CC BY
20
DOI 10.23947/2414-1143-2022-31-3-19-22 UDC 316.4-141
PERFORMANCE AS AN EVERYDAY STORY © Narine L. Wiegel, Liliya T. Zaseeva
Rostov State Medical University, Rostov-on-Don; Gorsky State Agrarian University, Vladikavkaz, Russian Federation science-almanac@mail.ru
Visuality in modern culture is defined as a form of representation of the world and reality, as a basic form of the existence of culture. The visual image informs, educates, entertains, emotionally satisfies a person, manipulates his behaviour and actions. In the modern world, a visual image is already a means of interacting with the viewer, rather than just its contemplation. There is a philosophical transition that stems from the commitment of those who claim to be engaged in philosophy in a performative way, the main characters of "Performance Philosophy". Internally, this transition is often characterized in the context of embodied experiences or affective meaning. Since the affective meaning of one thought depends on the specific diversity of individual emotions, strictly speaking, there is neither a single method nor a universal concept that allows us to "find out" how we could connect our thoughts with emotions in order to adequately formulate them in the rhizomatic network of individuals.
Key words: modern culture, visuality, visual image, Performance Philosophy, transcultural thinking, universalization of show-culture.
[Н.Л. Вигель, Л.Т. Засеева Перформанс как повседневная история]
Визуальность в современной культуре определяется как форма репрезентации мира и реальности, как базовая форма существования культуры. Зрительный образ информирует, образовывает, развлекает, эмоционально насыщает человека, манипулирует его поведением и действиями. В современном мире зрительный образ - это уже некое средство взаимодействия со зрителем, нежели просто его созерцание. Явствует философский переход, который проистекает из приверженности тех, кто утверждает, что занимается философией перформативным способом, главных героев «Философии перформанса». Внутренне этот переход часто характеризуется в контексте воплощенных переживаний или аффективного значения. Поскольку аффективное значение одной мысли зависит от специфического разнообразия индивидуальных эмоций, строго говоря нет ни единого метода, ни универсального понятия, позволяющего нам «узнать», как мы могли бы связать наши мысли с эмоциями, чтобы адекватно сформулировать их в ризоматической сети индивидов.
Ключевые слова: современная культура, визуальность, зрительный образ, Философия перформанса, транскультурное мышление, универсализация шоу-культуры.
Narine L. Wiegel - Ph.D. (Advanced Doctorate) in Philosophy, Professor, Rostov State Medical University, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation.
Liliya T. Zaseeva - Ph.D. in Philosophy, Associate Professor, Gorsky State Agrarian University, Vladikavkaz, the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russian Federation.
Вигель Нарине Липаритовна - доктор философских наук, профессор, Ростовский государственный медицинский университет, г. Ростов-на-Дону, Российская Федерация.
Засеева Лилия Таймуразовна - кандидат философских наук, доцент, Горский государственный аграрный университет, г. Владикавказ, Российская Федерация.
"All the world's a stage." William Shakespeare
In the context of trends in the development of modern society, visual culture should be considered as an integral part of the environment of any person's life in society. A person is forced to exist in a vast field of visuality, perceiving visual images in the process of his
professional and daily life both consciously and unconsciously. In the context of modern reality, the increasingly accelerating pace of development, scientific progress, as well as sociocultural practices and processes, we can observe the rapid pace of emergence and strengthening of visual practices due to visual communications, the emergence of many visual codes, modes of vision, techniques and practices. In the process of perceiving information, it is no longer a text symbol that comes to the fore, but a visual image. Worldview becomes "visual," and visual culture, as a result, acts as a kind of phenomenon that affects socio-cultural development both in general and in individual areas. These processes are due to the state of the intellectual and artistic space of culture and society. The need to study the phenomenon of visual culture is becoming today the basic principle of the existence of culture of everyday life and sociocultural space as a whole. As Henry Jenkins notes, the processes of globalization led to the need for cross-cultural contacts, which formed the need for relevant forms of information exchange, and visual information turned out to be the most convenient form of reporting the meaning with minimizing information losses and speed of perception, processing and feedback. In turn, I. A. Malkovskaya notes that the availability of types and objects of information has sharply increased; Internet communications change ideas about space and time; the universalization of show-culture unfolded, giving rise to new ideas about leisure, free time, self-realization, self-presentation; mixing cultures creates transcultural thinking, etc. In the context of social anthropology, it must be indicated that visuality is defined as a form of representation of the world and reality, as a basic form of the existence of modern culture. The visual image informs, forms, entertains, emotionally satisfies a person, manipulates his behaviour and actions. In the modern world, visual image is already a kind of means of interaction with the viewer, rather than just its contemplation.
Let's dance or the thinking in a circle
The 1st circle: Currently, there is a spirit of optimism among the protagonists of "Performance Philosophy" movement. It is widely known that there are various approaches to understanding philosophy as an activity. Such a variety of conceptual approaches cannot be reduced to a single understanding or a single definition. However, as long as the field of performance philosophy is still in its infancy, the formulation of definitions is untimely. Based on ontological or even phenomenological considerations, "diversity" is de facto accepted as an intrinsic value. According to Adorno's words, it is the non-identical and its power that are the source of movement and its spirit. Instead of re-discussing the institutional boundaries between disciplines in art and science, artists and philosophers are trying to create something new in an initially interdisciplinary way. Thus, "Performance Philosophy" can be seen as a special kind of research based on art.
This creative focus allows us to consider each conceptual attempt as a simple activity among other heterogeneous activities according to understanding philosophy: to gather together, talk to each other, discuss, enjoy, listen, observe, endure, feel significant, these are just some of them that are integral performative aspects of the vivid style of philosophy. That is, conceptual thinking is an activity in itself, but no longer considered as the only meaningful-creative activity in philosophy. Under these conditions, the idea of philosophy changes in both practical and performative terms. There is a philosophical transition that stems from the commitment of those who claim to be engaged in philosophy in a performative way, the main characters of "Performance Philosophy".
The 2nd circle: Internally, this transition is often characterized in the context of embodied experiences or affective meaning. Within the framework of this article, the performative attitude towards reality is considered. Moreover, some minds may develop an individual ability to recall their philosophical thoughts and beliefs at any given moment to match them physically and emotionally with the situation they actually faced. One can thus be prepared for a serious and holistic study of what might be called the "Emptiness," the
"Real," or simply the "All-encompassing presence of immanence." The individual ability and performative attitude of a person are understood as an alternative to the nonperformative way of philosophizing (that is, thinking about reality only occasionally during silence and contemplation).
Such an alternative possibility, which we might describe as "the ability to recall one's own thoughts and philosophical beliefs almost every time you want, and in almost every situation you might come up against," seems to be a promise that is both trivial and complex. This seems trivial to the extent that a person is encouraged to perceive the world of daily life in a conscious way. In addition, then a person can be aware of his emotions in a given situation and more consciously share the emotions of his contemporaries, those emotions that people are usually used to extinguishing in everyday life. Last but not least, these sensations can provoke new thoughts. Therefore, a person must learn to simultaneously associate his personal emotions, when they arise, with thoughts caused in him or generated by the situation itself. Thus, "empirical territories" where and when thought occurs can be determined based on individual emotions within the embodied mind. Therefore, the intellectual basis of thinking and attitudes toward what might be called "Emptiness" change as individual emotions become less inconstant.
The 3rd circle: Since the affective meaning of one thought depends on the specific diversity of individual emotions, strictly speaking, there is neither a single method nor a universal concept that allows us to "learn" how we would be able to connect our thoughts with emotions in order to adequately formulate them in the rooted network of individuals. Moreover, we are talking about the availability of the necessary skills and abilities, one might say, of philosophical and performative competence, which can be acquired only internally and self-motivated. However, there must be a more or less adequate methodological way of ordering external things in such a way that they can help the internal development of the competence in question. This arrangement could be called a performative setting out of stage. In order to explain this idea in more detail, first of all it is useful to look at the status quo of philosophy in a performative way.
Philosophy faces performing under titles such as "Philosophy on Stage" or "Philosophy of Soundcheck," and these are only some of them. Philosophical thinking is thus set in motion, and celebrated to some extent on stage, as a multimedia event, which is of interest insofar as philosophy-in-motion is becoming or at least seems to be more "intelligible" and thereby more understandable. Embodied in the movement on stage through actors, dancers, artists and even thinkers, philosophy crosses the institutional boundaries of universities or institutions. Philosophy, in its corporeal form, so to speak, approaches people to serve them as a link, initiating a lively mental exchange and ultimately promoting a sense of mutual appreciation and intimacy. Thus, the previously called "philosophy of eternity" is indulged in temporality.
From a phenomenological as well as dialectical point of view, performance philosophy can be described paradoxically: for a short time of the continuing presentation, philosophy turns into a unique event that seems unique to those who participate in it [1, 2]. Precious moments, when philosophy is instantly embodied and materialized in a certain place, on a certain day, on a certain stage, no longer demonstrate vanity or transience. They bless actors and participants through self-denial, even at the same moment of ongoing actualization, the innocent happiness of being part of a unique and unrepeatable event. This happiness to participate in such moments and be part of a unique and unrepeatable event is experienced not only as an ephemeral gift. In addition, the experience of uniqueness and instantaneous infinity is retrospectively attributed to what appeared to both actors and viewers in such a form as philosophy. But now these precious moments and their (simple) presence have irrevocably disappeared. Once again, it's about the eternal return of everyday life to both academic life and theatrical performance.
From a historical point of view, this kind of philosophical transition can be described as an attempt to rediscover the performative aspects of the work of philosophy, which were buried alive in times of enmity, when philosophers became isolated among themselves. Remembering the dramatic composition of Plato's dialogues and the constant complexity of their arguments in individual problems, habits and other circumstances of everyday life, it can be said that philosophical performances not only try to illustrate philosophical thoughts and concepts, but also connect them with sequences closely related to life. Thus, performances contribute to the public acceptance of philosophical studies until their seriousness is at stake or deeply undermined. They may even promote a public perception of philosophy as a practice worthy of human existence.
Nevertheless, despite all these advantages, there remains doubt about the very idea of setting philosophy within the boundaries of a stage or a specially designed event. Reality differs from fiction in that it has the ability to seriously escalate. Traditional mise-en-scenes and acts do not have this capacity, as they can only escalate in a real sense when reality suddenly or even necessarily falls on them. What does it mean? The first case when reality comes suddenly in the event of an emergency is the worst case and fortunately happens quite rarely. The second case is predictable, since it happens regularly and again at the end of the show, when the audience applauds, the last audience member leaves the stage and the light goes out. This means that reality returns again itself, like the inevitable suspension of the initial pause temporarily achieved by the stage performance.
Thus, the philosophy on stage is comparable to a self-sufficient universe, even if the boundaries between the stage and the auditorium may fluctuate over the course of the performance. It comes to reality itself either at the end of the show or as a result of unforeseen events that push the boundaries of what usually seems to be expected. Both the sudden and necessary entrance of reality upon the stage makes situations existentially difficult for both actors and audience members.
References
1. Bohler Arno. "Staging Philosophy: Toward a Performance of Immanent Expression." In Encounters in Performance Philosophy, edited by Laura Cull and Alice Lagaay. Basingstoke UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 2014. pp.171-196.
2. Klein Julian. "The Other Side of the Frame. Artistic Experience as Felt Framing: Fundamental Principles of an Artistic Theory of Relativity." In Habitus in Habitat II -Other Sides of Cognition, edited by Sabine Flach and Jan Soffner, Bern: Verlag Peter Lang. 2010. pp. 121-137.
14 July, 2022
