Who or what carries, develops and transmits
knowledge when it comes to performance and socially engaged art? An institution? An archive? A body? A collective body? A
teacher? A website? A hard-drive? A box? ARCHIVES IN PRACTICE investigates methods for how to better
include intersubjective and embodied knowledge inside archival practice. The research is especially devoted to socially engaged
performance art whose participatory and often delicate practice is difficult to document. The methods of performative archiving
will be based on two case studies in collaboration with
APL - Angewandte Performance Laboratory
and
Raw Matters.
Rather than a well organised storage we
imagine the archive as a vibrant memory field. A place where
concentrates (Konzentrate) of practice can be planted
and where we activate and also continue the traces and artistic thinking of our peers. The idea of a
concentrate
has its roots in the three main researchers transdisciplinary and continuously developing performative archival practices;
such as the
Scenario
Method – whereby past events can be artistically examined and recreated (Performatorium) and
Living
Documents – where performing in a loop is explored as a live documentation format (Ruth & Grünbühel).
Through a concluding dialogue with archivists the methods of
concentrates as a performative archiving practice
will be evaluated and its compatibility with traditional archival logics will be tested. The long term aim is to support horizontal
and sustainable transmission of knowledge developed within performative practice and explore how institutions and art educations,
such as the University of Applied Arts can better include social and embodied knowledge in its ongoing programming and curriculum.
Keywords: Performance, Archive, Performative archival practice, Socially Engaged Art
Photo
credit: ©Performatorium 2021
