Artistic Research Project (2020-2022)
Principal Investigators: Renata Epifanio Lamenza and Stef Assandri
AP Schools of Art / Royal Academy of Fine Art Antwerp and Royal Conservatoire Antwerp

Joonas Lahtinen was an advisor and collaborator (Researcher (>1) ) in the 2-year-project TACTICS for a COLLECTIVE BODY that explored collectivity and the relationships between performers and the audience in participatory settings. The research process included experimentation on love letter writing and the use of LED tickers as tools for non-hierarchical research dialogue between the investigators, and for facilitating non-coercive participation both  in the sharing & showing event Soup Session at de Wintertuin gallery / project space of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in May 2022, and in the final presentation of the research project and its results, PPP* evening, at the het bos art venue in Antwerp in September 2022.

Detailed analysis of and reflection on the project will be provided in a forthcoming article (2025), more info to follow!

"TACTICS for a COLLECTIVE BODY experiments with the nuances of combining the words collective (>1) to body (=1) to reinforce its flexibility. In the search for collectiveness, this project will invest in new possibilities of thinking the relationship between the performer and the audience. Could we suppose performance as a privileged artistic practice in order to study the potentialities of interaction between performer and audience? The relocation of Judith Butler’s theory about performativity will be a tool to investigate this relationship. If audience and performer are both understood as roles that are being performed, would it be possible to propose different acts for them in order to change the way they are perceived? Through experimenting with methodologies that hybridize theory and practice, the research intends to expand the individual and unitary body through performance, to create a sense of community, dismantling and re-articulating the construction of the body. Collective work is perceived as a powerful tool to achieve it. TACTICS for a COLLECTIVE BODY proposes rhizomatic dialogues around collectiveness, performativity, and experimental and hybrid practices. By formulating tactics as useful tools, the aim is to contribute to the artistic research and to broaden the possibilities and discussion within collective working. Could collectiveness be a possible agent to achieve a more inclusive and diverse discourse in the art field?" (TACTICS for a COLLECTIVE BODY, AP Arts)