"Unreason & Madness"

Keywords: madness, unreason, social constructions, norms, conventions, control

research

During this class, you will be introduced to the topic of madness and unreason. We will explore a variety of questions, such as: What is the relationship between madness and unreason? Should we analyze them rather through the lens of the "moral" or the "mental"? What is the reason and the consequence for considering madness as a "mental illness"? Who designated and empowered authorities (eg. medical, psychiatric, judicial...) to judge, treat and control madness? How cultural, intellectual and economic structures determine our understanding of madness? What madness has to do with gender, society, and construction? Would every society constructs its own experience of madness? How? What is the relationship between madness, art, and the figure of the artist? If madness is linked to creativity, what about it's power of annihilation and destruction? Why modern societies fail to listen to the voice of the mad? Why don't we offer us a chance of understanding unreason?

Following readings (poetry, literature, philosophy, such as Foucault, Nietzsche, Nerval, Artaud, ...) and discussions (self-examination, personal stories, life experiences...) related to the topic, you will make thematic movement research and structured improvisation exercises, create performances and choreographies, discover new methods and tools to generate both new material and seeds for the work you are in the midst of creating. So as to stimulate different parts of the brain and the body, you will move back and forth between moving, writing, and drawing.

activities will involve

Performance, movement research, improvisation, creative writing, discussion, sketching, sharing...