Art and its Theatrical Turn

A symposium that followed The Common Guild’s productions of 'At Twilight' by artist Simon Starling in collaboration with theatre maker Graham Eatough, and 'Sink Down Mountain, Rise Up Valley' by artist Ulla von Brandenburg, as well as other projects. It considered theatre and theatricality as form and media, and where and why they appear in contemporary visual art projects, specifically in works that use some of the conventions of theatre making, rather than positioning themselves in the anti-theatricality of ‘performance art’. Discussions included questions of contingency, presence and collective encounter and experience. Rather than ‘degenerating as it approaches the condition of theatre’*, is art in fact inherently theatrical? With contributions from: Katrina Brown, Director, The Common Guild Dr. Graham Eatough, theatre maker, co-founder of Suspect Culture, and Lecturer in Theatre Studies at University of Glasgow Dr. Clare Finburgh, Senior Lecturer Drama & Theatre, University of Kent Maria Fusco, Senior Chancellor’s Fellow – Reader and Director of Research & Knowledge Exchange, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh Prof. Joe Kelleher, Professor Drama, Theatre & Performance, University of Roehampton Dr. Dominic Paterson, Lecturer in History of Art, University of Glasgow Convener: Prof. Carl Lavery, Professor Theatre & Performance, University of Glasgo