile, don't forget I'm performing (running and then singing) tomorrow (Wednesday 27th) back at BAC with the Running Ensemble which forms part of Amy Feneck's project 'You'll never Walk Alone.' Love to see you there if you can make it.

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