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PALGRAVE STUDIES IN PERFORMANCE AND TECHNOLOGY Circus, Science and Technology Dramatising Innovation Edited by Anna-Sophie Jürgens Palgrave Studies in Performance and Technology Series Editors Susan Broadhurst School of Arts Brunel University Uxbridge, UK Josephine Machon Middlesex University London, UK This exciting and timely new series features cutting-edge books which centre on global and embodied approaches to performance and tech- nology. As well as focussing on digital performance and art, the series includes the theoretical and historical context relevant to these practices. Not only does the series offer fresh artistic and theoretical perspectives on this exciting and growing area of contemporary performance practice, butitalsoaimstoincludecontributorsfromawiderangeofinternational locations working within this varied discipline. The series includes edited collections and monographs on issues including (but not limited to): identity and live art; intimacy and engagement with technology; biotech- nology and artistic practices; technology, architecture and performance; performance, gender and technology; and space and performance. Editorial Advisory Board Philip Auslander Carol Brown Sita Popat Tracey Warr We welcome all ideas for new books and have provided guidelines for submitting proposals in the Authors section of our website. To discuss projectideasandproposalsforthisseriespleasecontacttheserieseditors: Susan Broadhurst: [email protected] Josephine Machon: [email protected] More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14604 Anna-Sophie Jürgens Editor Circus, Science and Technology Dramatising Innovation Editor Anna-Sophie Jürgens Australian National University Canberra, ACT, Australia Palgrave Studies in Performance and Technology ISBN 978-3-030-43297-3 ISBN 978-3-030-43298-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43298-0 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such namesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreefor general use. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinforma- tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen made.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmaps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Circus Flic Flac, Hannover 2015. Photo by Jürgen Bürgin This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Foreword As the editor of this volume of various and intriguing essays points out, the collection owes its existence to a conference entitled ‘Imagineers in Circus and Science’ held at the Humanities Research Centre (HRC) at theAustralianNationalUniversityin2018.TheHRCistheoldestcentre for humanities research in Australia, and I offer these prefatory remarks as its Director. Established in 1972 as a national and international centre for scholarly excellence and a catalyst for innovative and interdisciplinary research within the ANU and beyond, the HRC has hosted many of the world’s leading humanities scholars over the forty-odd years of its existence. One of its central functions has been to bring to the ANU scholars of international standing who will provoke fresh ideas within and beyond the academic community—like the scholars represented in this volume and like Anna-Sophie Jürgens herself, who for two years was resident in the HRC as a Feodor Lynen Postdoctoral Fellow, courtesy of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. As well as offering and administering a Visiting Fellows programme organised around an annual theme, the HRC funds and organises conferences and colloquia, like Anna-Sophie’s‘ImagineersinCircusandScience’,andtriestobridgethe gapbetweenthehumanities,thesocialsciencesandthesciences,including engineering.WithlinkstotheANU’sCentreforthePublicAwarenessof Science, the HRC considers the natural or ‘hard’ sciences, not as one of two cultures, but as an integral part of the one culture we all share as inquiring, thinking, feeling and acting human beings. With this in mind, v vi FOREWORD the HRC offers a platform for questions about how science and tech- nology are interpreted, valued, communicated and applied. Andsodoesthecircus,itturnsout,whichishardlysurprisingbecause it is precisely surprise and wonder that predominate in our experience of both science and the circus. ‘Imagineers in Circus and Science’ took place in April 2018 with delegates from around the world and the collaboration of a broad number of experts from disciplines as diverse as computer science, engineering, theatre, literary and cultural studies, andcircusperformance—allofthemrepresentedinthisvolumeofessays, which offers the reader the opportunity to savour the ideas and values shared by the delegates amongst themselves over the three engrossing daysoftheconference.(Aspartofthisconference,Anna-Sophielaunched the University’s first cross-campus competition for creative conference recording, with inspired results.) I commend Anna-Sophie’s energy and enthusiasm in gathering so many and such diverse scholars together, first as speakers and then as contributors, but most importantly let me commend to the reader the essaysthemselvesandtheirthought-provokingexplorationsoftheCircus, Science and Technology. Enjoy. William Christie Australian National University Canberra, ACT, Australia Acknowledgments Alexander von Humboldt was not a circus artist. He was not an engi- neer either. And yet the editor feels she needs to thank him first. After Humboldt’s death in 1859, friends of the polymath, naturalist, explorer and philosopher created a foundation with the aim to continue his generous support of young academics. 160 years later, it is a Feodor LynenPostdoctoralFellowshipoftheAlexandervonHumboldtFounda- tionthathasmadethisbookareality.Itgaveitseditortheopportunity,for whichsheisthoroughlygrateful,toconductresearchinAustralia.Equally important in the genesis of the volume is the generous support from the HumanitiesResearchCentre(HRC)attheAustralianNationalUniversity and its director, Will Christie. The chapters in this edited collection owe their existence to a conference titled ‘Imagineers in Circus and Science’ held at the HRC in 2018. The conference turned out to be an extremely inspiring, thought-provoking and momentous event, a vehicle for coop- eration and publications, not in the least thanks to an array of most supportive partners. The editor/conference organiser takes this oppor- tunity to thank them all: the National Science and Technology Centre (Questacon), the National Film and Sound Archive, Inspiring the ACT, the Warehouse Circus (Canberra’s youth circus), as well as Mark Eliott (Glassblowing Performance) and Karl Fischer (Magic Show). In addition, the editor is indebted to her colleague Rebecca Hender- shott for her intellectual contribution to this book; to Will Christie, vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Jochen Brocks, Kylie Message and Konrad Lenz for stimulating conver- sations at various stages in the process; to the University House at the Australian National University (aka Peter Kanowski and team) for awarding her a fellowship that contributed to the preparation of the book; and to Bert Peeters for clarifying key elements in the editor’s writing.Anonymousreviewersapproachedbythepublisherprovidedbril- liantadviceintheearlystagesofthebook,andaninternationalcohortof eminent scholars—including but probably not limited to Mark Cosdon, Richard Weihe, Matthias Christen, Stefan Buchenberger and Jessica Milner Davis—have been instrumental in their enthusiastic endorsement oftheeditor’s(ongoing)intellectualexplorationoftheintriguingcultural intricaciesandconnectionsbetweenpopularperformanceandtechnology, particularly the delicious art of clowning and engineering. The editor expresses her heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of them. Amongstthecontributors,KatieLaverswouldliketoacknowledgethe Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at Edith Cowan Univer- sityfortheirongoingsupportofherresearch,andforagrantawardedfor transcriptionpurposes.Likewise,JonBurttisindebtedtotheDepartment of Media, Music, Communication, and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University for ongoing support of his research. Erin Ball is very appre- ciative of the love and support of everyone who has been a part of her journey. Last but not least, the editor thanks all the contributors to Circus, Science and Technology. Collectively, they have challenged Arthur C. Clarke’s famous dictum that advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Their cooperation in preparing their chapters on technology and circus in culture was definitely magic, too. Canberra May 2019 Praise for Circus,Scienceand Technology “Circus, Science and Technology: Dramatising Innovation brings together a remarkable collection of essays demonstrating the sheer ingenuity, daring, engineering and wonder of the circus and its allied arts. Docu- mentingandtheorisingattheintersectionsofscienceandhumanimagina- tion,theseleadingauthorsremindusofcircus’spast,presentandpossible future as a crucial site of spectacle, imagination and awe.” —Mark Cosdon, Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies, Allegheny College, USA. Author of The Hanlon Brothers: From Daredevil Acrobatics to Spectacle Pantomime, 1833–1931 ∗ ∗ ∗ “In addition to its interventionist, interdisciplinary and transhistorical approach, shedding new light on the relationship between the circus and science (both broadly conceived), Circus, Science and Technology bril- liantly rethinks the faculty of technology as an innovative source for popular entertainments, also considering its essential role in the dissem- ination of circus innovation as human achievement across cultures, time andthe‘mutualshaping’ofperformancespaces.Jürgenshasmeticulously curated a selection of essays from leading scholars, resulting in a radiant ix

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