In my (performative) presentation I will talk about spectator oriented performance. It is an umbrella concept I use in my own artistic work and teaching for all kinds of immersive, participatory, relational and ritual performances, that have a tendency to use the spectator as the main focus and orientation point of the performance. It includes performances for only one spectator, a spectator with spectator performances, and in general performances that tend to involve spectators body/mind in different ways. More than often, there is actually no performers involved at all, so understandably the emphasis is greatly on the changes of consciousness on the spectator's behalf. This genre is has grown rapidly after the turn of the millennium and is increasingly popular nowadays. Thus being one of the main directions of the ever-expanding horizons of theatre at the moment. In my presentation, I will first briefly introduce the concept and genre of spectator oriented performance paradigm in general. What it is and how does it tend to work? And then with some case examples, audiovisual material and performative tasks for the audience, I will try to illustrate some of the key approaches used nowadays in spectator oriented performances. Such as interaction, participation, reframing, senses, immersion, experience, consciousness, encounter, intimacy, isolation, ritual, disposition, game, utopia. The performative tasks for the audience are going to be fairly simple, completely voluntary and should not involve any discomfort. And in the end, I will also talk about the obvious aspects of danger and necessary safety structures involved with these kinds of performances.
Eero-Tapio Vuori is a theatre director, a spectator oriented performance maker and a ritual artist. He has directed theatre on the classical, contemporary and experimental theatre scene in Finland and abroad. He is the founder of Reality Research Center(2001), a Helsinki based collective of Independent artists that share an aspiration is to observe, question, and renew reality by creating interactive, participatory, immersive, relational and ritualistic performances. Vuori’s latest work in Finland was an adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris, a single spectator performance in a sensory deprivation tank (Kellumo, Helsinki 2020). He also works regularly with the Danish performance group helloearth! Last work with them was a night-in-the hammock performance called A Night in the Trees(Liselund, Denmark, August 2021). Vuori has also done quite extensive research about indigenous ritual practices around the world - in Africa, Asia, South America and Siberia. He was in an essential role in starting of the theatre department at the University of Eduardo Mondlane (Maputo, Mozambique). At the moment Vuori is a senior lecturer of directing at the Theatre Academy / University of Arts Helsinki(Finland). His main interests at the moment are (1) spectator oriented strategies of performance, (2) interflow of art and consciousness, (3) ritual theatre and performances.
