In the beginning of my quest for a deeper conceptual understanding of the notion of performance space, critical thoughts were often coming up in my mind: do we really need new concepts and notions such as the ones proposed in this study? The further I got, however, and especially when developing my own artistic projects to try out all these concepts and ideas, it became clear that the concept of multi-space surely contributes for me to a better understanding of performance space and opens up many artistic possibilities for my future practice. After having examined a large body of theory on performance space, especially drawing on the exciting theories of Fischer-Lichte, Lehmann, Wilkie, Govan, Nicholson and Normington, and Goebbels, I have come to see that my concept comes to complement and refine these theories. Therefore, the introduction of ‘multi-space’ as analytical and creative tool expands the existing discourse and allows for a deeper analysis of existing performances beside my own. This will not only be useful for my own future practice as performer-researcher, but also for other artists and for those that analyze the creations of artists.
As starting point of this research, the notion of space had been defined as the result of the interactions and overlap of mobile elements around a certain place. I felt the need to coin ‘multi-space’ as a new term to enlarge every aspect of this definition, enhancing awareness of the interactions, the overlaps and the mobile elements within space.
Firstly, by adding the prefix ‘multi’, the interactions between performer, audience and surroundings are highlighted. This triangle together creates the performance space through a process in which all have equal agency as co-players. Secondly, the prefix ‘multi’ underscores the overlap of multiple elements within a space. ‘Multi-space’ makes us see the space of performance as a product of multiple spatial layers overlapping at the same time: as overlap of ‘real’ layers (physical, visual, acoustical, olfactory), ‘constructed’ layers (defined by traditions, norms, socio-political contexts) and imaginative layers (by which we imagine the experience of ‘real’ layers somewhere else). These spatial layers can be activated or created by all co-players, intentionally or unintentionally, and have therefore their own different boundaries. Thirdly, the prefix ‘multi’ highlights the idea of space being constructed by mobile elements: ‘multi-space’ underlines the movement, instability and unfixity present in any performance.
In order to underline how performer, audience and surrounding elements are moving through multi-space, I felt the need to advocate for two verbs that imply a movement through multiple layers: zooming and navigating. By zooming in/out, we can become aware of these multiple spatial layers that are constituting performance space, but we can also discover hidden spatial layers, question spatial boundaries, and investigate our bodily relation with a specific element in multi-space. The act of zooming in/out therefore has a performative role in creating the existence of performance space as multi-space. The verb ‘to navigate’ resembles the act of steering the performance as ship through multiple layers of space, and thereby activating these layers as moving, unstable elements. This active steering agency is not limited to the performer, but anyone can navigate and highlight spatial layers on their explorative journey, intended or unintended: this underscores the co-relation between the performer, the audience, and the surroundings. Through navigation, all participants are invited to explore multi-space, to use imagination and to negotiate, subvert, and test the status-quo.
Through my artistic works Multi-Space, Out There, Eye Power and OVERLAPS, I have discovered that the deeper understandings of multi-space and the exploratory processes of zooming and navigating provide endless artistic possibilities to play with the triangle between performer, audience, and surroundings, while unveiling visible and invisible boundaries and layers both in the performances themselves as well as in the process leading to their realisation.
The concept of multi-space as an analytical and creative tool provides ways to challenge the domination of walls, both by literally asking from the artists to move beyond these walls and to engage performatively with the various spatial contexts at the same time, and by zooming in on details within these various contexts, moving these details to the center of the artist and the audience’s attention. By moving beyond walls, as for instance in performances taking place inside and outside of a concert hall, some spatial layers are expanded. As certain layers expand, boundaries either disappear of become excessively visible, stimulating both the senses and the imagination, desire and explorative agency of performer and audience. This new configuration of the visible invites to listen and watch more carefully, while giving a bigger performative role to the surroundings as co-players.
Second, the notion of multi-space provided ways to challenge the domination of a performer’s body, that usually claims attention and limits the agency of audiences to explore a space in their own way. In all my projects, I discovered through the behavior of the audience that I was disappearing as performer while being present at the same time, by becoming an object and claiming less attention than other elements in space. I also discovered the opposite, that I was becoming more present in the minds of the audience while being absent, by the radiating energy of bodies at risk (both me and the violin) as a strong presence in the minds of the audience. Finding this middle ground between bodies and objects, between present and absent performer, again reinforced imagination, expectation, and desire. It also transformed my projects into a gray zone that not everybody felt comfortable with, confusing people with unstable feelings of not knowing what to expect, what to hold on to. With many performances not having a clear end, the attention and energy flow of the audience was tested, resulting in either frustration or poetic calmness – both a strong sign of giving the audience more agency as co-players.
Last, by giving both the surroundings and the audience more agency as co-players, multi-space provided ways of experiencing the co-presence of all participating elements more consciously. It made me feel the presence of the audience stronger as radiating sponges, made the audience discover my radiating power in contrast to my absence, while elements from the surroundings were claiming their presence too. By equalizing the level of presence of the triangle performer-audience-surroundings, the elements composing the performance are not all under the control of the performer alone. Rather, every participant gets more ‘space’ as co-players in the construction of the performance. In my projects, this created interesting contrasts between intended and unintended actions. It also provided for more time to engage with the surroundings in a calm way: listening to the sounds of nature, exploring the outside world, and even touching spatial elements like the surrounding walls, become central.
As such, the notion of multi-space and the exploratory processes of zooming and navigating can provide exiting tools to create performances in which the curiosity, awareness, movement and agency of the performer, the audience and surrounding elements can more freely unfold. Not only will these tools be useful within the actual performances, but also in artistic preparation processes and in analyzing existing performances.
I have discovered that by approaching space as multi-space, my performances immediately get a site-specific character, independently of whether I am performing in a more traditional concert venue or a field, a harbor or city center, because it literally opens one’s eyes, ears, and other senses to the idiosyncrasies of each single site.
With this discovery, I'm excited to start developing new performances to question our engagement with our surroundings through the notions of multi-space, zooming and navigating. Moreover, I would like to re-preform Multi-Space, Eye Power, Out There and OVERLAPS in different sites, to examine how the surroundings of each place will not only influence the experience of the performances, but also how they will change the explorative agency of performer and audience. Many aspects of the triangle of performer, audience and surroundings require further study, including the attention span of an audience, different ways of inviting an audience to become a co-player, different ways to activate surroundings to become a co-player. Especially important in musical performances is the notion of an instrument becoming a body on its own: in my performances, I tried to test the potential of this notion, but it needs to be investigated more thoroughly in future research.
In fact, coining a new term such as 'multi-space' always requires more study and different performances to sharpen the ideas and potentials implied with the term. I would like to continue my work as performer-researcher in this field, to investigate to what extent our understanding of performance space changes when multi-space is presented as plural ('multi-spaces') or with a clear article ('a multi-space').