Circusing Societal Condition - An Inquiry into How Contemporary Circus Enters Unconventional Spaces in Taiwan

Abstract

This thesis investigates contemporary circus practices that enter unconventional spaces in Taiwan and how they reflect different societal conditions. As this research entails peculiar types of space in the real world and how the circus performances residing in these places reveal the abstract property of living conditions, the key theories deployed include locality proposed by Arjun Appadurai, structure of feeling proposed by Raymond Williams, double consciousness discussed both by Paul Gilroy and W.E.B. Du Bios, and the juxtaposition model of tradition and modernity raised by Hassan Hanafi. The conceptual tools developed for the subsequent performance analysis include the spatial, temporal and communal characters within structures of feeling, a focus on materiality for spatial investigations, and the modes of in-solution and of precipitate regarding sensing structures of feelings. In the case studies, I first analyze the promenade circus performance Disappearing Island by Formosa Circus Art in 2020. The performance concretizes the structure of feeling of the island with the wearable installations and participative scenarios, allowing the structure of feeling to be observed by the audience. This work further proposes questions about a co-sharing urban life to the audience and states the fragile and uncertain living conditions in contemporary society nowadays. The second case study focuses on Main Agile by Thunar Circus in 2022. The performance structure and the material composition of Main Agile show a juxtaposed mentality and brought about two modes of spectatorship, which leads to double consciousness. The double consciousness hidden in the work indicates the contemporary dilemma of living with a dual mentality caused by the irreconciled integration of tradition and modernity in a society like Taiwan. I argue that what lingers in these cases is the ghost of modernity. If the issues of contemporary uncertainty and the dilemma of duality can be solved, we must start with identifying the ghost of modernity and its influence, then proceed with motivating “the past” into something dynamic and alive, rather than static or unchangeable.