Bharati Kapadia/James Martel
(San Francisco)
Bodies, Art, and Protection: Withdrawing Withdrawing from Protection
Mousonturm
- 14.11.2021, 11.30 a.m.Dayticket solidarity pricing system (you choose): € 5 / € 10 / € 20 / € 30, Dialogues from Practice
Bharati Kapadia & James Martel: Unclosing the Body
Dialogues from Practice
“Unclosing the Body” is a dialogue between visual artist Bharati Kapadia and political theorist James Martel over a cup of coffee. Both will be discussing a selected body of Bharati’s work shown digitally, with a view to ‘unclosing’ and opening up the nuances of their bodily presence. Taking the form of a set of queries and responses, the conversation’s topics will include the effect that bodies have on one another simply as a material presence; the way that death in some way enhances a sense of the material presence of bodies, often defying the kinds of projections that we receive as subjects of the state and other forms of interpellation; and how bodies perform a form of sociality independent from our conscious sense of identity. Together with the audience – in an informal and fluid exchange in time, with pauses, gaps, interruptions and other happenstances – both will seek to catch a glimpse of how these works may enter the space of the larger topic under discussion: bodily integrity, and the withdrawal from protection.
Language: English
The day ticket is valid for all events within “Bodies, un-protected” on the day of validity.
Admission is only possible with proof of negative Corona status (tested, vaccinated or recovered). In case of test detection, the negative result of a PCR test must be submitted and the test must not have been performed more than 48 hours ago. General rules of hygiene and physical distancing must be observed. Wearing a medical mouth-nose covering is mandatory everywhere, also when seated. More information on Hygiene and Safety.
Cast & Credits
Kuration: Sandra Noeth
A programme by Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main. Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, Goethe-Institut, Freunde & Förderer des Mousonturms e.V. and Rudolf Augstein Foundation. Supported by Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT). In cooperation with the HTA Lecture Series “(Un)settled. Performance, Protection, and Politics of Insecurity” an event of the Institut für Angewandte Theaterwissenschaft of Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen in cooperation with the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT) and Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, fundeded by the Hessische Theaterakademie.
Biography
Bharati Kapadia
Bharati Kapadia is a visual artist based in Mumbai. Her conceptual and visual concerns have evolved in response to certain key events in her life – particularly the 1992 communal riots in her city when every night was a nightmare. Sticks and sword clashes tore through the air while the police station below her building stood silent and she lay awake feeling utterly trapped and powerless to act. A few months later, she lost a much loved friend in a bomb blast while traveling together in the same train – an event that altered the very fabric of her inner and outer reality – marking the beginning of a shift in the methodology of her art-making process. She began to tear, cut and split various materials – paper, fabric, rope, found material such as drawing pins, newspapers, gunny sacks, etc. – building the surface of her work from fragments and smaller independent works. Although language is a tool she wields well, her works aim to implant understanding directly into the viewer, transcending the limited nature of speech. In due course, one may begin to feel a growing sense of certainty about some things and wonder at the insecurity of others.
Biography
James Martel
James Martel teaches political theory in the department of political science at San Francisco State University. He is the author, most recently, of “Unburied Bodies: Subversive Corpses and the Authority of the Dead” (Amherst College Press, 2018) and “The Misinterpellated Subject” (Duke University Press, 2017). He has a new book coming out next year entitled “Anarchist Prophets: Disappointing Vision and the Power of Collective Sight” (Duke University Press, forthcoming in 2022).
