Examples of current and recent graduate research: Philip Babot

My performance art practice utilises elements of shamanism, such as inducing altered states of consciousness through meditation and endurance, and often attempts to evoke a cathartic response within its observers.

My aim in this thesis is to determine the extent to which performance artists use shamanism in their practice, and to establish the common elements shared by shamanism and performance art. The research so far has established the current anthropological definition of what constitutes a shaman and has identified three key signifiers common to both performance art practice and shamanism: altered states of consciousness, ritual, and healing. The study includes interpretations from contemporary art, philosophy and psychology perspectives, providing a new analysis of the concepts of catharsis and ritual in performance, and investigating the hypothesis that certain performance artists may act as mediators between the sacred and the profane.

Recent performances include those presented at DaDao Live Art Festival, Beijing (2004); Galeria Vermelho, Sao Paulo (2005); VIP gallery, Belgrade (2005); Galerie Raskolnikow, Dresden (2005); Franklin Furnace, New York (2006); My Land Performance Festival, Štaglinec, Croatia, in association with Gallery S, Koprivnica, Croatia (2007); a residency at Artspace, Sydney, in summer / autumn 2009 as part of trace: artists’ collective, and the National Review of Live Art, The Tramway, and the Arches, Glasgow (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010).

Recent publications include the papers: Elements of Shamanism Within Performance Art presented at the 1st National Symposium for Emerging Art And Design Researchers, Wales, in association with WIRAD, 2009, and Elements of Shamanism Within Performance Art (revised edition) presented at the Performance Platform, Lublin, 2009, as well as the essays ‘Remembrance, Rupture and Catharsis: André Stitt’s Reclamation’ in Platform tri/3 (Wales Arts International and the British Council, 2007), and ‘Traced’ in Trace Displaced (Parthian Books, 2010).