Deconstruction as Repair

Abstract

Deconstruction as Repair: An ecological perspective on the Six Viewpoints is a co-authored article by Josh Armstrong and Meryl Murman. The writing is carried by the personal and subjective experiences of the authors aiming to understand how postmodern deconstruction is an act of ecological repair. The experiences and thoughts that arise are informed by ecological and postmodern philosophy, by Mary Overlie’s Six Viewpoints — both as phenomenological and philosophical theory and practice — and culminate in reflections on practice-led research through the facilitation of becoming-Botanical somatic movement laboratories. Drawing on the personal observations and reflections from regular participants in weekly somatic movement laboratories held in New Orleans from the Summer of 2018 through the Autumn of 2019, including a residential retreat in rural Mississippi, this article focuses on the restorative qualities which emerge as common themes. According to Overlie, the proper deconstruction of the Six Viewpoints should not be confused with ‘mistaken postmodernism’ and the resulting deconstruction that appears as collage, pastiche or Kitsch Art. Overlie’s deconstruction emphasizes the need for a sharp tool and an observant mind to disassemble the materials of performance with a view to better understand them and ultimately to free them from the hierarchical structures that act upon them. This is not a deconstruction of demolition or damage, but of discovering that which was once hidden or unknown — a process of reification that Overlie champions as the basis for both art and science. Through the becoming-Botanical movement laboratories, we apply this performance-based deconstruction in contexts outside of theatre and performance and find that the Six Viewpoints as phenomenological and somaesthetic training can enable participants to mend psychic and emotional relationships with more-than-human life and make reparations and preparations for the inevitable end of the world.