IN SEARCH of the NUMINOUS: PERFORMATIVE APPARATUSES of EXPERIMENTATION with TECHNOLOGIES of the SELF Silvia Battista Submitted F
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IN SEARCH OF THE NUMINOUS: PERFORMATIVE APPARATUSES OF EXPERIMENTATION WITH TECHNOLOGIES OF THE SELF Silvia Battista Submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy (Theatre and Performance Studies) Department of Drama and Theatre Royal Holloway University of London Egham, Surrey 1 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I Silvia Battista hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______Silvia Battista________________ Date: _____07-05-2014___________________ 2 ABSTRACT In general terms, this thesis contributes to the on-going debate about the relationship between the religious and the secular in contemporary performance. Specifically it uses the notion of the numinous and its theoretical developments in culture to interpret western, contemporary performance art events characterized by the employment of introspective, meditative, ecstatic, contemplative practices as performance actions. Building on Rudolf Otto’s notion of the ‘numinous experience’ and Michel Foucault’s concept of ‘technologies of the self’, I focus on the performance apparatuses and technologies employed in two case studies: CAT (1988) by Ansuman Biswas and The Artist is Present (2010) by Marina Abramovic. The methodological approach of this thesis is rooted in post-modern developments of hermeneutics that, viewing interpretation as the on-going project of knowledge, proceeds through interpretative hypothesis. In terms of methods of analysis I focus on the three elements of space, presence and action investigated through the following material: visual, video and written documentation; auto-ethnographic methods of engagement with the technologies of the self employed by the two artists; existing critical material; and a multidisciplinary set of theoretical perspectives from performance, theatre, religious, philosophical and scientific studies. The hypothesis proposed is that, departing from the assumption that concepts such as the numinous, the ‘unknown’, the ineffable, the metaphysical and the supernatural depend on ontological relativism; their boundaries are potentially movable and performative. The objective is, therefore, to look at certain performance practices as laboratories of experimentation and interpretations of these boundaries and investigate how, in each specific case the ‘other’ is categorized, constructed and experienced. The notion of the numinous is interpreted by looking at the specificity of the events explored, their performative and theatrical dynamics in relation to a variety of cultural and historical contexts. Ultimately the numinous emerges in embodied perception and is contextualized within the paradoxical. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 9 2. The concept of the numinous .................................................................................. 16 3. CAT, The Artist is Present and the notion of the numinous: rationale.................... 17 4. Contribution and scope of this thesis ...................................................................... 19 5. Hypothesis proposed ............................................................................................... 21 6. Methodology employed........................................................................................... 23 7. The questions and the objectives............................................................................. 26 8. Brief definitions of the main terms employed......................................................... 27 8.1. Performance studies and the notion of performativity.................................................. 28 8.2. Technologies of the self................................................................................................ 34 8.3. The self in post-industrial societies .............................................................................. 36 8.4. Theatrical apparatuses of experimentation ................................................................... 40 9. Descriptions of chapters .......................................................................................... 46 10. Conclusion 48 CHAPTER 1: Theoretical Implications of the Notion of the Numinous in Performance Studies and Art: an Overview of some of its Developments 1.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 51 1.2. Rudolf Otto’s conception of the term numinous and the main points of his argument............................................................................................................... 52 1.3. A description of other disciplinary approaches and developments...................... 56 1.3.1. The numinous object.................................................................................................. 57 1.3.2. How to approach the numinous object ...................................................................... 60 1.3.3. The numinous experience and introspective knowledge ........................................... 63 1.4. Conclusion............................................................................................................ 71 CHAPTER 2: Methodology 2.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 75 2.2. Hermeneutics: historical and contemporary developments.................................. 76 2.3. Introducing radical hermeneutics ......................................................................... 80 2.4. Hermeneutics, the performative act and the numinous experience...................... 84 2.5. The relationship between the researcher and the subject of research................... 91 2.6. How to proceed: methods and practices............................................................... 96 2.7. Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 102 CHAPTER 3: Case Study A: CAT by Ansuman Biswas 3.1. Introduction: context .......................................................................................... 104 3.2. The artist’s contextualization ............................................................................. 110 3.3. Space .................................................................................................................. 114 3.3.1. A brief introduction to the South London Gallery.................................................. 115 3.3.2. An exploration of the relation between the black box and the gallery space ......... 116 3.3.3. An interpretation of the same categories from the perspective of religious studies120 3.3.4. An interpretation of the same categories from the perspective of the philosophy of science of Karen Barad....................................................................................... 125 3.4. Presence.............................................................................................................. 134 3.4.1. Seeing and feeling in relation to presence ............................................................... 136 3.4.2. The black box as a sculptural and symbolic presence ............................................. 138 3.4.3. Philosophical implications of an invisible performer.............................................. 143 4 3.5. Action ................................................................................................................. 150 3.5.1. Vipassana meditation............................................................................................... 153 3.5.2. First instruction: close the eyes and remain alert..................................................... 156 3.5.3. Second Instruction: focus on the breathing with particular attention on the air passing through the nostrils and touching the upper lip ....................................................... 159 3.5.4. Third instruction: apply the same attention to the whole body................................ 160 3.5.5. Fourth instruction: apply equanimous observation.................................................. 165 3.6. Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 172 CHAPTER 4: Case Study B: The Artist is Present by Marina Abramovic 4.1. Introduction: context .......................................................................................... 177 4.2. The artist’s contextualization ............................................................................. 185 4.3. Space .................................................................................................................. 190 4.3.1. The Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium of the Museum of Modern Art in New York............................................................................................................. 191 4.3.2. Abramovic’s creative process in choosing the atrium ............................................. 193 4.3.3. How Abramovic demarcated the performance space .............................................. 197 4.3.4. How Abramovic differentiated the performance space ........................................... 200 4.3.5. How Abramovic protected the performance space.................................................. 203 4.4. Presence.............................................................................................................