Exploring Performative Liminality

Περίληψη

In a quest for Performative Urbanism, we believe performativity can uncover new tools and processes for the urban regeneration of liminal spaces. Turner describes liminality as a fundamental characteristic of performance, as a field of “pure possibility” (Turner, 1967). Van Gennep’s performative rites of “passage” (Van Gennep, 1909) constitute the life of a human being, in which the “liminal rite” is an in-between stage marked by uncertainty and ambiguity. The liminality of the Los Angeles River (LA River) lies in its current transitional status, seeking to become a naturalized public amenity while maintaining its function as a flood control channel. We developed a pedagogical experiment along the Los Angeles River involving a site-specific performance as a liminal rite. Our collaborative research demonstrates that “performative liminality” can serve as a relational and transitional tool for activating spatial affordances (Gibson, 1979) and as a strategy for transforming liminal sites.