Performance Art As a Dynamic Imaginative Niche Intersubjective Achievement of Seeing Differently

In this paper, we intend to enrich the notion of a ‘dynamic imaginative niche’ that refers to how we actively construct the socio-material living environment to foster surprise and enhance playful exploration through ‘intersubjective achievement.’ We will stress the role of interpersonal imagination in the transformation typical of performing arts, where the participants collectively go from “seeing to seeing differently”, as Noë writes in Strange Tools (2015). We think of achievement as a reconfiguration of perception, as a break in unreflective engagement with the world, calling attention to the structures and attitudes that shape our everyday experience. To do this, we will use Anne Imofh’s performance Faust, presented at the Biennale of Venice 2017, as a tangible example.