Dissecting Dancing Bodies: Science and Technology as Sites/Sights of Enquiry in “The Autopsy Project”

Presentation at the 7^th European Feminist Research Conference on “Gendered Cultures at the Crossroads of Imagination, Knowledge and Politics”, at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, held from the 4^th of June to the 7^th of June, 2009.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of Wet Bodies and Hard Objects: Tropes of Scientific Knowledge Production in André Gingras’ Choreography “The Autopsy Project”

Panel proposal “Bodies Transformed and Transduced: The Politics and Poetics of Sensation as Embodied Knowledge” for the “Bodies of Knowledge” Multi-Disciplinary Graduate Conference at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Physical Education and Health, held on the 8^th of May, 2009. Paper entitled Of Wet Bodies and Hard Objects: Tropes of Scientific Knowledge Production in André Gingras’ Choreography “The Autopsy Project”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wetware vs. Hardware? Moving Science and Technology through Choreographed Dissections

Panel proposal “Choreographed bodies: movement, technology, and the sensorium” for the “Bodies in Motion” Interdisciplinary Graduate conference at the University of Rhode Island, held on the 28^th of March, 2009. Paper entitled Wetware vs. Hardware? Moving Science and Technology through Choreographed Dissections.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Choreographed Apparitions: Sense(s) and Mediation in Enter Ghost

Paper presentation at Uncanny Media: International conference on the gothic shadows of mediation
Utrecht, the Netherlands, 7-9 August 2008.

Through the medium of Nicole Beutler’s 2006 multimedia performance Enter Ghost this paper engages in a three-fold dissection to gauge how the ephemeral nature of (dance) performance pairs up with technologically advanced light design to evoke ghostly figurations on stage. The first point of dissection cuts deep into the materiality of the dancers’ bodies, analysing the specific choreographic choices made with regard to movement, costumes and repetition. The second stage of this paper decodes the technological medium of light design in this performance which allows for uncanny apparitions and disappearance acts. Lastly, the role of the senses / sense is brought into focus: Enter Ghost questions the hierarchy of the senses and the hegemony of vision by placing significance on smell and sound.
Beutler’s Enter Ghost comprises of a multidisciplinary approach to performance in which dance, theatre, text and installation art are mobilised to conjointly produce meaning. Taking the stage direction ‘Enter Ghost’ from Shakespeare’s Hamlet as the point of departure, the performance asks what would happen if we included ghosts in our perceived material reality by perceiving them as a concrete, material and sociological force. Sight has become the privileged sense for our empirical interpretation of the world. According to the logic of our ‘scientific eye’, that which is not directly or indirectly ‘visible’ does not exist. In Enter Ghost the audience’s perception is constantly manipulated through Minna Tiikkainnen’s advanced lighting scheme and stage design, making the uncanny uncannily present.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Linking and Stitching: Patchworking Collective Knowledge in Hypertext Fiction

Paper presentation at the 17th Archaeology and Theory Symposium of Leiden University, the Netherlands, January 25 and 26, 2008.

The body is not one, though it seems so from up here, from this privileged viewpoint up top.
(Jackson, “Stitch Bitch: the Patchwork Girl” 527)

Through the medium of Shelley Jackson’s 1995 hypertext fiction Patchwork Girl this paper engages in a three-fold dissection to gauge how fragmented embodiedness pairs up with engaged subjectivity to produce collective knowledge. The first point of dissection cuts deep into the materiality of the Patchwork Girl’s body, whereas the second stage of this paper decodes the medium of the hypertext. Lastly, the role of the spectator/reader is brought into focus, as she/he constructs his/her own, subjective, narrative by choosing the navigatory path through the fragments of text and images.

The interplay of texts stemming from various sources and dictions combined with striking images creates a quilt of multiple truths; in this manner, Patchwork Girl expresses a non-hierarchical stance between truth and untruth, as well as fact and fiction. The dichotomy between that which is visible and that which fails to be seen is reflected in the Patchwork Girl’s body, as it is simultaneously a clear-cut site of horror, as well as a fluid, culturally-specific, temporally-specific representation. Her body is horrific as it is composed of other people’s body parts; it is culturally and temporally-specific by its mediation through computer technologies, the use of hypertext and the narrative function of showing the analogy between fragmented text and fragmented body, which is patched together by the reader. Simultaneously, Patchwork Girl appears to incorporate a critique of vision as a primary site of knowledge production, as other senses are brought to the fore as valid sites of knowledge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Response to Jeanette Winterson

On December 12th, 2007, the research group Textual Culture: Borders and Identities of the Research Institute for Culture and History at Utrecht University organised a meeting with British writer Jeanette Winterson. Winterson has created an impressively rich oeuvre. The theme that was chosen for this afternoon meeting was that of rewriting, which focused on Winterson’s recent novels Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles (2005) and The Stone Gods (2007). Winterson wrote: ‘I like to take stories we think we know and record them differently. In the re-telling comes a new emphasis or bias, and the new arrangement of the key elements demands that fresh material be injected into the existing text.’

Chaired by Prof. Rosemarie Buikema (Utrecht University, NL), the meeting featured a short lecture by Dr. Liedeke Plate (Radboud University Nijmegen, NL) on Winterson’s work (‘Mythical Returns: Jeanette Winterson’s Rewriting of Myth’).

Prof. Marlene van Niekerk, herself a writer and since November 2007 holder of the African Chair at Utrecht University, and Annabel van Baren, MA. responded. The next day, Jeanette Winterson gave the Belle van Zuylen lecture 2007 .