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Thesis Chapters by Dr Bruno Roubicek
Performing Social Labour, Digging, Dwelling and the City, 2017
This thesis asks how performing the labour of digging can be a social process that engages with t... more This thesis asks how performing the labour of digging can be a social process that engages with the ecologies and economies that define our experience of dwelling in the city. The thesis contributes to understanding in the field of performance practice and theory by developing original performances that experiment with degrees of audience participation and proximity. I ask how my performances of digging respond to the particular regulatory, social and ecological conditions of a public park, the garden of a theatre and Birkbeck’s School of Arts.
Anthropologist Tim Ingold’s understanding of dwelling as a function of human activity through the landscape has framed my analysis of the ecologies of digging and dwelling. Henri Bergson’s concept of duration frames discussions of temporality. Karl Marx and economist John Maynard Keynes provide insight into the economics of digging as wage labour and as a ‘theatre of social labour’. My performances of digging holes to plant flora, digging holes for wildlife ponds and digging to restore a pathway are critiqued and developed with theatre philosopher Antonin Artaud’s ‘theatre of cruelty’ and Jacques Rancière’s ‘emancipated spectator’ in the light of three historical case studies. I ask how and why radical performance group The Living Theatre, performance artist Allan Kaprow and land artist Agnes Denes performed the labour of digging and how they used digging to negotiate the economic and/or ecological conditions of life in the city. The cities of New York and London are an essential part of the global financial system and I examine how localised performances of digging in these cities can enact pharmacological economic strategies of care and the generation of knowledge.
Creative Practice by Dr Bruno Roubicek
How can the story of the Anthropocene, the geological age of humans, be told? Watch the evolution... more How can the story of the Anthropocene, the geological age of humans, be told? Watch the evolution of Bruno Roubicek’s idea, from digging in the sand on Newhaven beach in 1964, to his performance as an Earthworm in Hélas (Alas) by Nicole Genovese at Théâtre de la Tempête, Paris (January-February 2020). With the help of Charles Darwin, lots of earthworms, humus, humility, humour, and designer Sophie Jump, Bruno thinks through the catastrophe of the 6th mass extinction.
Supported by Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre.
length: 16 minutes.
Cover photo: Charlotte Fabre
Tags:
Ecology, Performance, Earthworms, Catastrophe, Digging, Economics, Birkbeck School of Arts, Charles Darwin, Anthropocene, Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre, Bruno Roubicek, Théâtre de la Tempête, Hélas, Iris Borgers, Grow Mayow Community Garden, Sophie Jump.
Here is a three minute video showing some of the 15 events at The Little Ecological Arts Festival... more Here is a three minute video showing some of the 15 events at The Little Ecological Arts Festival, (LEAF), which ran for 4 days in May 2013 on Albion Millennium Green in Forest Hill, Southeast London
Conference Presentations by Dr Bruno Roubicek
This paper is drawn from two chapters of the current draft of my thesis. My research, both practi... more This paper is drawn from two chapters of the current draft of my thesis. My research, both practical and theoretical, examines the ways that the performance of digging earth can negotiate what it means to dwell in the city. I will begin with a brief discussion of the potential of performance outside the theatre building to negotiate the ways we live in the city and also some of the pitfalls it is prone to. Before comparing the contexts and form of two iterations of Agnes Denes's most famous work, Wheatfield, I will explain, with the help of social anthropologist, Tim Ingold, how digging earth resonates as a task that defines our modes of dwelling and how it can be understood as an ecological practice. After analysis of Agnes Denes's Wheatfield -A Confrontation (Lower Manhattan 1982) and Wheatfield by Agnes Denes (Milan 2015), I will touch on their relevance to my own performance experiment, Man Digs Pond and conclude with an analysis of an earlier work by Denes; Rising Pink Clouds (un-realised concept 1972). Throughout, I will be analysing the ways in which performance of the labour of digging earth through time can highlight economic and ecological transactions that define the ways we dwell on land in the city. This paper will end by pointing to following discussions in my thesis regarding the ways in which the performance of digging earth resonates with the current geological age of the Anthropocene.
In this provocation, I’m thinking through my research at Birkbeck into what ecological performanc... more In this provocation, I’m thinking through my research at Birkbeck into what ecological performance might be and I’m connecting it to my performance work with Forced entertainment and companies based in Holland, Germany, France, Austria and Belgium: I’m connecting the ecological thought to the comic beat and the violent overtones of the language we use to describe the rhythms and gestures of comedy.
Papers by Dr Bruno Roubicek
Asian Theatre Journal, 1990
Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Br... more Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Bruno Roubicek Translator's Introduction Gao Xingjian is one of the best known and most controversial playwrights of contemporary Chinese spoken drama (huaju). ...
Asian Theatre Journal, 1990
Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Br... more Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Bruno Roubicek Translator's Introduction Gao Xingjian is one of the best known and most controversial playwrights of contemporary Chinese spoken drama (huaju). ...
Performing Social Labour, Digging, Dwelling and the City, 2017
This thesis asks how performing the labour of digging can be a social process that engages with t... more This thesis asks how performing the labour of digging can be a social process that engages with the ecologies and economies that define our experience of dwelling in the city. The thesis contributes to understanding in the field of performance practice and theory by developing original performances that experiment with degrees of audience participation and proximity. I ask how my performances of digging respond to the particular regulatory, social and ecological conditions of a public park, the garden of a theatre and Birkbeck’s School of Arts.
Anthropologist Tim Ingold’s understanding of dwelling as a function of human activity through the landscape has framed my analysis of the ecologies of digging and dwelling. Henri Bergson’s concept of duration frames discussions of temporality. Karl Marx and economist John Maynard Keynes provide insight into the economics of digging as wage labour and as a ‘theatre of social labour’. My performances of digging holes to plant flora, digging holes for wildlife ponds and digging to restore a pathway are critiqued and developed with theatre philosopher Antonin Artaud’s ‘theatre of cruelty’ and Jacques Rancière’s ‘emancipated spectator’ in the light of three historical case studies. I ask how and why radical performance group The Living Theatre, performance artist Allan Kaprow and land artist Agnes Denes performed the labour of digging and how they used digging to negotiate the economic and/or ecological conditions of life in the city. The cities of New York and London are an essential part of the global financial system and I examine how localised performances of digging in these cities can enact pharmacological economic strategies of care and the generation of knowledge.
How can the story of the Anthropocene, the geological age of humans, be told? Watch the evolution... more How can the story of the Anthropocene, the geological age of humans, be told? Watch the evolution of Bruno Roubicek’s idea, from digging in the sand on Newhaven beach in 1964, to his performance as an Earthworm in Hélas (Alas) by Nicole Genovese at Théâtre de la Tempête, Paris (January-February 2020). With the help of Charles Darwin, lots of earthworms, humus, humility, humour, and designer Sophie Jump, Bruno thinks through the catastrophe of the 6th mass extinction.
Supported by Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre.
length: 16 minutes.
Cover photo: Charlotte Fabre
Tags:
Ecology, Performance, Earthworms, Catastrophe, Digging, Economics, Birkbeck School of Arts, Charles Darwin, Anthropocene, Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre, Bruno Roubicek, Théâtre de la Tempête, Hélas, Iris Borgers, Grow Mayow Community Garden, Sophie Jump.
Here is a three minute video showing some of the 15 events at The Little Ecological Arts Festival... more Here is a three minute video showing some of the 15 events at The Little Ecological Arts Festival, (LEAF), which ran for 4 days in May 2013 on Albion Millennium Green in Forest Hill, Southeast London
This paper is drawn from two chapters of the current draft of my thesis. My research, both practi... more This paper is drawn from two chapters of the current draft of my thesis. My research, both practical and theoretical, examines the ways that the performance of digging earth can negotiate what it means to dwell in the city. I will begin with a brief discussion of the potential of performance outside the theatre building to negotiate the ways we live in the city and also some of the pitfalls it is prone to. Before comparing the contexts and form of two iterations of Agnes Denes's most famous work, Wheatfield, I will explain, with the help of social anthropologist, Tim Ingold, how digging earth resonates as a task that defines our modes of dwelling and how it can be understood as an ecological practice. After analysis of Agnes Denes's Wheatfield -A Confrontation (Lower Manhattan 1982) and Wheatfield by Agnes Denes (Milan 2015), I will touch on their relevance to my own performance experiment, Man Digs Pond and conclude with an analysis of an earlier work by Denes; Rising Pink Clouds (un-realised concept 1972). Throughout, I will be analysing the ways in which performance of the labour of digging earth through time can highlight economic and ecological transactions that define the ways we dwell on land in the city. This paper will end by pointing to following discussions in my thesis regarding the ways in which the performance of digging earth resonates with the current geological age of the Anthropocene.
In this provocation, I’m thinking through my research at Birkbeck into what ecological performanc... more In this provocation, I’m thinking through my research at Birkbeck into what ecological performance might be and I’m connecting it to my performance work with Forced entertainment and companies based in Holland, Germany, France, Austria and Belgium: I’m connecting the ecological thought to the comic beat and the violent overtones of the language we use to describe the rhythms and gestures of comedy.
Asian Theatre Journal, 1990
Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Br... more Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Bruno Roubicek Translator's Introduction Gao Xingjian is one of the best known and most controversial playwrights of contemporary Chinese spoken drama (huaju). ...
Asian Theatre Journal, 1990
Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Br... more Page 1. Wild Man: A Contemporary Chinese Spoken Drama Gao Xingjian Translated and annotated by Bruno Roubicek Translator's Introduction Gao Xingjian is one of the best known and most controversial playwrights of contemporary Chinese spoken drama (huaju). ...