Some sketches of speculative performance

Graham Taylor

For his contribution to From The Field, Graham Taylor used our Instagram stories as a platform for five days of performance exploring three speculative questions with a sense of universal pertinence in the climate of the COVID-19 pandemic. These three questions were: What if the future wasn’t bleak?, What if I felt more connected to the world? and What if there was a gathering of people without screens?

So what is speculative performance? We thought it best for Graham to explain it to you in his own words:

‘Speculative performance is a term for a mode of performance I have been trying to develop throughout this year. It first started taking shape in a manifesto, where it was trying to “harness the wild potentiality of speculation to perform (and bring into felt/sensible – after Ranciére’s usage of ‘sensible’ – reality) versions of these imaginative possibilities, to ground them in self-conscious hiatuses of concrete reality and to play with and within them in real time and space, to try them on and see how they might feel and whether they fit, and to share and cohabit these potentialities with other people”. It began as a kind of attempt at a post-capitalist performance, in response to Mark Fisher’s writing (particularly in Capitalist Realism), through trying to imagine a world after capitalism, and then to bring it about through performing it. In this sense it was also picking up from ideas in Frederick Jameson’s Postmodernism: or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, where he models the developments in culture following the developments in capitalism; this time trying to lead with cultural development and hope that socio-economic developments would follow suit. It is an idealistic mode of performance, seeking change through imagining/speculating on different situations and conditions and trying to perform them into reality, approaching performance as a rehearsal of sorts for reality, performance as the conscious/intentional modification of behaviour to achieve an end.’

There were opportunities for audiences to get involved both online and away from the screen through polls, questionnaires and a rather unusual happening… the recipe for a gathering of people without screens was released in posts throughout the week of Graham’s instagram takeover, with the option to request a print version to be sent to you by Graham.

FROM THE FIELD ANTHOLOGY

Each artist produced a small physical edition to sit alongside their digital commision. These art objects were brought together to make up the From the Field anthology; a compilation of reflections and creations instigated by the global pandemic. Some of the editions are still available to purchase directly from us via our online store Field Notes Editions or from The Shoppery in Penryn. 50% of the purchase price goes straight to the artist and any remaining profit towards a fund for future commissions.

For his contribution to the anthology, Graham produced a hand-made publication in which he reflected on the actions and interactions related to each question of Some sketches of speculative performance.

FUNDERS AND PARTNERS

From the Field was a programme of artist commissions produced by Field Notes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of 2020 from the first lockdown onwards, ten artists were commissioned to create something quick and reflective to be shared online. We had worked with nearly all of the artists prior and therefore chose to reach out to them as a barometer for the times. Each artist also produced a small physical edition to sit alongside their digital work.

From the Field was made possible by a grant from the Arts Council England Emergency Fund.

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