Thinking and making cities

Performance compositions and the unfolding of public spaces

Abstract

The article aims to introduce performance art as an agencement/assemblage which, by recovering the multiplicity and interrelations of cities, participates in the unfolding of public spaces.  As a minority practice, performance art tends to rearticulate the hegemonic meanings conferred to spaces by establishing artistic situations that explore the city as an arena in which different trajectories coexist. Thus, performance art may be understood as a tool for challenging pre-conceived notions and as an opportunity for establishing political communities. In this way, experiencing a city becomes a process of "making” that city, for cities are no longer considered as finished products but as a compositions, ongoing projects, where latent senses are updated during performance events. All elements presented in this work are based on empirical research carried out with the Corpos Informáticos group and on their performances in the city of Brasília.