Today I uploaded my conference paper, “Beyond the Singular Voice: Mask Performance and Embodied Authorship in Artistic Research,” to Academia.edu.
The paper grew from my experience of presenting at the Asia Pacific Artistic Research Network (APARN) Conference in Singapore. Looking back at the presentation, I keep thinking about how much performance teaches me through the body.
During the conference, I had an opportunity to be asked a question about my masks — why are they not characters? This question made me reflect on my own process.
My answer was quite simple: when I create a mask, I am not really thinking about creating a character. I am thinking about the mask itself, how it works with the body, how it moves, and how it can bring a group of performers together. The mask becomes a way of connecting the performers and creating a shared presence.
This also connects to my thinking about authorship. When we perform together, I am not only thinking about what each individual performer represents. I am thinking about how the whole group moves, responds, connects, and creates something together.
It was a very interesting experience for me, and the question stayed with me after the conference. At the same time, I am now thinking that for a while I would like to perform alone. Working alone could give me more flexibility to follow my own movement, respond to the space, and see where the performance takes me without having to organise the movement of a group.
Perhaps this is another part of my research — moving between collective performance and being alone with the mask and the body, and seeing what each situation can teach me.
Uploading the paper today feels like a small moment to pause, look back at the performance, and recognise what I am continuing to learn through practice.