Přehled o publikaci

The study Cadavers of Authenticity in Artificial Hells. Participation of spectators as an activating factor in contemporary theatre elaborates on the topic of participation in contemporary theatre. In Czech context, especially the so-called immersive theatre is taking over the practices of participatory art, which was established theoretically in the nineties. It´s essence lies in the inclusion of participants into the creation of the artwork by means of obvious physical participation. By doing that, the artist delegates part of the responsibility for the artwork on the participants. It seems that a spectator of such theatre is not only more physically active but also more emancipated. The author claims in this text that this type of participation does not make the spectator more emancipated, because the way of his participation mostly copies course of action prepared by the artist. The author tries to verify his claim on examples of contemporary theatre performances from several European countries in which the aspect of obvious physical participation si present. He then concludes from these examples that the crucial factor for evaluating whether a specific example leads to more emancipated and authentic behaviour of the participant or not, is the fact how much does the form a of a specific performance need the participation for it´s basic functioning. If it demands the participation, the spectator is deprived of his free will to choose whether to participate or not. If this decision is not present, the participation is simulated and the participant remains in a comfort zone of „experience“ and spectacularity. The text is written in the context of Relational Aesthetics by Nicolas Bourriaud and includes a short introduction to participatory art. The concept of the spectator´s emancipation is based on Jacques Ranciére´s Emancipated Spectator, the concept of delegated power and it´s implications on participatory art are based mostly on Claire Bishop´s Artificial Hells.