Co-performing City: An Urban-Topographic Rotation as an Act of Reclaiming Public Spaces

Περίληψη

In the summer of 2023, the creators of the immersive multimedia walking performance Novi Sad, the Illusive Haven, enacted an urban-topographic rotation between two public spaces of Novi Sad. This was inspired by Janez Kocijančić's conceptual artwork Project 3p4a2k (1971), in which several public spaces in Novi Sad rotate their positions and functions as a "creative-aesthetic act," otherwise impossible in reality.

The performance thematically focused on the loss of the social dimension of public spaces in cities undergoing transition, where commercial interests progressively reshape urban life in favour of private capital, rather than the needs of the people. Aiming to reclaim public spaces through socially engaged art, the action involved staging the city beach (Štrand) in the centrally located public square (Katolička porta). It was conceptualised as an occupation act, within the framework of filming a scene for a multimedia performance.

Drawing on the concept of spatial co-performativity, the paper analyses this specific scene of the performance, focusing on the role the public space acquires through its performative dialogue with the action. By introducing an unexpected activity of sunbathing, into the busy pedestrian zone of the city centre, where dancers, actors, and passersby took on the roles of beachgoers, the loosely staged action unfolded over four hours of filming. In the final performance, the video served as a fictional, surreal layer confronted with the everyday reality of the square, while the act of producing the video itself functioned as a subversive performative rupture within the everyday conventions of this public space, making it an integral and active protagonist of the overall performance.