Situated agencies : mediating places through the body

This book is structured as a compilation thesis which includes the different materials that came out of the performance laboratories carried out at specific places in Gothenburg and Rio de Janeiro such as articles, video-essays, questionnaires, laboratory reports, and film. Divided into six chapters, it provides an epistemological and methodological overview of the concepts and approaches that were relevant for exploring site-oriented performance documentation and screen practice.
In chapter 1, the focus lies on the selection and sort of “excavation” process of a place, especially by using the concepts of hidden narratives and performative moments as artistic strategies. This is expanded in chapter 2, where the field of site-specific performance is introduced, especially by looking at how the notion of site-specificity can be approached through different forms of agency. In chapter 3, the history of performance documentation is highlighted by, on the one hand, examining how documentation has been contributing to mediate and/or translate a performance work and on the other, by exploring how the camera work can (re)inscribe the body both in a specific place and in the recorded material. This is elucidated further in chapter 4, where the main research methods – mapping, sensing, and recording – of the performance laboratory work are described. In chapter 5, a practical insight into the design process of the screen work I am the Camera, is given, which emerged from Lab #3 at Götaplatsen. Based on the engagement with the Hasselblad memorial, this screen work explores the human relationship with the camera through the co-presence of three characters – influencer, documentary filmmaker and clown – and their technological devices. A matter which is elucidated further in the closing chapter 6, which is devoted to the editing process of I am the Camera, as well as to the idea of using montage as a way of (re)writing and/or (re)imagining the space of the image.
Throughout and in-between the chapters, follow the publications produced for different journals and/or contexts during the PhD research. While these publications offer an insight into the performance laboratories and how they connect with other artistic research projects (e.g., “Territórios Sensíveis” in Brazil), they also reflect the research trajectory from site-specific practice to screen performance research.

About the author:
Nathalie S. Fari is a German-Brazilian performance artist, researcher and lecturer dealing with questions of documentation, mediation and translation of site-oriented performance practices. Since 1997, she has been presenting her work in collaboration with other artists and/or researchers across Europe and Brazil at various contexts such as art-exhibitions, performance-art, performing-arts and film festivals, artist-in-residencies, architecture, design and fashion events. Additionally, she has been since 2010 developing educational programs with the focus on the concept of Body Mapping and on issues around site-specific performance and documentation.