If the theme of the performance art is “lines of flight” (a concept drawn from Deleuze and Guattari), the work would explore escape, transformation, deterritorialization, and the breaking free from fixed systems—whether social, psychological, or physical. It would embody a movement toward new possibilities, a rupture from the normative, and the creation of alternative spaces of existence. Below are some conceptual ideas for such a performance:
1. Breaking Out of Boundaries
• Concept: The artist begins in a confined space (a cage, a grid, or a box) and gradually dismantles, disrupts, or escapes it.
• Execution: Over hours or days, the artist might physically destroy the barriers, creatively work around them, or simply refuse to conform to the space’s restrictions (e.g., climbing on top of it instead of walking through it).
• Purpose: To symbolize breaking free from restrictive systems—whether they are societal, institutional, or internalized.
2. Mapping Invisible Escapes
• Concept: The artist creates a physical map of their imagined or real “lines of flight,” drawing connections between places, people, or ideas that enable escape or transformation.
• Execution: The map could be drawn live in a public space, with audience members contributing their own “lines of flight” by adding their experiences or ideas of escape.
• Purpose: To visualize the collective and personal processes of deterritorialization, turning escape into a shared, dynamic process.
3. Movement as Escape
• Concept: The artist moves continuously through a space, refusing to settle, pause, or follow prescribed pathways.
• Execution: This could involve erratic or fluid choreography, weaving through the audience, climbing over furniture, or moving unpredictably through urban or natural landscapes.
• Purpose: To embody the unpredictability and creativity of “lines of flight,” where escape is not linear but dynamic and improvisational.
4. Fragmentation and Assemblage
• Concept: The artist deconstructs an object, space, or idea in front of the audience, breaking it into fragments and then reassembling it into a new form.
• Execution: This might involve tearing apart a large tapestry, smashing ceramics, or deconstructing a piece of furniture, then creatively transforming it into something unrecognizable but functional.
• Purpose: To illustrate the process of deterritorialization (fragmentation) and reterritorialization (creation of something new).
5. Dissolving the Self
• Concept: The artist begins with a clear identity, symbolized by specific clothing, gestures, or language, and gradually removes or transforms these markers over the course of the performance.
• Execution: This could involve shedding layers of clothing, erasing text written on their body, or speaking in increasingly abstracted or fragmented ways.
• Purpose: To explore the dissolution of fixed identities and the emergence of new ways of being.
6. Pursuing the Unreachable
• Concept: The artist performs a futile or impossible task, symbolizing the relentless pursuit of escape or transformation.
• Execution: This might include running on a treadmill that speeds up, reaching for an object that moves away when approached, or climbing an endless spiral staircase.
• Purpose: To highlight the tension between the desire for escape and the obstacles or contradictions that make it elusive.
7. Lines of Flight in Collaboration
• Concept: The artist invites the audience to participate in creating “lines of flight,” emphasizing the collective nature of escape and transformation.
• Execution: Participants could create physical lines (e.g., painting on a wall, tying strings to different objects), or symbolic lines (e.g., sharing personal stories of breaking free from systems).
• Purpose: To demonstrate that escape is not a solitary act but a shared process of redefining spaces and identities.
8. The Fugitive Gesture
• Concept: The artist performs subtle, fleeting gestures that disrupt the environment, challenging the audience to notice and interpret these moments of escape.
• Execution: This might include sudden movements in a still environment, small acts of rebellion (e.g., turning chairs upside down), or whispered phrases that encourage hidden acts of resistance.
• Purpose: To emphasize the imperceptible and often unnoticed nature of “lines of flight” in everyday life.
9. Deterritorializing Space
• Concept: The artist physically and symbolically transforms a familiar space, turning it into something unrecognizable or strange.
• Execution: For example, rearranging furniture in a public square to create labyrinthine pathways, or wrapping everyday objects in unconventional materials like plastic or fabric.
• Purpose: To question the boundaries of space and suggest how even the most rigid environments can be reimagined.
10. Vanishing Acts
• Concept: The artist gradually disappears from the performance, leaving behind only traces of their presence.
• Execution: They might start in a visible position, but through movement, shadow, or concealment, they fade into the background, leaving their tools, objects, or marks in their wake.
• Purpose: To symbolize the ultimate “line of flight”—the erasure of presence and the creation of something new through absence.
11. Becoming-Animal
• Concept: Inspired by Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of “becoming-animal,” the artist embodies the movements, sounds, and behaviors of animals to break free from human norms and constructs.
• Execution: The artist could crawl, howl, or mimic the flight of birds, progressively abandoning human language and posture.
• Purpose: To explore escape not as a destination but as a process of becoming something other than what one is.
12. Temporal Lines of Flight
• Concept: The artist disrupts conventional perceptions of time, creating moments that seem to speed up, slow down, or loop.
• Execution: This might involve performing the same action repeatedly but at varying speeds, or juxtaposing fast, chaotic movements with long periods of stillness.
• Purpose: To challenge the audience’s sense of linear progression and evoke the fluidity of escape across time.
Conclusion
A performance art piece centered on “lines of flight” would embrace themes of escape, transformation, and the dismantling of rigid systems, emphasizing creativity, fluidity, and the unpredictable nature of breaking free. Whether through physical movement, collaboration, or symbolic disruption, the performance would seek to embody the spirit of deterritorialization, inviting participants and audiences to imagine new ways of being, seeing, and existing.
