Declaration

I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. 3 Drawing on the tenets of cognitive science, particularly Lakoff and Johnson’s writing on metaphor, this thesis investigates the ways in which perception is constructed spatially by focusing on contemporary artists ’ engagement with rehearsal processes and performances where technology asserts control over the boundaries of space, centring specifically on the author’s own practice. This interrogation of theatricality includes three practical research projects (performances) and a three-chapter written thesis that explores the theoretical and practical concerns of artistic engagement with an understanding of space. This thesis explores the physicality of experience via cognitive science and positions it within the realm of the artist, addressing the ways in which material practitioners are always engaged in the experience of materiality. In both the written and practical components of this thesis, I interrogate and propose tha