Abstract
"Knotted" was a video series engaged in an autoethnographic, practice-led research approach that served as a reflective exploration of my identity as an artist, researcher, and educator amidst a dynamically evolving social and cultural landscape. Engaging in performance art practice offers insights into the weaving of my narrative and subject formation as a South African Indian woman. I analyze contemporary culture, delving into human interaction, value systems, religious beliefs, and experiences. Employing narrative inquiry, I navigate the intersections between the rational and emotional self, clouded and filtered through memory and theories of explanation. Memory, as a temporal trajectory, not only encompasses lived experiences but also involves acts of structuring to make sense of these moments. Operating between the realms of potential occurrences and impossibilities allows me to redefine my role as an artist and researcher, drawing from the Indian aesthetic theory of rasa and Csíkszentmihály concept of flow. The immersive process of "arting" connects embodied states during a performance, to what I call a transcendental emotional moment (TEM). Thus, aligning with the philosophy of performance in motion with the transformative potential of rasa contributing to the making of culture and well-being. This practice becomes a meditation, aiding the reforming and becoming of my emergent self. "The Knotted" leaves traces in lived bodily interactions, captured in muscle memory and kinaesthetic contact, contributing to my identity formation and resilience. The series emphasizes the aesthetic versus anaesthetic embodied experience, revealing traces through movement in written records and lived encounters between bodies and art.
Author Information
Reshma Maharajh, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Paper Information
Conference: ACCS2024
Stream: Visual Culture
This paper is part of the ACCS2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Maharajh R. (2024) Knotted: In(weave)—My Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Practice ISSN: 2187-4751 – The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2024: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 365-375) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2024.30
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2024.30
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