Question Begging (2019)
Six computers are mounted to tripods and arranged in a circle. Each computer displays a different conversational prompt. For a performer to enter the conversation they must walk towards the prompt they desire and speak accordingly. Off to the side one master computer contains a discourse map that any performer or audience member can use to control which sets of prompts are displayed. These discursive sets are drawn from conversational grammars (for example: questioning, para-linguistic modifiers) and conversation practices (for example: psychoanalysis, Circling, Philosophy for Children). As interlocutors our language is limited and constrained by the discursive model. Sometimes this control is unbearable. Other times we find ourselves saying something radically other, an invigorating rupture from our habituated responses. In either case, our agency as interlocutor is muddied by the power of language, and the ever-present implicit rules of discourse lie before us, ready for our play.
Performances:
Concordia University. Le Parc Research Lab: Embodied Interventions (05/2019)
Six computers are mounted to tripods and arranged in a circle. Each computer displays a different conversational prompt. For a performer to enter the conversation they must walk towards the prompt they desire and speak accordingly. Off to the side one master computer contains a discourse map that any performer or audience member can use to control which sets of prompts are displayed. These discursive sets are drawn from conversational grammars (for example: questioning, para-linguistic modifiers) and conversation practices (for example: psychoanalysis, Circling, Philosophy for Children). As interlocutors our language is limited and constrained by the discursive model. Sometimes this control is unbearable. Other times we find ourselves saying something radically other, an invigorating rupture from our habituated responses. In either case, our agency as interlocutor is muddied by the power of language, and the ever-present implicit rules of discourse lie before us, ready for our play.
Performances:
Concordia University. Le Parc Research Lab: Embodied Interventions (05/2019)
