Subaltern

The last two months I've been involved with a seminar that artist Matthew Buckingham has been teaching at the Univ. of Wisconsin. The title of the course is Representing the Past in Media and Art. The course has given me a chance to engage in area of historiography which is foreign to my experience. Last nights readings of Gayatri Spivak focused on ideas surrounding the subalern, a position in culture and society that lacks the ability to speak. It was an interesting conversation concerning colonial and post-colonial thought delving into identity and gender. It is a tough reading, but there is a lot there.

As is typical for me, this reading is creating ideas that relate to some previous work. I'm thinking about devising a performance that would consist of creating this position and then allow for the voice to be heard through a specific audience action. Control and authority comes through the speaking and the ability to be heard. I want to create a relationship where one is dependent on the other.