Abstract
Outdoor arts festivals have been proposed as a means of rehearsing democratic
practices and of placemaking interventions in the space time of contemporary
capitalism. I consider whether they are really able to repurpose civic and
pseudo public space and challenge the production and reproduction of that
space as a colonial and neoliberal territory, or are they merely examples of the
‘pseudo-fˆete’ prolonging such structures by other means?
This chapter uses case studies of two outdoor arts festivals in the United
Kingdom, at which I have performed rhythmanalyses, to explore festivalised
spaces and the extent to which they might empower people. Empowerment
here relates not only to individual agency, autonomy and self-determination
but also to the development of shared, social identity within crowds. The role
of festival management, the arrangement of festival space/times and the
codification of behaviour are of particular relevance to these effects. I use
time-lapse videography to capture data around flows and accretions of audiences,
combined with my embodied presence in the lived space of the festival,
sensing its rhythms and atmospheres.
Using the concept of polyrhythmia to comprehend and unpick complex
durational patterns, I focus on how public spaces are transformed when
animated by performances and how public space can redefine both performance
and audience dynamics. The adaptation and application of rhythmanalysis in
this project has revealed patterns of behaviour and evidenced characteristic
qualities of outdoor arts which were previously ignored or only assumed.
practices and of placemaking interventions in the space time of contemporary
capitalism. I consider whether they are really able to repurpose civic and
pseudo public space and challenge the production and reproduction of that
space as a colonial and neoliberal territory, or are they merely examples of the
‘pseudo-fˆete’ prolonging such structures by other means?
This chapter uses case studies of two outdoor arts festivals in the United
Kingdom, at which I have performed rhythmanalyses, to explore festivalised
spaces and the extent to which they might empower people. Empowerment
here relates not only to individual agency, autonomy and self-determination
but also to the development of shared, social identity within crowds. The role
of festival management, the arrangement of festival space/times and the
codification of behaviour are of particular relevance to these effects. I use
time-lapse videography to capture data around flows and accretions of audiences,
combined with my embodied presence in the lived space of the festival,
sensing its rhythms and atmospheres.
Using the concept of polyrhythmia to comprehend and unpick complex
durational patterns, I focus on how public spaces are transformed when
animated by performances and how public space can redefine both performance
and audience dynamics. The adaptation and application of rhythmanalysis in
this project has revealed patterns of behaviour and evidenced characteristic
qualities of outdoor arts which were previously ignored or only assumed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Rhythmanalysis |
| Subtitle of host publication | Place, Mobility, Disruption and Performance |
| Editors | Dawn Lyon |
| Place of Publication | UK |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing Limited |
| Chapter | 13 |
| Pages | 227-245 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Edition | 1st |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-83909-972-4, 978-1-83909-974-8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-83909-973-1 |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Nov 2021 |
Publication series
| Name | Research in Urban Sociology |
|---|