Body, Philosophy, Art

MASKA
vol. XXVI, No. 137–138 (spring 2011)

The new volume of the magazine emerges with a new editorial board and redesigned visualisation, as well as somewhat extended field of interest which could be summarised as inter- and transdisciplinary thought of the intersections of contemporary art practices, philosophy, society, culture, science and technologies.
In my view, the contemporary performing practises are anything but confined in their respective fields or even medium. On the contrary, they not only constantly reach beyond edges but this is exactly what they are all about – to incessantly re-address and redefine these verges. Always anew – to borrow the vocabulary of the Modernist discourse. Today, the positions of art change, transpose, abandon well-tracked – more or less traditional (more or less Modernist) notions of art and reach out, beyond, elsewhere. I personally consider the purpose of Maska in this very pursuit of still “warm rolls”, in this unpredictable journey, in the traversing the boundaries of disciplinarity and in the movement along the fragile edges.

Today, these fragile edges seem to be particularly interesting and relevant. Indeed, the performing arts flirt with and inhabit the world of new- and intermedia art and culture; in these flexible intersections emerge the most appealing and contemporary phenomena of art, culture and society which need and have to be recognised and reflected upon, sometimes also problematized.

This issue of Maska strives to follow abovementioned direction through the subject “Body, Philosophy, Art” which will be further addressed in the next issue. In a more theoretically-oriented part, it provides three contributions related to the philosophy of body. The original contributions by Miško Šuvaković and Mojca Puncer reveal various recent concepts of body and address them in their relation to the art and social practices. The third contribution – the translation of the fragment from The Structure of Behavior (1942) by Merleau-Ponty – might seem the largest (some might find it even non-contemporary) diversion from the subject. However, we deal with a key 'philosopher of body' from the phenomenological perspective who has again stirred the interest among scholars and theoreticians.

Further contributions address the subject of body in the perspective of art practices, including an overview selection of body-related works presented within the Kapelica Gallery, i.e. practices using the body as their medium. Jana Pavlič writes about performances on the altermainstream scene of French theatre which thematise corporeality whilst Katja Čičigoj’s contribution is dedicated to the performance In the Name of the People within the context of extended reflection on the issues of artistic freedom as well as the limits and the range of overcoming the autonomy of art. And finally the reviews of two publications issued in Slovenia in the last year. Both works – each in their own fashion – deal with body and corporeality in relation with art practices.

Maja Murnik

Editor: Maja Murnik
Editorial Board: Janez Strehovec, Tomaž Toporišič, Polona Tratnik
Contributing Editors: Katja Čičigoj, Janez Janša, Bojana Kunst, Jana Pavlič, Mojca Puncer, Monika Vrečar
Content Visualisation: Miha Turšič