Walsh, A orcid.org/0000-0003-1501-8804 (2020) Manifesting desire and anarchy as method: The problem of Inside Pussy Riot. Punk & Post Punk. ISSN 2044-1983
Abstract
My aim is to consider how anarchy reads and resists punitive regimes in performance, particularly in ‘immersive performance’. Punk troupe Pussy Riot forms a starting point, via Riot Days in 2017–18, with a sustained consideration on Inside Pussy Riot at the Saatchi Gallery in 2017, produced by Les Enfants Terrible. I concentrate on claims for authenticity that seem to lend theatre and performance legitimacy in relation to social change, to critique theatrical work with claims to producing agency, legitimizing hope for social transformation that is predicated on an ‘empowered’ spectator-participant. In the wake of these concerns, questions that bleed through this material relate to the limits of participation in performance and how and whether representations serve to dismantle state institutions. I consider whether the force of replications of cells, yards or gulags enables or disintegrates any activist, anarchist potential in performance. I take a wide-ranging view of anarchism beyond political theory to consider anarchism modelled in performance terms. Building from the example of Pussy Riot, the article defines performance critique through desire and anarchism, ‘manifesting desire’ or ‘anarchy as method’.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: | |
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Walsh, 2020. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Punk & Post Punk, https://doi.org/10.1386/punk_00034_1 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > Performance and Cultural Industries (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 28 May 2020 11:57 |
Last Modified: | 21 May 2021 00:38 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Intellect |
Identification Number: | 10.1386/punk_00034_1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:161128 |