(I know I’m a loser, but I’m re-blogging myself from the networked_performance blog, since I have been thinking about this for quite a while….)
In the early sixties, JL Austin coined the term performative – calling it an explicit utterance – which differs greatly (and seemingly magically) from the descriptive constative. While the latter explains, the former – often called a speech act – actually makes an ontological change. ‘I now pronounce you man and wife,’ ‘I apologize’ and ‘Go, you fool!’ (a command) are all actions, as well as words (whoa. ‘actions speak louder than words’ is now a void concept more info).
In the present, many interventionist artists have taken on this term, and performative has come to mean virtually any expression, gesture or performance that transforms or births identity, ideology, history (and the list goes on…).
So, beyond networked_performance, what would constitute a networked performative? What happens when we (click) submit? When we reset our form? Aside from a node, what can we create? And beyond making a difference, how different can we be? If Salvador Dali performed surrealism, what is it we are performing into or out of existence?
