Schriften zur kunstorientierten Praxis aus dem Department Kunst, .../The Art (therap) ist is Present

This study investigates which aspects of Marina Abramović’s performance The Artist Is Present (2010) and the Japanese contemporary art form butoh foster—as well as support—emotionally driven, creative impulse recognition. It hypothesises that aesthetic restraint in combination with embodied creative experience can provide a safe framework for the exploration and development of emotional resilience. Empirically this study is based on personal artistic exploration in the field of butoh and performance art, as well as expert talks with butoh artists Vangeline and Yumiko Yoshioka. Its theoretical framework draws from the findings of embodiment, the theory of resonance as proposed by Hartmut Rosa and the concept of aesthetic awareness described by Martin Seel. It also incorporates ideas of the unconscious, focussing on early neurological considerations of Sigmund Freud as well as systemic reconsiderations by Peter Fuchs. Finally this study includes theories by neuropsychoanalist Mark Solms, as well as neuroscientists Heather A. Berlin and Lisa Feldmann Barrett. Barrett’s theory of constructed emotions is being highlighted and linked to butoh practice and the Abramović Method.