Circus, Science and Technology: Dramatising Innovation

203 Pages·2020·4.182 MB·English

by  Anna-Sophie Jürgens

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
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of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
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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
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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
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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
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