Abstract

‘Remember that the mirror of truth 
was shattered in the beginning into 
tiny fragments, and yet each bit reflects 
a spark of genuine light.’ 

Salvador Espriu, The Story of Sther, 1989 
Translation: Philip Polack 

The present proposal aims to analyze the performance Corporeal Cartographies of Vulnerability, (a long lasting durational piece: 10 hours) carried out on March 6th at the Museum La Casa de la Paraula (Spain). This performance pretended to explore the positive re-significance of the concept of vulnerability,  in line with the precepts of Judith Butler. Thus, giving rise to a need to establish alliances, to  encourage collective action, association, and also to the agency. 

This piece explored through different channels or ways the collective involvement and at the same  time, the collaboration, in a local lens, but also internationally. This was possible because of the  one-by-one in-person meetings at the museum, and through social media, which allowed it to result  in a surprisingly positive. 

Over the course of a week, messages were received through social media, emails... People who  wanted to be part of the artwork were sharing personal experiences related to discrimination or  inequality in terms of gender, sexual orientation, religion, social status, disability, body composition,  among others, with the artist. 

The aim of the piece was to give voice to these inequalities lived individually and in silence, using  my body to talk about it, like a loudspeaker. In doing so, a political act took place, an act that  strengthens the bonds between the community and is interwoven with this new gaze at  vulnerability. 

My artistic-political act was intended to offer my body as political support, where everyone could  intervene to turn it into an alliance. 

Through this corporeal cartography of vulnerability, I wanted to expose that despite and the  differences between all individuals, what makes us stay together as a group, is in fact, what makes us  feel vulnerable at the same time. 

The lecture proposal takes a look at the relevance of the audience, and how, in the case of this  performance, despite in a pandemic era, the development of the collaborative gesture took place,  receive the involvement of the audience, as well as highlighting the relevance of social media to  facilitate this transmission. 

We will focus on analyzing the relevance and weight of the collective and the collaborative gesture  in this performance, located in a year of mental fatigue in the face of the covid-19 situation we are  living in. With limitations that push us all to rethink many things and many ways to do. 

Some questions that will be raised during the exhibition: 

What happens in the case of performance when we lose full freedom of presence? How can we keep creating? How do you weave the meaning of the piece with the audience in the current times? How to appropriate new technologies to perform?