The Italic I (Studio as
Gymnasium) – a 'thought experiment'
produced in collaboration with Clare Thornton – has been
published in Drain
Magazine, in the issue on Athleticism.
Abstract: The Italic I
(Studio as Gymnasium): The Italic I is a practice-based collaboration between writer-artist Emma
Cocker and interdisciplinary artist Clare Thornton, for exploring the various
states of potential made possible through purposefully surrendering to the
event of a repeated fall. Within our artistic investigation … the studio or
gallery is approached as a gymnasium within which to practice falling;
however, the purpose of practicing is not towards a telos, the
perfection of a given move or some future performance. Rather, falling is
repeated in a move towards deeper understanding, for becoming more sensitized
to the experience, more attuned to its risings and falls, its intensities and
durations. In these terms, the athleticism inherent within the activity itself
becomes a means for increasing one’s capacity (as it is practiced),
for producing unexpected forms of embodied knowledge and augmented
subjectivity.
About the issue Athleticism:
The word ‘athletic’ derives from the Greek, athlēō (‘compete for a prize’). In this schema, the ‘prize’ is the
thing competed for, but this can be defined in many ways: as a gift, a kiss, a
drop of blood, or a ribbon. We are often told that the prize is not important
but participation is. The athlete models subjectivity, the
body, desire, social relations, matter and chance in order to achieve a measure
of success, recognition, mastery, the deferral of death and emptiness, a place
in history, an apotheosis of self-love, among other things. How can artworks,
essays, thought experiments, interventions, social events and encounters allow
us to critically analyze and even undo the habitual idioms, rules and
expectations surrounding athleticism as a measure or even as an outcome? Is it
possible to create a differently dispersed athleticism that shows us what a
body can do, what a care of the body can mean, or indeed, arranges new
relations between bodies in order to attain a hitherto unimaginable prize? In
what ways can we think through/work away from/deconstruct the fascistic
tendencies of the ‘competitive spirit’ in order to arrange new rhythms and
durations, participative networks and subjectivities? Can athleticism be
situated within a more radical play of performances and acts that involve
unanticipated outcomes and risks? Put in another way, how can a radical undoing
of the telos of the athlete lead us to redefine what is worth
struggling for?
This issue of Drain
presents Rachel Rampleman as
the Feature Artist; a selection of work from her Body Builder series
explores subjects like gender, artifice, and spectacle through the tinge of a
very American lens. The work is accompanied with text by Alex Young and David Mitchell. Critical essays by Joel Nathan Rose, Ira Halpern and Victoria Wynne-Jones address and
examine aspects of sports, youth, masculinity and addiction. The Thought
Experiments section, for shorter critical works, includes evocative pieces
by Emma Cocker and Clare Thornton, Sandy Gibbsand Sarah Stefana Smith. The
issue also features reviews of the recent exhibitions; Germaine Koh’s League by Louise Rusch, while Sarah Walko reviews the works
of Craig Drennen. There
is also an extensive Creating Writing section, which includes works of poetry
and short fiction by Joseph
Ramelo, Germaine Koh and Nathaniel Sullivan. A compelling
selection of artworks and projects by Brandon Bauer, John G. Boehme, David Cross, Robert Ladislas Derr, Henry
Gwiazda, Amelia Johannes, Cheryl Pope, and Jean-Michel Rolland variously engage with notions of
Athleticism, sports and contemporary culture in this issue as do
interviews with David Cross by Cameron Bishop, Anna Wittenberg by Joshua West Smith and Matt Hern by Elizabeth Spavento.