Dear readers, dear artists, dear audience,
If circus is truly to be considered “contemporary”, should it not reflect and reflect upon the societies in which it evolves?1
There is still an "elephant in the room" when we talk about circus today: the colonial past of the circus, which is currently hardly touched upon. Rather, it is covered up by numerous romanticized circus images and all too seldom clearly named. Given this history, what does it mean to create, present, mediate, teach or stage contemporary forms of circus today? What do the "ghosts of the past" tell us? - as Ante Ursić calls them in this issue. It is these exploitative injustices to so many people (as well as animals) that are linked to the circus and its history of exceptionalism. It is ghosts that can point us to existing racist and discriminatory structures today. They can sensitize us to stereotypical simplifications and normative aesthetics that have also become inscribed in contemporary circus practices. And they can contribute to critically reflecting on our current work structures and making them fairer. To get closer to all of this, collective memory work is needed on the circus as a cultural-historical, social, aesthetic and contemporary phenomenon.
This year's VOICES issue Re-exploring the grotesque deals with the concept of the grotesque and lays it as a foil over circus. The texts collected raise questions from cultural theory, theatre and circus studies, and decolonial, queer-feminist and artistic perspectives. They are reflections on what the grotesque in its complexity and its ambivalences can tell us today about the diversity of bodies, and body images in circus and dance practices.
The origin of the grotesque can be traced back to unusual ornamental forms of antique mural painting, which was taken up in the Italian Renaissance. The heterogeneity is already evident here in forms in which animal and human figures, plant motifs and design elements merge into one another. Colloquially often associated with the bizarre, the imaginative or the indescribable, the manifestations of the grotesque are always tied to context and zeitgeist and are therefore in constant transformation. The historical artistic variations are diverse and extend to the comical, demonic and carnivalesque. The core of the grotesque can best be described as its relationship to existing orders and borders, which it “transgresses, explodes, undermines, blurs”2 and thus eludes fixed interpretations. Dealing with the grotesque offers a framework for analytical and at the same time practice-oriented perspectives on body norms and the iconography of cultural patterns.
In his introductory article A Freak Hauntology, Ante Ursić detects analogies and differences between the terms freak, queer and groteque. Diving into the exploiting past of circus he outlines how freak performances have been channeled towards the maintenance of normative and conservative values of American society. Drawing from Derrida's thoughts on how to live with ghosts of the past, Ursić reminds us of the political dimension of memory and inheritance. As Patterns of the Unfinished, Susanne Foellmer describes an essential style in contemporary aesthetics that manifests in dance. By referencing theories of the grotesque formulated by Mikhail M. Bakhtin and Wolfgang Kayser, she investigates aesthetics that deconstruct the human body in its sculptural components and questions it as metamorphic material. The interview by Franziska Trapp with the Flemish circus maker and choreographer Alexander Vantournhout discusses the specific performance Through the Grapevine with its interest in personal and individual proportions of bodies. John-Paul Zaccarini shares his personal views in the form of a memoir about queer and afro-pessimistic circus fantasies that find their artistic expression within the FutureBrownSpace – an intersectional research project at DOCH University of the arts in Stockholm. It builds a creative space for professionals of colour in predominantly white institutions without the pressure of the 'white gaze'. Consequently, his article is combined with an artistic video work, which we recommend watching before reading. The interview by Valentina Barone with Rémi Lecocq focuses on his personal experiences as a circus artist and his acrobatic vocation beyond disability. Elena Zanzu delves into their practice that shaped the performance EZ, which will be presented live at CircusDanceFestival. Let their non-binary approach scrutinize our existential choices with a close look.
We wish you an intense reading. To exchange thoughts, we would be happy to see you at the discussion programme of the CircusDanceFestival in Cologne, a space for conversations and in-person encounters.
Tim Behren & Valentina Barone
Cologne, March 2023
1 Willkie, Angélique: Von der Gefahr einseitiger Erzählung (im Zirkus) / The danger of a single story (in circus). In: Behren, Tim / Patschovsky, Jenny (Hg): Circus in flux – Zeitgenössischer Zirkus. Verlag Theater der Zeit: Berlin 2022.
2 Hollein, Max / Dercon, Chris: Vorwort. In: Kort, Pamela (Hg): Grotesk! 130 Jahre Kunst der Frechheit. Prestel Verlag: München, Berlin, London, New York 2003.
Daniel Firman, Würsa 18.000 km from earth, 2006–2008, elephant taxidermy, 570 x 250 x 140 cm. Photo: Courtesy of CHOI&CHOI Gallery and the artist. © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023