The emergent loop of interdisciplinary exchange

Abstract

This exegetical analysis of performance drawing highlights its character as an interdisciplinary process. Specifically, I demonstrate that the interrelation of drawing and performance, that occurs in the active, live-audience drawing processes, is a unique interdisciplinary exchange. This analysis utilizes the concept of ‘intra-action’, as defined by Karen Barad, to reveal the multidirectional and emergent processes of the interdisciplinary exchange exhibited through drawing as performance. Furthermore, this interdisciplinary exchange is likened to a Möbius loop. Exploring ‘intra-action’ and the Möbius loop analogy, I examine the interdisciplinary drawing process through the cooperative performance drawing work initiated by myself, Kellie O’Dempsey (Australia) and Jennifer Wroblewski (United States): Resistance Movement (2017–18). This work exemplifies the interdisciplinary process of performance drawing as the initiator for creative exchange. To examine this proposition, I isolate the components of drawing, performance and the spatio-temporal, and analyse how these components operate through Resistance Movement. While Barad’s theory of intra-action relates to the entanglement of matter in the universe, I use the theory to explore the entangled aspects of performance drawing that create a single, unified experience for both artists and viewers. The three elements – drawing, performance and the spatio-temporal – combine, resulting in intra-action. Thus, creating a unique, interdisciplinary event.