‘Performance : Thinking on Stage’
2nd and 3rd of May 2014
GradCAM@DIT, Dublin, Ireland

Whilst the field performance studies has grown considerably over the last 30 years, with the turn to performance in contemporary art practice and the development of the performance in theatre studies, it perhaps an opportune moment to take stock. Discipline boundaries, in this case, can be misleading as performance tends of overcome them by its very gesturing in space. It is also important take stock in context where the public gesture seems to have lost its agency in the public sphere. Thinking on stage will be a two-day event where it hoped to challenge the state of play through the presentation of current artistic research in performance, panel discussions and keynote addresses.

Thinking on Stage will explore our current methods of Performance, Performativity and Performing. Its point of departure is the proposition that the performative is a gesture and an action in the world, an utterance that takes place in the context of I and You and Here and Now. It is this grounding in interlocution that gives the performative sense and meaning. This gesturing takes place, therefore, in a public sphere, however provisional, where we might find relief in turning the inside outside, humour in finding something that stops speech — agag, one might say — and other types of masquerade that draw us together in laughter, wonder, and curiosity.
Have we lost gesture to cliché? Does performance show us how we might act otherwise? Does it demonstrate to us other languages and other disciplines? By acquiring different gestures might we also acquire some sense of agency?

Thinking on Stage will provide a platform to highlight and promote artistic research that engages with the publicness of gesture and performance.

Gradcam@DIT can cover travel expenses (up to 200€) and accommodation up to (150€) for 6 students presenting their research in the area of gesture and performance from our partners in EARN. If you wish to present please contact your host institution. Further details on registration will be available soon.

Confirmed speakers are Professor Steven Madoff, (School of Visual Arts New York), Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick (Dean GradCAM, Dublin), Dr. Mick Wilson (Head of Valand Academy of Fine Art, University of Gothenberg. Further details of the programme will be confirmed at a later date.