Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space

Authors

  • Marleena Huuhka University of Tampere

Keywords:

nomadism, mimesis

Abstract

This essay focuses on nomadism as a way of navigating and existing in virtual performance spaces, such as Minecraft. As nomadic thought is present not only in philosophy but also in art, we can assume that game play as performative action also has nomadic qualities. In my examples, the nomadic attitude includes the non-human materialities in interaction with the player. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the nomad worker does not reproduce, he/she follows, embarking on journeys in both immobility and distance. The avatar/performer in Minecraft is such a worker, engaging in endless functionless labor, that in itself is creative and ever forward-striving and, therefore, mimetic. I discuss possible ways in which the nomadic approach practiced in performance studies could be applied to the study of video games as spaces of performance and what kind of perspectives on mimesis could be opened through this line of thought.

References

ADKINS, Brent, 2015. Deleuze and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus. A Critical Introduction and Guide. Edinburgh University Press.

BENNETT, Jane, 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of things. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

BRAIDOTTI, Rosi, 1994. Nomadic Subjects. Columbia University Press.

DELEUZE, Gilles and GUATTARI, Felix, 2014. A Thousand Plateaus. Bloomsbury.

ROIHANKORPI, Riku, 2015. Performing (the Subject of) Exteriority: Virtuality, Mīmēsis, and the Gratuitous 'One Must'. In: Teoksessa MATTHEW CAUSEY, Emma MEEHAN & Néill O'DWYER (toim.) The Performing Subject in the Space of Technology. Through the Virtual, Towards the Real. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 99-116.

ŽUKAUSKAITĖ, Audronė, 2015. Nomadic Performativity and the Immanent Ethics of Life, Nordic Theatre Studies, vol. 27 no.1, p.11-21.

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Published

2020-08-16

How to Cite

Huuhka, M. (2020) “Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space”, Symbolon, 17(2(31), pp. 38–44. Available at: http://uartpress.ro/journals/index.php/symbolon/article/view/103 (Accessed: 8 May 2024).

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 2(31) (2016)

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License
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