Performing The Archive

Catalog description

Performing the Archive examines the relationship between performance and the archive in two distinct ways: first by considering how the archive itself engages in performance, and second, through constructing performances upon, with and through the archive. In both cases, the course draws heavily on international case studies pertaining to the archive and performance, tracing the development of global artists who have used the archive in their work. The course opens with an interdisciplinary discussion of theories of performance and the archive, before moving directly into selected archival sites to stage performance-based research experiments. Students will visit and access local archives in New Orleans, while also working with international digital archives (selected in relation to students' global performance research topics). The course concludes with group performances that mobilize an archival collection. In the process, students will develop a critical understanding of the archive as a site of creative research and develop models for future artistic production.