Performing Vitalism

April 20th, 2006 Fred McVittie

The activity of theatrical performance (acting, dance, live art etc.) is theorised primarily in terms of anthropology (Schechner, 1976, 1990, 1993) and cultural studies. These approaches are valuable and robust, although they do leave a void at the centre of the practice. What is absent is a comprehensive theorisation of the subjective ontology of the performer herself.

Having said this, there is a considerable body of vernacular knowledge, what might be called ‘folk theories’ of acting and other performative acts, a kind of ‘naive science’ of performance. An analysis of this knowledge, as embedded in the writings of actors, directors, teachers, critics, etc. demonstrates that these folk theories show a high degree of consistency and coherence, comparable to, but more convincing than, the coherence hypothesised by Pat Hayes (1979) regarding ‘naive physics’.

One significant component of this body of knowledge is an apparent shared belief in a power, essence, or life-force, paralleling the Vitalist theories of living systems which dominated human sciences up until the late 19th Century. Similar energy descriptions can also be found in non-Western philosophies and practices, variously referred to as prana, chi, ki, mana, etc. This mythological energy, whilst roundly dismissed in all rational theoretical discourses, is alive and well in the folk theory of performance. This paper will demonstrate the ubiquity of this energy concept in the particular domain of performer training techniques, and will demonstrate that the usage of this concept is part of a coherent, comprehensive, and practical discourse, albeit irrational.

Hayes, P. J. (1979). The Naive Physics Manifesto. Expert Systems in the Microelectronic Age. D. Michie. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

Schechner, R. (1993). The future of ritual: writings on culture and performance. London; New York, Routledge.

Schechner, R. and W. Appel (1990). By means of performance: intercultural studies of theatre and ritual. Cambridge; New York, Cambridge University Press.

Schechner, R. and M. Schuman (1976). Ritual, play, and performance: readings in the social sciences/theatre. New York, Seabury Press.

Posted in Conference Abstract, Energy, Essence, Exercises, Hayes, Pat, Naive Physics, Performance, Schechner, Richard | No Comments »

Categorical Essences

May 3rd, 2006 Fred McVittie

The concept of the essence, whilst rightly dismissed from empirical science, is nevertheless a staple of several other systems of thought including folk or naive sciences, theology, and metaphysics.

The concept of the essence is closely related to that of the category. An essence can be seen as the metaphorical physicalisation of the ‘necessary and sufficient conditions’ which must be met for inclusion of any entity within a specific category. It could be argued that such conditions are routinely met without recourse to essentialism, as for example where the conditions for inclusion in the category of ‘birds’ is the possession of functioning wings. This argument for classical categories has been dismissed however by writers from Wittgenstein to Rosch in favour of a view of categorisation based on the prototype or on ‘family resemblance’ rather than necessary conditions. Despite this critique, the organisation of experience according to the necessary and sufficient conditions required by classical categorisation still obtains, to the extent that it may be an innate human tendency.

A product of this innate tendency to assume that such conditions exist is the formulation of an imaginary set of such conditions which, whilst they may have no literal existence, nevertheless are assumed to exist in some transcendent form. So it becomes possible to identify a bird, with or without functioning wings, as nevertheless belonging to the category birds, because of an essential birdness which is possesses, and which are its defining feature qua bird. This transcendent feature is the categorical essence of the bird, and is shared by all members of the category of birds.

This paper will consider the ontological status of these categorical essences, suggesting that such essences are best read as metaphorical or metanymic.

Posted in Category, Conference Abstract, Essence, Rosch, Eleanor, Wittgenstein, Ludwig | No Comments »

Liquid Essence

May 6th, 2006 Fred McVittie

The human tendency to allocate all experience to classical (non-prototypical) categories results in an essentialism in which the necessary and sufficient conditions for membership in a category are metaphorically (or metanymically) applied to an intangible essences.

An extended property of the urge to categorise is that we also tend to group categories into larger categories whose members possess more general properties, the ultimate category being the category of everything under which all other categories are subsumed, a summum genus which subsumes all other categories. An implication of this is that this ultimate category must itself have an essential condition for its own membership. This condition has been variously named as being, dasein, Tao, etc. However, such an abstract concept as being is outside the grasp of embodied cognition and can only be understood by the application of a metaphor. It will be demonstrated here that the dominant metaphor which is used in the understanding of the ultimate essence is that of the liquid. Thales was right, in its essence, all is water.

Posted in Category, Essence, Liquid | No Comments »

Essence Metaphors

May 29th, 2006 Fred McVittie

Folk theories of categories, combined with the fact that human beings seem to be ‘natural born dualists’ (Bloom) results in the concept of the essence, an intangible defining property which gives an entity its unique identity. Because this concept of an essence is inherently ineffable and abstract (not to mention objectively non-existent) it can only be conceptualised through the application of metaphors sourced from the concrete domain of lived and embodied experience. The dominant metaphors for the ontology and location of the essence are;

  • light
  • liquid
  • void
  • centre
  • interior (of the body)

References to the body often combine these metaphors or their entailments.

Posted in Bloom, Paul, Category, Essence, Metaphor | No Comments »

Soul Revival

June 12th, 2006 Fred McVittie

Evidence for the revival (or continued belief) in the concept of the human essence can be found in changes in the way the condition of gender dysphoria is treated. This is a condition in which an individual’s biological sex is experienced as being different to their psychologically gendered ’self’. Up to 30 years ago this was considered a psychological disorder which it was felt appropriate to treat with psychotherapeutic means in order to bring the wayward brain in line with an ontologically definite, and gender defining, body. Today this approach is regarded as biological determinism, and it is more likely that gender realignment surgery will be employed to bring the body in harmony with a phenomenologically felt gender. This suggests, or at least plays into, the idea that gender is an essential attribute even though there is no test or scientific model which supports this idea.

Posted in Essence, Phenomenology, Soul | No Comments »

Axioms for an Imaginary Science of Performance

June 20th, 2006 Fred McVittie

An analysis of a range of techniques for the training of theatre performers reveals a high level of consistency and coherence in terminology. Although these techniques do not overtly claim to describe a world which differs from that of common sense or rational science, the paradigm and ’science’ of the physical world which is implied through this analysis is distinct in a number of ways. The axioms of an imaginary science of Performance might look something like this:

Space

  • Space is not empty, but consists of an etheric liquid through which objects move and energy is transferred.
  • Space is infinite and extends outward from the body of the performer in all directions.
  • The body of the performer is therefore always at the centre of space.
  • The central position occupied by the performer is also a fulcrum or axis around which the universe (space) is balanced
  • Whilst the space of the universe may move, the centre of the performer is motionless
  • Actions of the performer have an effect on the balance and properties of space.
  • The form of the performer’s body, e.g. its lateral symmetry and horizontal asymmetry, affect the regions of space extended from these areas of the body. The space to the left of the performer is different from the space to the right for example.
  • Part of the skill of optimal performance is the successful management of space.

Energy

  • The performer has access to energy resources which are both physical and psychic.
  • The energy controlled by the performer can affect the consistency and quality of the spatial ether.
  • The energy controlled by the performer can affect objects in space, including other performers or non-performing beings.
  • The energy controlled by the performer can be stored in or emitted from different parts of the performer’s body, or from locations outside of the performer’s body.
  • The quality of the energy used by the performer can be vary in a number of ways; intensity, mood etc.
  • The energy of the performer is a limited resource which can be depleted or replaced.
  • The energy of the performer is part of an energy economy which includes other performers, and the audience.
  • Part of the skill of optimal performance is the successful management of this energy.

Essence

  • The performer has an individual essence, possibly corresponding with a ‘soul’ or ‘purpose’.
  • The essence of the performer is the conduit for energy and the source for the application of will or intention.
  • The essence of the performer is separate from any internal representation they may have of self, body-image, physical image-schema, etc.
  • Part of the skill of optimal performance is the successful management of this essence.

Posted in Essence, Imagination, Metaphor, Performance, Poetics, Science, Theatre, Training | No Comments »

Being Telepresent

January 7th, 2007 Fred McVittie

In order to optimise one’s performance of an activity it is useful to increase the extent to which one is (subjectively) ‘present’, i.e. ‘in the moment’. One strategy for aiding in this process is to re-establish the relationship between self and body such that the automaticity of embodiment is avoided. This involves an initial distancing of oneself from the body through the identification of self with some core, non-corporeal entity such as ‘essence’, ’soul’, ‘core self’ etc, followed by a conscious and whole-hearted re-inhabiting of the body and the senses. Through this process one becomes effectively telepresent in one’s own body. This technique draws upon the intuitive dualism noted by Bloom in ‘Descartes Baby’ in which he notes that the conceptual separation of self and body, however much it may be denied by science and decried by much philosophy, is nevertheless a part of the human condition of consciousness.

Posted in Bloom, Paul, Dualism, Essence, Performance, Presence | No Comments »

Knowledge, Proximity, Imagination

November 6th, 2007 Fred McVittie

‘Imagination is our capacity to organise mental representations (especially percepts, images, and image schemata) into meaningful coherent unities.’ (Johnson. 1987: p.140)

In ‘The Body in the Mind’ Johnson reminds us of the Platonic categorisation of modes of cognition, in which the validity of knowledge is seen to vary according to how one approaches its collection. Most valued is knowledge acquired by intellection (noesis), in which the unchanging ‘essence’ of the knowledge is grasped. At the bottom of the scale of knowing is imagination (eikasia) in which only ‘images, shadows, reflections’ (p.142) are apprehended, not the essential knowledge itself.

This structure of distinction, it can be noted, also arranges knowledge across the spectra of proximity and the senses, locating the essence of knowing close to the body where it can be ‘grasped’, and the less secure knowing offered by the Platonic imagination placed at some remove where only its surface appearance, or even only traces of that appearance such as a shadow, can be apprehended. Interestingly, there is no suggestion within this scheme of the later association of closeness/’feltness’ with subjectivity, or of distance/visibility with objectivity. In our current understanding,as revealed through the metaphors we use, we give a great deal of credence to objective knowledge described in visual terms and located figuratively at a distance in interpersonal space. We correspondingly give less credence to subjective knowledge described in tactile terms and located up close and personal (even though we may intuitively ‘feel’ this subjective knowledge as more ‘real’ than the objective knowledge of intersubjectively validated visual knowing). This modern value distinction between the subjective and the objective does not appear in Plato’s categorisation.

Posted in Essence, History, Imagination, Knowledge, Metaphor, Plato, Proximity, Space, thesis | No Comments »