Queer Temporalities: Contemporary Performance and the Hole of History

Contemporary performance art has always provided a fertile ground for exploring and challenging societal norms and expectations. One particular aspect that has gained significant attention is the concept of queer temporalities and how they intersect with the complex tapestry of history. In this article, we delve into the intersection of contemporary performance and the hole of history, examining the ways in which artists navigate and reimagine queer experiences across time.

The Power of Performance

Performance art has the unique ability to transcend boundaries and create a space that disrupts the linear progression of time. Queer performance artists have harnessed this power, using it to examine the gaps and absences in history that have traditionally marginalized queer lives and experiences.

Time Slips: Queer Temporalities, Contemporary Performance, and the Hole of History (Performance Works)

by David Leavitt (Kindle Edition)

5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	2985 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	201 pages
Screen Reader	:	Supported

FREE

Unearthing the Hole of History

In order to understand the hole of history, we must first acknowledge the erasures and silences that have plagued marginalized communities throughout time. Queer individuals have often been omitted from historical narratives due to societal and institutional homophobia. Performance artists, however, have found a way to uncover and reclaim these stories, bridging the gap between the past and the present.

Temporal Shifting on Stage

Contemporary performers use various techniques to challenge linear notions of time and reimagine queer temporalities. By incorporating elements of historical aesthetics and revisiting iconic moments, they create a space in which the past and present coexist. Through their performances, they invite audiences to question and reimagine the frameworks through which we understand history.

Performative Interventions

One of the ways in which contemporary performance artists engage with queer temporalities is through performative interventions. These interventions disrupt historical narratives, employing satire, irony, and parody to challenge the dominant power structures that have shaped history. By doing so, they expose the gaps in the historical record and allow for alternative interpretations and possibilities.

Reimagining Queer Icons

Another significant aspect of queer temporalities in contemporary performance is the reimagining of queer icons. Performers often take historical figures and reimagine their stories through a queer lens, highlighting the hidden narratives and subversive elements that have been historically overlooked.

Closing the Gap

Through their artistic explorations of queer temporalities, contemporary performance artists play a vital role in bridging the gap between the past and the present. By unearthing forgotten stories, challenging historical narratives, and reimagining queer icons, they create a space in which history is rewritten and reinterpreted. In doing so, they empower and validate queer experiences, ensuring that they are not relegated to the shadows of history but are celebrated and embraced in all their complexity.

Queer temporalities in contemporary performance art offer a powerful means of challenging and reshaping societal understandings of history. By unearthing the hole of history, engaging in performative interventions, and reimagining queer icons, artists create a space in which the past and present converge. Through their work, they signal the importance of embracing and celebrating diverse voices and experiences. Queer temporalities remind us that history is not a fixed narrative, but a tapestry constantly being woven and rewoven.

Time Slips: Queer Temporalities, Contemporary Performance, and the Hole of History (Performance Works)

by David Leavitt (Kindle Edition)

5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	2985 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	201 pages
Screen Reader	:	Supported

FREE

This bold book investigates how performance can transform the way people perceive trauma and memory, time and history. Jaclyn I. Pryor introduces the concept of "time slips," moments in which past, present, and future coincide, moments that challenge American narratives of racial and sexual citizenship.

 
Framing performance as a site of resistance, Pryor analyzes their own work and that of four other queer artists—Ann Carlson, Mary Ellen Strom, Peggy Shaw, and Lisa Kron—between 2001 and 2016. Pryor illuminates how each artist deploys performance as a tool to render history visible, trauma recognizable, and transformation possible by laying bare the histories and ongoing systems of violence woven deep into our society. Pryor also includes a case study that examines the challenges of teaching queer time and queer performance within the academy in what Pryor calls a post-9/11 “homeland” security state.

Masterfully synthesizing a wealth of research and experiences, Time Slips will interest scholars and readers in the fields of theater and performance studies, queer studies, and American studies.