OBJECTS AS PERFORMERS

OBJECTS AS PERFORMERS

SHIFT

OBJECT AS PROP

→

OBJECT AS AGENT.

CONNECTIONS

• Tadeusz Kantor;
• Joseph Beuys;
• Clément Layes;
• installation art;
• object phenomenology.

QUESTIONS

What happens when the performer does not dominate the object?

How can weight, resistance, fragility, texture, temperature or instability determine action?

Can matter possess agency?

Can dramaturgy emerge from negotiation between human and non-human materials?

PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCE

The object may alter:

• timing;
• balance;
• movement vocabulary;
• spatial routes;
• attention;
• risk;
• audience perception.

CROSS-LINK

Connect where useful to MYSTICAL FEMINISM → more-than-human agency, but do not force the connection.

LIMIT

Agency here is an analytical term for material resistance and participation. It does not require treating objects as human subjects.