One of the most remarkable heterotopic renditions of heterotopia is found in ‘Heterotopia in the Lavatory’, an on-going photo-performance project undertaken by Irene Fernández Ramos. Irene reproduces classical paintings inside airplane toilets. For example, see what she makes of ‘Boy in a Turban Holding a Nosegay‘.
Michiel Sweerts Boy in a Turban Holding a Nosegay (1658-1661)
As mentioned in a recent post, the space of theatre has been explored in a variety of ways through the lens of heterotopia and utopia. I am thankful to Cathy Turner for pointing out how Mike Pearson and Michael Shanks were one of the first to discuss heterotopia in relation to site-specific theatre in their book ‘Theatre/Archaeology: Disciplinary Dialogues’ (2001). Cathy also discusses the term in the conclusion to her recent book ‘Dramaturgy and Architecture: theatre, utopia and the built environment’ (2015).
Pearson, M. and Shanks, M. (2001) Theatre/Archaeology: Disciplinary Dialogues, London: Routledge.
Turner, C. (2015) Dramaturgy and Architecture: Theatre, Utopia and the Built Environment, London, Palgrave Macmillan.
This looks to be an important publication. I flagged up about a year ago but haven’t provided full details.
Tompkins, J. (2014) Theatre’s Heterotopias: Performance and the Cultural Politics of Space, Sydney: Palgrave Macmillan.
“Theatre’s Heterotopias articulates a new methodology for interpreting a space (including architectural, narrative, imaginative, and imaginary) in theatre and performance. A heterotopia is an ‘alternative space’ that is distinguished from that actual world, but that resonates with it. The value in applying heterotopia to theatre is that in performance, we can actually witness how else space and place might be constituted: it is the point of comparison of what does occur against what else might transpire such that the ‘unreal’ spaces that comprise a theatrical experience have the capacity to elicit concrete effects beyond its walls. A heterotopia is a technique for exploring theatrical space that affords a better understanding of the theatrical experience, the context in which performance takes place, and the power and knowledge that shape its socio-political context. The book’s case studies include site-specificity, selected productions from the National Theatre of Scotland and Shakespeare’s Globe, and multimedia performance”.
Forthcoming book by Joanne Tompkins, who teaches Drama at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Theatre’s Heterotopias (Contemporary Performance Interactions) published 5 Nov 2014.
‘Theatre’s Heterotopias articulates a new methodology for interpreting a space (including architectural, narrative, imaginative, and imaginary) in theatre and performance. A heterotopia is an ‘alternative space’ that is distinguished from that actual world, but that resonates with it. The value in applying heterotopia to theatre is that in performance, we can actually witness how else space and place might be constituted: it is the point of comparison of what does occur against what else might transpire such that the ‘unreal’ spaces that comprise a theatrical experience have the capacity to elicit concrete effects beyond its walls. A heterotopia is a technique for exploring theatrical space that affords a better understanding of the theatrical experience, the context in which performance takes place, and the power and knowledge that shape its socio-political context. The book’s case studies include site-specificity, selected productions from the National Theatre of Scotland and Shakespeare’s Globe, and multimedia performance’.
Echo Ho is a contemporary artist born in Beijing who lives and works in Cologne. From her website:
‘Her artistic practice often shows a complex migrational context and conceptual links of culturally diverse materials and artistic discipline. She implies aesthetic strategies of ancient China and translates these into the new globalised media technologies and materials’.
Past exhibitions include:
2006 September to February 2007: Immemorial Heterotopia – installation, Exhibition Totalstadt at ZKM | Museum for Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe Germany.
2005 September: Heterotopia -installation, Beijing Case Ausstellung Informal City, Zero- Space, Beijing China.
‘The Folkwang University of the Arts is the central place for artistic training in music, theatre, dance, design and academic studies. In line with the Folkwang idea of the cross-disciplinary interaction of the arts, a plurality of different art forms and disciplines have been united under one roof here since 1927. Folkwangers from the photography, communication design and industrial design programs have been re-included as of 2007. Today there are Folkwang locations in Essen, Duisburg, Bochum and Dortmund’.
Thanks to Foucault News for alerting us to the work of the theatre group Le collectif F71. The ensemble have been exploring Foucault’s thought since 2004. In November 2005 their first work, 71 Foucault, was performed at the Theatre Studio in Alfortville on the outskirts of Paris. Since then they have produced a series of collaborations, looking particularly at Foucault’s militant period, including La Prison in 2006.
Interestingly, their present project is Notre Corps Utopique which explores the text of the radio talk given by Foucault on France-Culture in 1966. This talk formed a pair with Les Hétérotopies, Foucault’s first account of the spaces of heterotopia.
The texts of the talks are available in a small book:
Foucault, M. (2010) [1966] ‘Les Corp Utopique, Les Hétérotopies’, with introduction by D. Defert. Clamercy: Éditions Lignes.
Thanks to Foucault News for link to a recent performance of ‘Heterotopia’ by the dance ensemble The Forsythe Company. Originally performed in 2006, this performance was in Korea at the Seongnam Arts Center Opera House (April 2013). Lee Sanggil, Professor at Yonsei University provides a fascinating analysis of the work in Space Magazine.
See also:
Franko, M. (2011) ‘Archaeological choreographic practices: Foucault and Forsythe’ History of the Human Sciences. 24 (4) 97-112.
Abstract: Although Michel Foucault never wrote of dance as an example of a bodily discipline in the classical age, he did affect the art of contemporary ballet through his influence on the work of William Forsythe. This article interprets Foucault’s influence on Forsythe up until the early 1990s and also examines how Forsythe’s choreography ‘responded’ to issues of agency, inscription and discipline that characterize Foucault’s thought on corporeality. Ultimately, it asks whether Forsythe’s use of Foucauldian theory leads to a reinterpretation of inscription in Foucault.
