CARVALHO, Isabel — “Berlin, July 2013”, in plateau singers merge language together / os cantores de planaltos fundem linguagens, Broken Dimanche Press, Berlin, 2013, pp. 117-124.
Portuguese
other texts
| Berlin, July 2013 Among the ashes of destruction, in an endless fog, it is not possible to fully realize who the opponent is in the riots that arise everywhere, nor even find a single clear direction to follow. Is this the time when not only the old patterns of revolt, but also the means of understanding and action fail? Is this the time when, filling the void left by the ideological chaos, a community spontaneously constitutes itself, a community in which subjectivities abandon themselves to a collective ecstasy that somehow replaces the former numbness? Is this the time when, in the already formed community – without a project or a given alternative, or even a ruling desire capable of replacing another power – each one finds his/her place as a common mortal, a finite being? Is there a need for it, to forget oneself in order to “live together” in excess, a blindness translated into uncontrollable, violent, random movements? Finally, does this temporary community, with its indivisible unity, resemble an original community, a union of all beings? Then, there comes the time when the community separates itself and distances are established among its members. At that time, anxiety to express/communicate the experienced union settles in in each member of the community, in his/her own subjectivity. Each subjectivity will try to close the gap (space) which separates itself from other subjectivities through a product-work (resulting from the need of expression/communication); and by creating that distance, each subjectivity will believe to be closer and part of the community once more. In doing so, subjectivity “gives an account of itself” – it takes responsibility for its expression –, at a level which is always ethically required and ethically relevant. In a way, subjectivity has no choice but to express/communicate in order to exist, to establish dynamic relationships so that there may be hope of coming close to the community – for this is done from and to the community. Communication is then a space for dialogue between subjectivities, allowing for the recognition not only of subjectivity’s own difference (procedural differentiation), but also of its difference regarding other subjectivities. Ideally, it’s not a space of assimilation (of merging or solace for solitude – a short space), but one of mutual contention, thus extending the existential space. This space is no more than a void that the product-work tries to fill, a space for criticism, which causes and increases the difference, the inequality, the asymmetry. The community shows its heterogeneity. And it presents itself as such. [This is the case, for example, of the community formed by the protesters in the streets, or even the community of lovers or friends, who, when separated, dedicate themselves to fill in the gaps by communicating] This reflection comes from a work plan precisely designed to approach the space occupied by the expression of subjectivity (which is always in transition), a subjectivity that reflects on itself in order to answer the need to “give an account of itself”. This is a plan that has been developed over the years and has now found an opportunity for clarification. As the space left by the distance from community is simultaneously the same essential space to go back to, Nathalie Sarraute’s book, “Tropisms”, was selected as the first reading. Redefining a concept from science and philosophy, “Tropisms” somehow reflects on the occupation of that space. The movements that take place inside the house are described in this book, although they are, in fact, the movements of the body (in its complexity) oscillating between inner and outer relations. These movements – fleeting, intense, decisive and determined – can be found on the edge of consciousness and are nothing but common or banal. The attention given to movement is closer to a set of politics of space, evident in the experience of space as a succession of gestures (performances, choreographies). The description is not centered on the spaces themselves or the objects they contain. These (spaces and objects) only stand out through their action on themselves and on who inhabits or interacts with them. What is most relevant, therefore, is neither objectual/spatial physicality (an outer space) nor the characters’ defined personalities (a defined inner space), but what happens – their actions/reactions, taking into consideration their inner and outer features. In “Tropisms”, the author “gives an account of herself” through her writing or expression, favoring the mental space, which widens itself. In a way, the description of the movements echoes the movements of her thinking, and the writing is no more than a reflection on the act of writing – choosing from her experience the geographical lines that seem more relevant. Thus, through her product-work (the book) she promotes her own distance, while enabling her possible reader(s) – those other subjectivities she addresses, who read and reenact the experiences – to come closer. In a short interview (Paris Review, The Art of Fiction No. 115), Nathalie Sarraute reveals herself in her work process. In this document, the writer refers to the absence of a (personal, already formed) universe to explore, as well as to the constant existential void she is destined to. That void is increasingly filled up with the close observation of the flow from where her subjectivity emerges, ordering sensations and turning them into writing. Without being attached to identity (or to its fixity) or even to a style, she remains faithful to a structure that involves precisely the loss of both, reacting against the repetition of products and subjectivities as consumer goods. Without fear of being constantly renewed, of letting herself be renewed. The two texts by Nathalie Sarraute, “Tropisms” and the interview, acted as a stimulus to the development of the work plan. This plan resulted from the attention given to movements, from which a metaphor was taken: the air element and the wind, in its dynamics, as a propelling agent of those movements. The air/wind relation, in turn, was seen as a metaphor for subjectivity’s expression or communication, deriving from a simple observation: the circulation of oxygen between inspiration and expiration – in the ventilation/transaction between inner and outer space – which is as vital as the very expression of each subjectivity. On the other hand, the air/wind pair provides opportunities for both chance and order (or the annulment of that same chance). Giving oneself to chance, and even promoting it, is essential for subjectivity to open up to the community. In other words, when subjectivity gives “an account of itself”, it does so (or seeks to do it) by positioning itself outside its limits. In its expression/communication, it will give an order (to chance) by finding a (communicative) way to do it, thus resuming the experience of being together. Given that the work is being developed in the center of Europe, in Berlin, and since the (cultural) geography of the one who creates/writes is situated on the edge of Europe and closer to the African continent, a trip to northern Africa was undertaken. The idea was to go out, geographically speaking, from one continent to another, finding a way to establish a dialogue. It was a matter of continent, of being a continent, of containing – as a body and by exposing it to a new/different transgressive experience. The precise destination of the trip to North Africa was not previously defined and, due to a random computer search, Essaouira, a town with a strong historical connection to Portugal, was selected. This random choice was accepted as an experiment that could allow for the opening up of subjectivity to the “other”. The result of the trip was the transformation of the crossing of the continent and the recognition of differences by comparison. In the constant attempt to find unexpected associations and reveal new relations, something which naturally arose, the ventilation towers (typical of Arab architecture and one of the purposes of the trip) became also a metaphor for the body as a ventilated space – subjected to changes, to guidelines received by stimuli which are difficult to identify and justify. Because it is always a body, in its wholeness, that gathers experience and expresses it; thus, the insistence on the body. Looking at the images used by the Arab Sufi poets, the body is like a flute through which divinity is expressed – or, according to a secular perspective, through which the world/universe is updated. A mystical sense that pervades cultures is here revisited: subjectivity empties itself, it somehow leaves itself to chance, it lets itself be filled (received), which is no more than a sign of its inconsistency, of its growing process. And yet it is not about passively letting oneself be, but an active mysticism, like that found in a Sufi poem: it is not enough to welcome the wind; you must change its direction. Welcoming chance makes it necessary. As the trip was a “tropism”, a new direction that was taken, it was felt the need to use (and think) the term “tropes” at the level of the expression – through a set of metaphors and metonymies. During the trip, some materials were collected and later used – the specific pigments of the region, such as Tyrian purple (the imperial color) and ocher, which comprise the colors of the Atlantic Ocean and the desert – mixed with clays. These are remnants of the journey, of “becoming” geography, of nomadic experience, establishing relations with geography and turning it into food for thought. After coming back and testing the materials, makeup products were also used, specifically skin color (tan shades) powder foundation on paper, to bring together drawing media and the skin as a surface through which a body breathes, transferring through the pores, an inner and outer flow. With this material, abstract “landscapes” or abstract schemas of choreographies were made. They refer to multiple movements, not yet ordered, hasty, as if they were the movements of excessive subjectivities – evoking the aforementioned community. The use of these materials also refers to the appropriation of new technologies (inherent in its production) which, however, are not taken as such in everyday life. These technologies are still foreign to visual arts, but they are here to promote the dialogue between contemporaneity and painting and drawing traditions. However, the core of the work plan was the writing of short texts, short and intense sentences, associated by a game with simple rules, allowing for the occurrence of spatial randomness. Chance became absolutely necessary. The construction of the text, all of its process was an experience of geographical intensities suggested through writing, and that is what is offered here. The theme that permeates the texts is precisely that of the movement in space at different scales and distances. The lines (sentences) are like those drawn for route guidance in an imaginary map, in which you go from one place to another to reach a brief ethical conclusion (synthesis). This conclusion is open-ended and offers the possibility of reflection and reactivation of other multiple senses by those who see/read it. These lines try to encompass (and give an account of) everything, but they go only as far as possible. The sentences were followed by images – in a complementary relationship – taken from the cylinder (towers) of the wind chimes (“espanta-espíritos”), played by the wind. As if a spirit or a new destination were about to emerge in every sentence. The idea was to offer a synthesis of the understanding of the universe through this metonymic object, as each gesture, in action, in motion, changes the whole. Hoping that nothing moves, that everything freezes for an instant and is replaced by its opposite. Thus, the goal was to find in the visual and verbal complementarity of languages the best form of expression of subjectivity in its complexity, also believing that this would be the best way to return to the community. By using the common ability (or need) to express itself, subjectivity always does so because it is summoned for that purpose, even though it may not be captured or it may fail to communicate, that is, the expression may reveal itself inadequate regarding the expression/communication that is expected. It is not, therefore, recognized and intersected by others, and so it is unable to establish a bridge with the community. Because communication is a set of dynamic developing relationships, the space that should, in fact, be filled by movements is somehow occupied with what is more immediate (fully recognized, static). The current system lives on the illusion that it is possible to (re)invent subjectivities and their desires, according to market and capital. Nevertheless, it does not recognize expression as valid (not only expression in itself, but also its content), thus excluding subjectivities. Subjectivities, in turn, find it difficult to express themselves because they are unable to communicate with the other (the community) – which is crucial for their development and differentiation. To be able to express oneself – and finding the means of validating the chosen mode of expression – is a program/project of both resistance and survival. The importance given to expression/verbal communication is what ensures the reunion with the community. This expression, with its laws, its normativity, has the power to provide subjectivities with existence, even if this is just an expression among many others, choosing certain subjectivities from a set of many possible ones, thus determining the possibility (or impossibility) of its own development. But because it is dominant, that same expression can be used or transformed into an open channel for both integration and escape (hence for protest). When used to go against its own laws, verbal expression is a way of opposing the normalization of subjectivities and, therefore, of articulating subjectivity’s exception. What was intended in the development of the work plan, focused on the subjectivity that reflects on itself, was to tackle the impossibility of fully “giving an account of oneself”. Going back to Nathalie Sarraute’s interview, the writer mentions Jean-Paul Sartre’s advice to write a preface to “Tropisms”, telling her that if she persisted with the style she had chosen for “Tropisms” it would eventually mean sacrificing her own life. To write a preface as distance, as extension (but also as a coming closer) shows the inadequacy of verbal expression when someone chooses a new style of writing that would not be recognized as such. Thus, whether the product-work occurs within a single expression or within a complementarity of expressions/languages, all products are always echoes of creation – that is, re-creations, movements – which open themselves, becoming spaces of reunion. The expression that should communicate will always fall short of subjectivity’s complexity. And yet, it is insufficiency (the lack of something) that propels movement. Like the wind, it is an engine of perpetuation – of tropisms that happen everywhere. It is precisely this lack – our own condition – that makes us community. |
2013