On April 10, the first episode of the Art of Thought podcast, hosted by University students through the Center for Ethical Thinking, was released. In the episode, titled “Resisting Through Performance,” Carolyn Hendricks, associate director for the Center for Ethical Thinking, and Lucia Rosen, who met in the Philosophy and Religious Studies department, discuss the mutual influence of performance art and political climate, critical understandings of audience-performer relationships, and the role social context plays in performance.
In the episode, Hendricks states, “Because of the context that [art] is situated in, whether or not it’s intended, it’s political… arguably always.”
“Performance as someone taking up space with their physical body, the embodiment of space, holds other people accountable for also taking up space,” Rosen states.
Lucia Rosen is a life-long dancer– her perspective on the involvement of performance art in inspiration of political resistance is affected first-hand by her experience as performer.
“I hope people are inspired to engage with performance through a political lens… I hope they reevaluate pre-conceived notions of the role of art in American society,” Rosen said about her intentions in discussing these issues on the podcast.
“Audience members and participants must be aware of the space they take up,” she continued, “Performance necessitates bodies and the body where action stems from. If humans can access that inspiration, there’s potential for an inspired body to move toward bettering the world.”
“What audiences receive in the scenario of performance is always filtered through “given contexts of society,” said Hendricks, “Context becomes really valuable in determining the motivational outcome of the performance on the audience.”
“It is so crucial that we nurture curiosity, criticism, and questioning as a regular practice in a world where media can be misleading and censorship is threatening,” she said about her hopes for the future of the podcast, “We feel that our episode is a small step in making philosophy feel more approachable and relevant to a general modern audience, when theory can otherwise seem so convoluted.”
On April 21, the podcast’s second episode was released, titled “The Philosophy of Conflict.” The podcast will be a continuing series, encompassing a range of specified philosophical discussions. The podcast is available for listeners on YouTube and Spotify.
