Repository | Book

This book provides an interpretative analysis of the notion of spirituality through the lens of contemporary performance and posthuman theories. The book examines five performance/artworks: The Artist is Present (2010) by Marina Abramović; The Deer Shelter Skyscape(2007) by James Turrell; CAT (1998) by Ansuman Biswas; Journey to the Lower World by Marcus Coates (2004); and the work with pollen by Wolfgang Laib. Through the analysis of these works the notion of spirituality is grounded in materiality and embodiment allowing the conceptual juxtaposition of spirit and matter tointroduce the paradoxical as the guiding thread of the narrative of the book. Here, the human is interrogated and negotiated with/within a plurality of other living organisms, intangible existences and micro and macrocosmic ecologies. Silence, meditation, shamanic journeys, reciprocal gazing, restraint, and contemplation are analyzed as technologies used to manipulate perception and adventure into the multilayered condition of matter.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-89758-5

Full citation:

Introduction

Battista Silvia

1-27

Reciprocating the gaze of others

Battista Silvia

29-67

The quaker meditative room and the performing eye

Battista Silvia

69-97

Vipassana meditation as an introspective theatre

Battista Silvia

99-137

When the spirits are socially engaged

Battista Silvia

139-167

The ecological implications of spiritual gestures

Battista Silvia

169-187

Concluding thoughts

Battista Silvia

189-200