Towards astroembodied choreostructions : Deviating from choreographing to choreoreading

Abstract

In this article, I introduce the notion of choreostruction, which has emerged during my doctoral research project Choreography as Reading Practice in the Performing Arts Research Centre at the University of the Arts, Helsinki (2013–2019). The term stems from studying the French philosopher Jean Luc Nancy’s notion struction, which he examines in depth in dialogue with the French astrophysicist and philosopher Aurélien Barrau in the book What’s these Worlds Coming to? (2015). In the book, the concept of struction is introduced as one of the concepts that could help us understand how “ we are not living in one world but worlds” , and how we “ no longer create, but appropriate and montage” (quotes from the book cover). I approach the notion and its operative potential by exposing one experimental choreographic work that I am still processing and in which the operative move in my choreographic practice from composition to attention is one important shift that connects my practice to the notion of struction. The term choreostruction is an attempt to materialize the dialogue between my artistic practice and my understanding of Nancy’s notion of struction. Other influencing references of this process come from the writings of philosophers Thomas Nail and Jaana Parviainen and artworks from the history of site-specific art.