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Rethinking the Political: Art, Work and the Body in the Contemporary Circus

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Rethinking the Political: Art, Work and the Body in the Contemporary Circus Rethinking the Political: Art, Work and the Body in the Contemporary Circus by Lindsay Stephens A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography and Collaborative Program in Women and Gender Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Lindsay Stephens (2012) Rethinking the Political: Art, Work and the Body in the Contemporary Circus Lindsay Stephens Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography and Collaborative Program in Women and Gender Studies University of Toronto 2012 Abstract This dissertation is about the circus, but it is also about how we think through a range of possibilities for individual and social change in the contemporary post- Fordist or neoliberal moment. In the last 40 years geographers, along side other scholars, have documented an increasingly close relationship between social, political, and economic aspects of life in western countries. These shifts have raised concerns over shrinking spaces of resistance and loss of counter hegemonic voices, and increased interest in transgressive or ‘outside’ spaces and bodies as sites of resistance, escape, and social change. Two contested sites that seem to offer promise for resistance, yet are simultaneously critiqued for their participation in dominant discourses, are art (or creative labour) and the body. Despite prolific literatures on these topics in geography in the last decade, links between creative labour, theories of embodiment, and the living practices of cultural workers are still far too rare. To address this I examine the intersection of theories of research, labour, art, discipline, ii embodiment and politics, understood through the daily practices of circus performers doing highly physical and embodied work. I focus in particular on clowns and aerialists, performance forms to which I have outstanding access as a performer in these genres. I addition to extensive participant observation over several years of performance work, my research is based on 26 elite interviews with key performers in the Canadian circus community, and an ephemeral archive of visual and textual materials. The resonance of questions about the nature of social research, art and work, and disciplined and fluid subjectivities, opens up new space for thinking across often-disconnected spheres. I believe the presence of circus performers’ lived experiences and my own embodied knowledge throughout this analysis deepens our understanding of political possibilities across many different spaces. iii Acknowledgements I did not begin my PhD program intending to study the circus. I entered the program intending to study homecare. At the end of my first year I was offered the opportunity to travel to Macedonia with a group of Toronto performers to kick off the first annual Skopje International Busker Festival. The timing of the tour overlapped with an academic conference on embodiment which I had been keenly interested in. It only took a few hours for me to decide which one I was going to do, and I have been dealing with the consequences ever since. A few months after the trip to Macedonia (yes that is the option I chose) I had become so involved in my performance life that managing an entirely separate academic life was no longer feasible, with some resistance and some excitement I changed my research topic to focus on the circus. I have never looked back. The community of performers, producers, teachers, technicians, photographers and fans that make up the circus in Canada have been outstandingly generous to me. They have embraced my work with trust and enthusiasm, and provided me with so many opportunities - creative, financial, educational and emotional. I truly hope I have represented them fairly and adequately - though I know nothing I could write would really unpack the layers of experience, affection, frustration and plain old living that we have shared. Thanks for everything, lets keep building and making fun, outrageous things happen. I also want to thank my supervisor Sue Ruddick who has had outstanding patience throughout this project, holding space for me as I stumbled my way towards this topic in the early years, and then struggled to achieve some helpful distance from it in later ones. My committee members Emily Gilbert, Minelle Mahtani, and Pat Mckeever were always very generous in their reading and feedback, and fostered my skills and confidence in many diverse and essential ways. I also want to offer so many thank my dear friends, you know who you are, who have supported me through so many stages, especially when it seemed like my worlds could not quite fit together. And most importantly I thank my family, my mom and dad and my husband Jeff. All of you have made this possible. My mom with your insightful editing, my dad with your positive spirit, and Jeff who always asks so generously “what can I do to help?” This has been a remarkable and interesting journey, I look forward to the ways it will continue to enrich our lives and hope I can find more and more ways for it to contribute to others lives as well. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................... v List of Figures ................................................................................................... vii Introduction: ....................................................................................................... 1 Why Circus? .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Clowns and Aerialists .................................................................................................................... 16 Overall Patterns ............................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Methods and Embodied Learning ........................................ 21 Triangulation of Traditional and Non Traditional Practices .......................................... 29 Participant Observation ............................................................................................................... 44 Scientist as Artist ............................................................................................................................. 54 Empathy and Intimacy .................................................................................................................. 58 Reflexivity .......................................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 3: The Work that Art Does .......................................................... 74 Art as Structural Oppression: Bourdieu ................................................................................. 83 The Artist as a Beacon of Social Change ................................................................................. 87 Equality Through Art: Rancière ................................................................................................. 89 Workers in the Nerve Centre of Capitalism: Lazzarato .................................................... 95 The Particular Features of the Artist that are Being Mobilized: Virno ....................... 99 The Role of the Artist Today ..................................................................................................... 101 Chapter 4: Art and Work in the Circus ................................................... 106 Why Circus? Why Now? .............................................................................................................. 106 The Precarity and Flexibility of Circus Production in Toronto ................................... 118 A Little More Context… ............................................................................................................... 126 An Enduring Distinction Between Art and Work ............................................................. 136 Art, Aesthetics, and Affect .......................................................................................................... 142 What Work is Art Doing for Performers? ............................................................................ 153 What Work Could the Term ‘Art’ Do? .................................................................................... 167 v Chapter 5: Foucault and Discipline in the Circus ............................... 173 Health, Beauty, Sexuality and Bodily Ideals ........................................................................ 184 Using and Obscuring Race ......................................................................................................... 190 Desirable Aesthetic Movement ................................................................................................ 203 Emotional Discipline .................................................................................................................... 206 The Cultural Project of the Contemporary Aerial Body ................................................. 210 Disciplined Clowns ....................................................................................................................... 215 Emotional
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