Corpo desmanchado: outras configurações emergidas do nexo corpo/matéria

Abstract

The Object of Study that this academic research proposes to interrogate focuses on the factual and conceptual relations that are established between a certain visual-plastic material and the body of a performing subject, observed from the interactions carried out by collectives of artists. It is, therefore, a transdisciplinary research that places in dialogue the areas of Visual Arts and Movement Arts, in intersection with the field of Performance Studies (modalities of artistic actionism, such as Body Art, Situationism, Art Process). The notion of "Dismantled Body" that titles the Thesis should be understood as an allegorical figure by virtue of which the formal and behavioral alterities that arise from the rearrangement of materials, objects and supports of diverse nature are discussed, operating as mediation devices between a corporeal entity and another of a material-objective nature. In this way, distinctions are established regarding the "other configurations" that emerge from such a connective nexus, drawing attention to the categories of analysis that allow critical reflection on the formation(ta)tion of artistic constructs of an unprecedented nature. The epistemic-methodological delimitation used to approach the Object of Study fits in with the current discussions located in the field of Research in Arts (Practice as Research; Research-Action Cycle). The research path follows the strategy of "Performative Writing" (inscription on multiple supports), within which the posting of image records such as photographs, images taken from the computer network, video frames, and hyperlinks play a relevant role. Due to the above, it is expected that the reader of this thesis (space of reception) will actively engage with the multiple access routes that writing makes available. The full body of the text distributes the topics to be problematized in four chapters; namely: the first discusses the aspects related to the body/matter nexus, expressed in the title and subtitle that label the thesis. The second observes the complexities related to artistic practices of a processual nature (formation of a work in transit) from a historical, aesthetic, and biopolitical perspective. The third part focuses on the authorial production of the French visual artist-performer Olivier de Sagazan, sharpening the discussion regarding the procedures of “transfiguration” (Transfigurations Clay), whenever the physiognomy of the artist’s body is altered by the excessive use of clay. The fourth part takes place as a retrospective elaboration of the creative processes implemented for the realization of the project “Lab Corpo Desmanchado” (EBA undergraduates, PPGAV postgraduates, invited artists); in it, the documentary records obtained throughout the investigative path acquire relevance, with emphasis on the photo and video captures obtained by the students, production of film material (Video-Dance), surveys and rounds of conversation, immersive experiences developed in eco-performative spaces (Field Studies).