Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
University of the Arts London

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2018)

Research Papers

Rupturing the contract: Performative pedagogy, power relations and interruption

Published 2018-10-31

  • Dr Lee Campbell

Dr Lee Campbell
Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon Colleges of Art

Abstract

This article contributes to the field of critical performative pedagogy by presenting an example project which conceived performance as pedagogy. It considers interruptions to performance experiences as an immediate call for reflection (Savin-Baden, 2007) and ultimately, a ‘critical thinking tool’ (Meller, 2017). By employing a writing strategy that echoes a reflective model for undertaking practice-as-research designed by the author, entitled Anticipation, Action, Analysis, the article provides a framework in which to situate a discursive description of how interruption as a form of rupture or ‘disturbance’ (Vale, 2017) complicates the implicit contract between student and tutor in terms of the exchange of power in the relationship.

Keywords

contract, interruption, performative pedagogy, power relations, reflective practice, risk-taking

HTML PDF

Author Biography

Dr Lee Campbell

Dr Lee Campbell is a Lecturer in Academic Support across Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon colleges, UAL. His practice explores how meaning is constructed through politics of space, and how the politics of art are articulated through visual and verbal languages. Recent research publications include PARtake: The Journal of Performance as Research and the Journal of Pedagogic Development. He is currently working on an edited collection called I Leap into Action: Critical Performative Pedagogies in Art & Design Education. In 2017, he was awarded with a University of Lincoln Best Practice Award in Promoting Equality in recognition for his research into teaching and supporting those with a vision impairment.

 

References

  1. Arlander, A. (2009) ‘Event scores for performing interruptions’, in Mäntymäki, T. and Mäkinen, O. (eds.) Art and Resistance. Vaasa: University of Vaasa, pp.153-168.
  3. Billing, J., Lind, M. and Nilsson, L. (2007) Taking the matter into common hands: On contemporary art and collaborative practices. London: Black Dog.
  4. Bishop, C. (2006) Participation. London: Whitechapel/MIT Press.
  5. Bourriaud, N. (1998) Relational Aesthetics. Translated by David Macey. Dijon: Les Presses du Reel.
  6. Burchell et al. (1991) The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
  7. Campbell, L. (2017a) WATCH: LITE Masterclass: Technoparticipation – Digital Realia. Possibilities for Practice and Pedagogy, Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence, University of Leeds, 22 November. Available at: http://teachingexcellence.leeds.ac.uk/events/lite-masterclass-technoparticipation-digital-realia-possibilities-for-practice-and-pedagogy/ (Accessed: 8 August 2018).
  8. Campbell, L. (2017b) ‘You don’t need eyes to see, you need vision: Visual impairment, performative pedagogy and technology’, Journal of Pedagogic Development, 7(3), pp.3¬-12. Available at: https://journals.beds.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/jpd/article/view/397/594 (Accessed: 7 August 2018).
  9. Campbell, L. (2014) ‘Heckler, performance, participation and politeness: Using performance art as a tool to explore the liminal space between art and theatre and its capacity for confrontation’, in Remes, O., Leino, M. and MacCulloch, L. (eds.) Performativity in the gallery: Staging interactive encounters. Oxford: Peter Lang Ltd, pp.137-156.
  10. Chapman, F. and Race, P. (2009) Using peer observation to enhance teaching: A compendium. Leeds: Leeds Met Press.
  11. Feral, J. and Bermingham, R. P. (2002) ‘Theatricality: The specificity of theatrical language’, in Substance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism, 31(2/3), Issue 98/99, pp.94-108. https://www.doi.org/10.2307/3685480.
  12. Foucault, M. (1980) Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings,1972–1977. Harvester Press: Brighton.
  13. Hound, R. (2011) Stand-up put-downs. London: Bantam Press.
  14. Ingham (2015) Email to Lee Campbell, 16 May.
  15. Kincheloe, J. L. (2008) Critical pedagogy primer. New York: Peter Lang.
  16. Meller, F. (2017) ‘Performing teaching’, Provocative Pedagogies: Performative Teaching and Learning in the Arts conference, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, 14 October 2017.
  17. O’ Dell, K. (1998) Contract with the skin: Masochism, performance art and the 1970s. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
  18. Roelstraete, D. (2012) ‘Responses to presentations’, Of Hospitality: A Symposium, University of Chicago Arts / Smart Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 4-5 May.
  19. https://www.artandeducation.net/announcements/109430/of-hospitality-a-symposium (Accessed: 7 August 2018).
  20. Savin-Baden, M. (2007) Learning spaces: Creating opportunities for knowledge creation in academic life. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
  21. Schady, A. (2016) Interviewed by Lee Campbell, 27 October.
  22. Vale, M. (2017) ‘An introduction to the process of theatre design', UAL Library and Support Services conference, Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London, 18 July.