"Making and Thinking: Performance and Philosophy as Participation," University of Wales, Aberystwyth, January 31, 2009.

Performance Studies has long since drawn on philosophy as one set of discourses and concepts amongst others, that might be put to work in the analysis of the performing arts or of other social practices approached as performance. But what is involved in this 'putting to work'? Is it merely a question of applying philosophy to examples of performance, or might there be a new way to conceive of the relation between philosophy and performance­ where performance is understood to raise philosophical questions of its own kind? Is performance a kind of thinking in itself? Is performance a challenge to thought? And what does it mean to participate in (the thought of) performance? There are precedents for such ideas in Film Studies, in which authors suchas Daniel Frampton and John Mullarkey have argued that film does indeed think, but that there is still work to be done to articulate the nature of this specifically filmic thought. Equally, participation is a focus of interest in contemporary discourses on aesthetics (relational and dialogical aesthetics) as well as being a mantra in public art policy. However, the notion of participation is often left vague and undefined, and there is also a tendency to assume that theatre and performance are somehow ontologically equipped to allow participation to take place. In light of this we might want to ask: what is participation? How is it thought and produced in theatre and performance? To question the relationship between performance and philosophy is not simply about demonstrating how a performance might illustrate existing philosophical discourse (eg. this is a 'Derridean performance,' whereas thatis a 'Deleuzian performance'). Rather, it involves an interrogation of the modes of thinking that performance itself engenders, and as such, how performance and our participation in/with it might impact upon how we define 'thought.' The PSi Performance & Philosophy working group would like to invite all interested scholars and artists to submit presentation proposals for thisf orthcoming symposium. You are invited to address any issues you understand to be related to the theme of 'performance and philosophy as participation.' You may want to propose the nature of the kind of thinking and participation that performance suggests, or indeed to question the very idea that performance does a specific kind of thinking or suggests a specific kind of participation. Or whether it is desirable, or indeed possible, to produce participation. All forms of presentation are welcome and all applicants are welcome. You do not need to be an existing member either of PSi or of the working group in order to apply. The deadline for proposals is 8 December 2008. Proposals should be sent to the Chair of the Performance & Philosophyworking group, Laura Cull (lkc202@ex.ac.uk) and the Directors of CTPP, Dr Karoline Gritzner (kgg@aber.ac.uk) and Professor Adrian Kear (ack@aber.ac.uk). The PSi Performance & Philosophy working group was founded in 2007 to encourage debate and collaboration between PSi members who have in common their engagement in philosophy as it intersects with performance studies. If you have any questions regarding the working group or this symposium, please email Laura Cull at the above address.