The Life and Death of Objects and Puppets: Immanence, Intervention, Presence and Absence

一些物体，包括木偶，拥有一种内在的能量。在表演的上下文中，这可以与人类在场一起工作，也可以与人类在场相反。拟制的项目是对物体/木偶动态的调查，当动画时，它被赋予了生命的幻觉。我将首先尝试移除人为干预/物体/木偶的动画，只关注短暂的动画，即通过自然力量（例如，在风中吹动的袋子）产生的物体/木偶的动画。人类存在的缺失，以及自我的缺失，是否允许存在的客体自主？它是否因为动画的随机“自由”性质而显得更有活力？第二阶段的研究将探索木偶的过去生活的想法，通过工作与现有的一套潘趣和朱迪的数字，属于已故的潘趣教授乔·比比。这将形成传统与当代实践之间关系的案例研究，特别关注潘趣角色的女权主义视角。当木偶有这样一段令人回味的历史时，他们过去的生活将如何影响一个新的表演作品的创作？乔·比比的生活和工作将为我提供一个背景、历史和人物形象，让我开始参与乔的缺席，并在潘趣这个角色中发现我自己的存在。第三阶段将关注公众的包容和排斥，以及观众在物体/木偶中创造生活幻觉的同谋，特别是与“仪式”木偶戏有关。这将涉及个人仪式的“私人”世界，涉及万物有灵论，以及与环境和其中的物体的根深蒂固的关系，以暗示生活——而不是表演的公共世界和观众对木偶/物体表演的干预。最后，我将着眼于死去的物体/木偶的对抗，重点关注通过展出的物体/木偶的档案概念。木偶的创作者去世后，它们是否应该被重新使用？在博物馆的背景下，死气沉沉的、死去的人物静态地悬挂着，与重建的表演有什么不同？表演的记忆是否萦绕在脑海中，为无生命的生命注入记忆的痕迹？将在整个项目中征求学术专家和同行的反馈意见，然后在最后阶段通过出版物和国际会议发言进行评价和传播。

Some objects, including puppets, possess an inherent energy. Within the context of performance this can work with and against human presence. The proposed project is an investigation into the dynamics of the object/puppet which, when animated, is given the illusion of life.I shall start by attempting to remove the human intervention/animation of the object/puppet to look solely at ephemeral animation, meaning animation of the object/puppet via natural forces (for example, a bag blowing in the wind). Does the absence of human presence, and therefore ego, allow the object autonomy of presence? Does it appear more alive because of the random 'free' nature of its animation?The second stage of research will explore the idea of the past life of puppets through work with an existing set of Punch and Judy figures that belonged to the late Punch Professor Joe Beeby. This will form a case study of the relationship between tradition and contemporary practice, with particular focus on a feminist perspective of the character of Punch. When puppets have such an evocative history, how will their past life influence the creation of a new performance piece? The life and work of Joe Beeby will provide me with a context, history and persona from which to begin to engage with Joe's absence and a discovery of my own presence within the character of Punch. The third stage will focus on public inclusion and exclusion, and the complicity of the audience in creating the illusion of life in the object/puppet, especially in relation to 'ritual' puppetry. This will engage with the 'private' world of personal ritual which touches on animism and a deep-rooted relationship with environment and objects within it to suggest life--as opposed to the public world of performance and the intervention of the audience in puppet/object performance.Finally, I will look at the confrontation of the dead object/puppet, focusing on the concept of the archive via the exhibited object/puppet. Should puppets be re-used after their creators are gone? How do lifeless, dead figures hanging static within the context of a museum display honour memory differently than reconstructed performance? Does the memory of performance linger in the mind to imbue the lifeless with a trace of life drawn from memory? Feedback from academic specialists and peers will be sought throughout the project, which will then culminate in a final stage of evaluation and dissemination through publications and international conference presentations.