Laboratory of Performance

* Laboratory of Performance * Ecology of the Body *

Laboratory of Performance

The Performance Lab focuses on the broad field of performance art, with an emphasis on intermedial aspects, fluid processes of thought and creation. A key aspect is the live interaction through movement, gesture and spoken word that takes place in space and time. The creation of performative works is based on a dialogue between different artistic media and forms, which allows working not only with the human factor, but also integrating the different media available.

A performative approach to art is another way to understand the world we live in, to communicate in it, to reflect on it and to engage with it. At its core is the ability to probe and reflect the diversity of human experience, which makes it a tool that enables us to understand the world around us. The importance lies in understanding the different aspects of human existence in diverse situations and their interactions with the environment, which is constantly shaped and transmitted through media and technology, while the human body may not be the only determinant.

The Performance Lab aims to provide students with the opportunity to explore and create in the field of performance art within the visual arts, as well as to critically reflect on its relationship to other media, not only visual ones, such as theater, dance, music, film and sport. It also opens up a space for understanding the power of performativity in everyday life through a variety of forms – from storytelling to daily rituals to activism through social games and demonstrations.

For more information or interest in studying in the lab, please contact Maja Štefančíková.

Maja Štefančíková is a visual artist and focuses on creating temporary performative situations, primarily through movement and voice. For years, she has been captivated by exploring the body in space and time, creating performances that blend contemplation with playfulness. She conceives events as long-lasting actions with a fixed choreography that is often modified by external interactions.
 

Ecology of the Body

*You can watch the videos in the repository

Ecology of the Body is a method of performative practice based on thinking through the body. It is grounded in the belief that knowledge is created not only intellectually, but also through movement, sensory experience, touch, attention and presence. Here, the body is not merely an object of study, but a means of exploring and understanding the world.

The method always understands the body in relation – to other bodies, space, technologies and the more-than-human world. Movement is therefore not merely a form of expression or representation, but an action through which relationships emerge and change.

Ecology of the Body connects three areas: performativity, empathy and ecologies of coexistence. It draws on specific principles observed in relationships between bodies and their environments – for example symbiosis, adaptation, seduction or interdependence. Rather than imitating or representing these principles, it translates them into embodied tasks. It explores what happens when a particular principle is transferred into the human body, between a group of bodies, or into their relationship with the environment.

The question, therefore, is not how to depict a particular phenomenon, but what kinds of relationships, reactions and forms of behaviour emerge when its underlying principle is transferred into an embodied situation. Knowledge arises directly through this experience and its reflection.

Who the framework is intended for

The framework is intended for students, teachers and practitioners in the arts who work with the body, movement and performance. It can be used in teaching, group work and individual artistic research.