The Body as Deus Ex Machina: Revealing the Stage through Apparatus: An Experiential Study on EcoPoetry and VocalAesthesis in Natural Environments

Περίληψη

The stage is revealed through performative practices that arise from the interaction of bodies and moment. These bodies are often related to one another in a performative manner. In this paper, a metaphorical framework will be developed through this relationality. The space, as a stage, creates an axis of bodily traces and relationships that can be defined using ropes, ties, and apparatuses. The first body is the performer, or deus ex machina, who moves through these mechanisms. The second body, on the other hand, is responsible for establishing the apparatus; it is a productive figure who initiates and has authority. After Futurism, movement became prominent in performance-based practices. Performance became a material for scenes in which spatial boundaries were challenged. In Archias's art discourse, the body is transformed into a concrete body with ambiguous spatial presence, agency, and bodily expression. The performing body, by its nature, becomes a performative and constructed object that relies on the apparatuses to demonstrate its existence. In twentieth-century theatre scenes, the boundaries of ancient theatre gradually faded, and a new definition of stage emerged. Artists, such as Sophie Taeuber-Arp in King Stag and Allan Kaprow in The Courtyard 1962, used action-based and immersive apparatuses to transform space into a performative mechanism. They emphasised that integration by physically or metaphorically connecting discursive or indicative narratives to the ropes, restoring societal realism and roles. This paper examines Euripides' concept of "deus ex machina" through a conceptual approach that explores the stage space using apparatuses that manipulate the movement of the body on it. The performances under consideration involve mechanical systems with attached performer bodies, such as marionettes, humans, or objects. The stage spaces of the twentieth century reveal a new opportunity to reflect artistic understanding.