When looking is doing: from the invited spectator to the absent one

Abstract

This paper proposes a reflection on the statute of the spectator in contemporary performative scene and the traces of this figure in the performance field. Theatrical and performative experiments, founded in the act of walking in urban context, identify different categories to think about the spectator. Beyond the invited spectator we may also consider the bystanders and those who access the performance through others materialities, such as photograph. The action no longer needs the spectator’s presence, since now it addresses itself to the camera. However, this shift does not always value the document at the expense of the body, but includes it necessarily as a part of the performative act.