Machines, Spide s and Buccanee s
WALKING AROUND THE SUN. No es on Eu ope. The Dogma ic Sleep.
104
Dis igu ing Figu es
The poli ical po en iali y
o Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as’s
cho eog aphic wo k
Alexand a Balona
Depa ing om he Ge man philologis E ich Aue bach’s ounda ional s udy on
he genealogy o igu a—a concep ha , belonging o he h ee di e en ields
o heology, he o ic and isual a s, has laid he ounda ions o he heo ies and
p ac ices o Wes e n Eu opean ep esen a ion — and ollowing he e o mu-
la ions by F eud, Gilles Deleuze, and Lyo a d o his in luen ial no ion o igu a as
inde e minacy be ween o m and p ocess, he isible and he in isible, sensi-
ble and in elligible, he co po eal and he spi i ual, his pape wishes o add ess
how he cho eog aphed igu es o ambi alence, hyb idi y and me amo phosis in
Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as’ wo ks, namely, in he solo wo k Guin che, se he s age
o a con empo a y c i icali y o some o he s uc u ing
pos ula es o Eu opean mode ni y.
Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as, con empo a y dance,
igu e, igu al, decolonial
KEYWORDS
Eu opean G adua e School & Lisbon Conso ium FCH-UCP, Swi ze land and Po ugal
ABSTRACT
DISFIGURING FIGURES
THE POLITICAL POTENTIALITY OF MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS’S CHOREOGRAPHIC WORK
Alexand a Balona 105
Th ough he cho eog aphed igu es, be ween he human and non-human, he anima ed and inanima e,
he subjec and he objec , gende , ace “species luidi y”? he Cape Ve dean cho eog aphe Ma lene
Mon ei o F ei as, Lisbon-based and awa ded he Sil e Lion by he Venice Biennale in 2018—an
awa d o he cho eog aphe e ela ion o he gene a ion—c ea es dance ealms o amazemen in
a pe manen play o dis igu a ion and ans igu a ion.
Summoning a conside able oeu e, om he ea ly pieces—P imei a Imp essão (2005), La a (2006),
A Imp obabilidade da Ce eza (2006), Uns e Ou os (2008), and A Se iedade do Animal (2009-10)— he
cho eog aphe de eloped in e na ional ecogni ion since he solo Guin che (2010), ollowing wi h
he g oup pieces Pa aíso – colecção p i ada [Pa adise-p i a e collec ion] (2012), de ma im e ca ne – as
es á uas ambém so em [o i o y and lesh – he s a ues also su e ] (2014), he due Jagua (2015) wi h
And eas Me k, and Bacan es – P elúdio pa a uma pu ga [Bacchae. P elude o a pu ge] (2017).
In luenced by s a egies o hyb idi y, animism and he uncanny, he ic ional cons uc s no only des -
abilize Wes e n Eu opean hea ical appa a uses, as hey un a el he assump ion o he mode n
Wes e n subjec 's au onomy and s abili y, ques ioning i s uni e sali y, and s aging ins ead, c ea u es
in ela ional and uns able p ocesses o subjec i ica ion. In he own wo ds, he a is ic uni e se is
ancho ed in ‘in ensi y, openness, and impu i y’ (F ei as, 2013), wi h cho eog aphic p oposals o gan-
ized h ough unexpec ed me amo phic dynamics, sub e ing any a ional meaning o hea ical
na a i e. The e o e, he e ogeneous in he singula i y o each hea ical happening, he cho eog a-
phe seeks he ansmission o a o ce, o pa hos, be ween he dance e en and he audience, a he
han he communica ion o a meaning o a message. Fo Ma lene, as she unde lines, ‘ he hea ical
expe ience o he dance wo ks exis s in a hi d space: ha o he encoun e be ween wo o ces, he
one p oduced by he pe o mance on s age and he o he emana ed by he spec a o in he audi-
ence’ (F ei as, 2017). Thus, o app oach Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as’ cho eog aphic wo lds is o ela e
o hea ical scenes ha a e always open and ne e sel -enclosed, ha (dis)o ganize hemsel es
h ough s angeness and con adic o y dynamics, whe e he ela ions be ween he isible and he
in isible, cause and e ec , pe cei ing and hinking — and om he e o w i ing — can no longe be
aken o g an ed as a uni ied discou se, bu as uns able onei ic assemblages.
Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as was bo n in Sal, and li ed in São Vicen e, Cape Ve de, un il he ea ly adul -
hood. Al hough he wo k goes a beyond iden i y poli ics o pos colonial c i ic, i is ele an o
add ess he singula i y o Cape Ve de, an a chipelago popula ed by Po uguese colonize s, which
E e y hing changes; no hing dies; he soul
Roams o and o, now he e, now he e, and akes
Wha ame i will, passing om beas o man,
F om ou own o m o beas and ne e dies.
As yielding wax is s amped wi h new designs
And changes shape and seems no s ill he same,
Ye i is indeed he same, e en so ou souls
In hei mig a ions e e -changing o ms. O id, Me amo phosis
Machines, Spide s and Buccanee s
WALKING AROUND THE SUN. No es on Eu ope. The Dogma ic Sleep.
106
be ween he 15 h and he end o he 17 h cen u y became a ele an comme cial ading place o he
ansa lan ic sla e ade. Acco ding o F ançoise Ve gès (2007: 141), he p ocess o c eoliza ion o ig-
ina es om he sla e ade in he i s global capi alism, which by means o iolence, inequali y and
su i al, se s o h a con inuous p ocess o cul u al imposi ion and app op ia ion; hus, i is no he
esul o a ee and spon aneous encoun e be ween cul u es (Fe nandes, 2006: 78). In his coun y
g ounded, he e o e, in he iangula ion o h ee con inen s—Eu ope, A ica and Ame ica—, he
subjec esul s om a p ocess o adap a ion and c ea ion o an always open and new collec i e iden-
i y, di e en om he o igina ing colonial one.
C eoliza ion, acco ding o Édoua d Glissan , goes beyond miscegena ion, which esul s om “an
encoun e and syn hesis be ween wo di e en wo lds” (B anco, 2016: 11). C eoliza ion exceeds
miscegena ion, and as Glissan pos ula es i is a “boundless miscegena ion, whose elemen s a e
mul iplied and he esul is unp edic able. C eoliza ion di ac s, while ce ain modes o miscege-
na ion may e u n and concen a e” (Ci . in B anco, 2016: 11).
Ve gès also men ions ha he plu ali y o possibili ies unde lying c eoliza ion de i es om i s sense
o “b icolage”, abso bing wha is a ailable, ein e p e ing and ec ea ing c ea i ely new o ms o
cul u al mani es a ions, dis inc om he o iginal ones (idem). This idea o c eaoliza ion as b ico-
lage, o as cul u al cannibalism, in he sense ha each subjec app op ia es he bes o he o he
cul u e and einco po a es i , ein en ing a new o m, is ele an o unde s anding he aspec o c eo-
liza ion in Ma lene’s cho eog aphies. Thus, he wo k e lec s his po en iali y o openness ha cha -
ac e izes he p ocesses o c eoliza ion, as well as he a chipelagic condi ion o Cape Ve de (whe e
each island has i s speci ic c eole, i s adi ions and cul u al mani es a ions). Especially ele an in
he ci y o Mindelo, island o São Vicen e, whe e she li ed, was he in luence o he comme cial po ,
wi h he a i als o new s ange s and hei no el ies, as well as he peaks o collec i e emo ion ha
accompanied each e en on he island.
In addi ion, music, hy hm and dance, as p o ound cul u al aces o Cape Ve dean cul u e, lea e hei
senso ial and bodily imp in s in he cho eog aphies. O ex eme ele ance o he c ea i e p ocess,
‘music,’ s a es he cho eog aphe , ‘allows [he ] and he pe o me s o access ce ain a eas and speci ic
image y’ which o he wise would be impossible o access o ansmi . (F ei as, en e is a).
Fu he mo e, as can be expe ienced in São Vicen e Ca ni al, one o he keys one e e ence o Ma lene's
cul u al Cape Ve dean he i age— he i ual o u opia, o being o he , o me amo phosis and excess,
‘ he es i al o joy ul o he ness’ (Code ch, 1999: 15)—he wo k does no wi ness he des uc ion o
opposi es, bu a he hei ci cula s uc u ing, whe e all unp edic abili y may occu . In o he wo ds,
he cho eog aphe seems mo e a ac ed by he ension and ci cula i y be ween pola i ies han by
emphasizing hei opposi ions. Among some o hese pola i ies a e he Apollonian and he Diony-
sian, echoing on he pa h o Nie zsche he di e ences be ween he a ionali y o he beau i ul e sus
he o mless and he o e whelming na u e o he sublime, bu also he poles be ween human and
non-human animali y, he subjec and he objec , he mode n and he p emode n, li e and dea h, he
anima e and inanima e, he conscious and he unconscious, he clean and he di y, he mechanized
e sus he o ganic and he isce al, jus o name a ew o he dicho omies o en a play in he wo k.
DISFIGURING FIGURES
THE POLITICAL POTENTIALITY OF MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS’S CHOREOGRAPHIC WORK
Alexand a Balona 107
In ac , Ma lene’s igu es equen ly embody he mechanic mo emen o ma ione es and puppe s,
s a ues ha a e endowed wi h li e, pe i ied human igu es, hyb id c ea u es be ween he human
and he non-human animal, wi h e e ences o bi ds, dogs, ho ses, o apes, in a pe manen p ocess
o ins abili y and ambi alence. Opening space o he unp edic able and con adic o y o be s aged
as i he e we e no con adic ion a all, he dance wo ks p opose unde ined, uns able, non-con ined
onei ic wo lds, whe e amilia i y and s angeness co-exis .
Fo each singula wo k he cho eog aphe depa s om an on-going and eclec ic a las o isual, musical
and heo e ical e e ences ha e eal he p o ound knowledge on a ious sphe es— om Wes e n
his o y o a , iconology and an h opology o image o psychoanalysis—an a las ha is hei o he
Wa bu gian me hodology o a his o y and cul u e s udies (Kul u wissenscha ). Howe e ele an
his s uc u al mapping may be, he dance pe o mance i sel is nei he a collec ion no a mon age
o hose e e ences, bu a he he esul o an uncanny diges ing p ocess ha culmina es in he
a wo k, which acco ding o he cho eog aphe seems o ha e a li e and a will o i s own, one ha
he sel is unawa e o , and canno con ol.
In a play wi h o e -de e mined images and igu es, he me hodology is eminiscen o he ou p ocesses
o he d eam-wo k, which Sigmund F eud called condensa ion, disloca ion, condi ions o ep esen -
abili y (o igu abili y) and second elabo a ion.
Thus, o see Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as’ cho eog aphic wo ks, ollowing Didi-Hube man's e lec ions on
image and ime, means o wi ness a complex empo ali y, ‘an ex ao dina y mon age o he e ogeneous
imes o ming anach onisms’ (Didi-Hube man: 2017, 18). In each dance wo k, Ma lene ope a es, as we
will see below, wi h ‘malleable cul u al and cogni i e ools, duc ile wax ools ha gain, be ween each
hand and agains each ma e ial (...), a di e en meaning and use alue’ (idem). I is in his pa adoxical
ecundi y o he bodies ma e iali y and o he empo al anach onism gi en by he images she con eys
ha he wo k allows access o mul iple s a i ied imes, because, as Didi-Hube man says, ‘when o ms
su i e, his o y opens’ (Didi-Hube man: 2017, 35). In his ime ame o he cho eog aphic e en ha
is, hen, mo e han p esen , he dance wo ks appea as a shock, a ip, an ou bu s ha s angles in
s angeness, as i hey we e a lash o ligh , lea ing he spec a o bo h con used and ascina ed, some-
imes ou aged o disa ec ed. The eac ions a e di e se, mul iple and dispa a e.
I is ou belie ha he idiosync a ic s angeness de i ing om Ma lene's wo k is caused, abo e all, by he
ins abili y no only o he composi e igu es she c ea es and which des abilize he iewe ’s expec a-
ions, bu also by he dissolu ion o he mos di e se epis emological on ie s, aes he ic, iden i a ian,
gende , humanis ic, among o he s, es ablishing a space o simul aneous con adic ion, o e -de e mi-
na ion and hyb idi y. This openness, as we ied o demons a e a he beginning o his e lec ion, is
also eng ained in he poe ics o Ma lene’s cul u e o c eoliza ion as an open-ended p ocess ha ein e-
g a es and app op ia es e e ences, in o de o sub e he sou ces, and ( e)in en he unexpec ed. This
is insepa able om a decolonial p axis, an a wo k as a o m o li e con aining, as Glissan men ioned,
he idea o c eoliza ion as a “poe ics o ela ion” (Glissan , 1997). In addi ion, he p ocess o c eoliza-
ion may also ha e a esonance in he p ocesses o dis igu a ion and ans igu a ion ha a e eng ained
in he me hodological p ac ice.
Machines, Spide s and Buccanee s
WALKING AROUND THE SUN. No es on Eu ope. The Dogma ic Sleep.
108
Then, how does Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as’ wo k e isi Wes e n Eu opean epis emological and a is ic
legacy in o de o disloca e i h ough s a egies o condensa ion, ans igu a ion and condi ions o
igu abili y? How do he composi e and hyb id igu es open a discu si e space o decolonial c i ical
-
i y-as-p axis? How does i p oposes isual and pe o ma i e amewo ks upon which o ( e)add ess
Cape Ve dean en angled c eole cul u al aces, o e lapped on a iangula ion be ween A ica, Eu ope
and Ame ica? These a e some o he ques ions we p opose o add ess in his essay, depa ing om
a close eading o he long and ambi alen concep o igu a, and igu al wo k, and ge ing a close
look in o Ma lene’s solo Guin che.
Whe he hey a e musicians o dance s, Ma lene names he pe o me s as igu es, since igu es allow o
g ea e openness and ins abili y o play, o m and con en , and a e less condi ioned han hea ical
cha ac e s. This e lec s he ele ance o he concep o igu e in he c ea i e me hodology, equi ing
a deep his o ical in es iga ion o he e m, and i s ex ended concep o igu al wo k.
In e ec , since he nine een h cen u y, a is s ha e been ques ioning he mime ic ela ion be ween he
eal, ep esen a ion and i s mise-en-scène, and playw i e s and d ama u ges ha e been ying o e ase
om he scene he hea ical cha ac e as he illusion o a plausible subjec , agains an es ablished bou -
geois idea o mimesis. Indeed, wi h an unce ain s a us and a oubled mode o exis ence, since Robe
Abi ached, i is ha d o e oke he hea ical cha ac e o he han in a s a e o c isis (Se mon: 2004, 5).
In his well-known wo k L’A eni du d ame (1999), Jean-Paul Sa azac un a els he complexi y o he
d ama ic cha ac e , p oposing o i he e m ‘Figu es d’homme’ (9), whe e he au ho poin s ou
ha he symbolic ele a ion o he hea ical cha ac e is simul aneous wi h an accen ua ion o he
body. ‘La igu e’, Sa azac e e s, ‘ne ep ésen e donc ni l’hypos ase ni la dissolu ion mais un nou eau
s a u du pe sonnage d ama ique: pe sonnage incomple e disco dan qui en appelle au spec a eu
pou p end e o me; pe sonnage à cons ui e¹ (idem). One
can ace hese wo ele an poin s in Ma lene’s wo k: on he
one hand, he accen ua ion o he body by he ele ance o he
dance igu e; on he o he , he dialogic ela ion be ween he
wo k and he audience, wi h he igu al wo k being no only cons uc ed by he cho eog aphe , bu
also and h ough he gaze o each singula spec a o .
In he mains eam cho eog aphic lexicon, he wo k o he igu e may e e o ‘ he mo emen ha makes
a singula dance execu ion a speci ic ecognizable igu a ion, pe aining ei he o an es ablished
epe oi e, ... o schemas ha ha e become
canonical by epe i ion’ (AAVV: 2016-17)².
In addi ion, ‘in he hea ical ocabula y, a
common unde s anding o igu e would ela e
o he cons uc ion o he hea ical cha ac-
e ’ (idem). In bo h senses, he ende ing o
a isible igu e in o a ecognizable and a che ypal one would e e o a p ocess o igu a ion. Wha
Dis igu ing Figu es
‘The igu e hus ep esen s nei he he hypos asis
no he dissolu ion bu a new s a us o he d ama ic
cha ac e : incomple e and disco dan cha ac e who
calls on he spec a o o ake shape; he cha ac e
o build.’ [my ansla ion.]
¹
F om Feb ua y 2016 o Ma ch 2017 La Manu ac u e, a esea ch depa men
om Hau e École Spécialisée de Suisse occiden ale (HES.SO), in Lausanne,
o ganized a esea ch p ojec en i led Le T a ail de la igu e: que donne à
oi une danse?, wi h a eam composed o Loïc Touzé, Ma hieu Bou ie ,
Rémi Hé i ie , Alice God oy, Anne Lengle , and in i ed esea che s. Fo
de ailed in o ma ion, consul : h p://www.manu ac u e.ch/ /1895/Figu e.
The esea ch ou come was published in as Bou ie , Ma hieu (2017) (Ed.),
Pou un a las des igu es in h p://www.pou una lasdes igu es.ne /a las.
²

DISFIGURING FIGURES
THE POLITICAL POTENTIALITY OF MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS’S CHOREOGRAPHIC WORK
Alexand a Balona 109
‘... nume ous a oms a e in cons an mo ion; hey mo e
abou in he oid, combine and epel one ano he : a
dance o igu es,’ (Aue bach: 1959, 17).
⁵
eme ges in Ma lene’s wo k is p ecisely an in e se and much deepe concep o igu e, one closely
a ached o ‘a no ion o igu al wo k, a p ocess ha disengages he co po al igu es om any igu-
a i e wo k, mobilizing he o ces o dis igu emen and ans igu a ion, inhe en o he imagina y’,
and he unconscious, ‘as acul ies no o o ming images, bu o dis o ing hem’ (idem).
In his ounda ional s udy Figu a (1938),³ E ich Aue bach un a elled he philological e olu ion o he
wo d igu a om i s o igin un il he Middle
Ages, acing i s cen ali y o he Wes e n
his o y o ep esen a ion. Wi h he same
e ymological oo as inge e, igulus, ic o
(sculp o , he one ha gi es shape and a
igu e o he hing), and e igies (imago, seal, emblem), igu a o iginally mean “plas ic o m” (Aue -
bach: 1959, 11), bu i was always associa ed wi h some hing li able, dynamic, and incomple e, a chang-
ing aspec ha an h ough he his o y o he concep , namely, h ough he wo ks o Va o, Luc ecio
and Cice o. In ac , G eek ocabula y was much iche and had di e en e ms o he concep o
o m, namely, ‘mo phe, eidos, schema, ypos, plasis,’ and in he he o ical and philosophical ex s o
Pla o and A is o le ‘a clea di iding line was d awn pa icula ly be ween mo phe and eidos on he one
hand, and schema on he o he : mo phe and eidos we e he o m o idea which “in o ms” ma e ;
schema was he pu ely pe cep ual shape’ (14).⁴ Acco ding o
Aue bach, igu a none heless kep i s o iginal plas ic signi-
ica ion, since ‘ ypos, “imp in ”, and plasis, plasma, “plas ic
o m” we e o en ende ed by igu a’, de eloping om ‘ ypos
he use o igu a as “imp in o he seal,’ (15), as a seal s amped in wax. Fu he mo e, igu a expanded
also in o no ions o ‘s a ue’, ‘image’, ‘po ai ’, ‘ o impinge on he domain o s a ua, and e en o imago,
e igies, species, simulac um’ (idem).
In addi ion, in his g ound b eaking wo k De Re um Na u a, On he Na u e o Things ( i s cen u y BC),
he oman poe and philosophe ‘Luc e ius uses igu a in he G eek philosophical sense’ (16),
as no es Aue bach, bu in a ee and mo e signi ican way, ansposing he e m ‘ om he plas-
ic o he audi o y sphe e’, as igu es o speech, o he ‘ ansi ion om he o m o i s imi a ion,
om model o copy, … whe e o m and imago a e oo solidly ancho ed in one o he o he o he
wo meanings’ (idem). Fu he on, ‘i is in Luc e ius whe e i s igu a is employed in he sense
o “d eam-image”, … “ghos ”’ (17). And p o essing ‘ he cosmogony o Democ i us and Epicu us,
acco ding o which he wo ld is buil up wi h a oms’, he
philosophe some imes calls ‘ igu ae’ o hese a oms ha
in pe manen mo ion gi e o m o he cosmos.⁵
O id’s Me amo phosis, an ex emely in luen ial wo k o Ma lene, was also a signi ican con ibu ion
o he no ion o igu a as ‘changing o m’ (21), in he sense o ‘imp in o he seal’ in wax (22), and as
‘mobile, changeable, mul i o m, and decep i e (23).
The Middle Ages and he Renaissance, acco ding o he Ge man philologis , s ill a ach a g ea deal o
impo ance o he a o igu es o speech. Bu la e on, behind pagan an iqui y, he Ch is ian Fa he s
Figu a was i s published in A chi um Romanicum 22 (1938): 436–89 and
hen eissued in 1939 by Leo S. Olschiki in Flo ence as a sel -s anding o p in .
I was ep in ed in E ich Aue bach, Neue Dan es udien (Is anbul, 1944),
pp. 11–71 and again in his Gesammel e Au sä ze zu omanischen Philologie
(Be lin, 1967), pp. 55–92. The i s English ansla ion was by Ralph Manheim
in Aue bach, Scenes om he D ama o Eu opean Li e a u e: Six Essays (New
Yo k, 1959), pp. 11–76. I will be ci ing om his 1959 English edi ion.
³
The wo ds mo phe and eidos we e gene ally
ansla ed in La in as o ma, close o he idea o he
model; and igu a was a common ansla ion o he
wo d schema, a G eek e m widely used in he o ic,
ma hema ics, geome y, g amma and logic.
⁴
Machines, Spide s and Buccanee s
WALKING AROUND THE SUN. No es on Eu ope. The Dogma ic Sleep.
110
In he con ex o a esea ch p ojec by Manu ac u e, Lausanne (HES.SO) en i led Le a ail de la igu e: que donne à oi une danse? (2016-17),
he p ojec di ec o s ha e exp essed: ‘Ainsi, loin de désigne un quelconque ype cho ég aphique, le mo de igu e indique pou nous l’épiphanie
sensible ou la oyance qui, au spec acle du ges e, ai su ec ion dans le co ps e e ac ion dans la o me, y é eille des su i ances e des
mémoi es, anime l’oeil d’é anges excès de ision: une image i uelle dans le mou emen , un y hme dans l’image, une o ce dans la o me, une
dissemblance dans la essemblance, lapsus isuel ou mi age sensible.’ (Bou ie : 2017).
⁸
Fu he on, he concep o igu a also acqui ed a empo al and p emoni o y condi ion, and igu al in e p e a ion, o a igu al iew o his o y,
became widesp ead up o he Middle Ages wi h a mix u e o spi i uali y and a sense o eali y. I p oceeded h ough he i s mode ni y o
he XV-XVII cen u ies, wi h disloca ions o senses in a seman ic de elopmen ha g ounded some o s uc u es ha would be e ec i e o
many cen u ies and in di e en ields o knowledge.
⁷
The igu al in e p e a ion o his o y by he Ch is ian Fa he s, om Te ulian o Augus ine, was hen used as a mission om he 4 h cen u y
on, combining he conc e e and plas ic meaning o igu a as o m wi h a mo e abs ac meaning o a ‘ he o ical image ha conceals,
ans o ms, and e en decei es’ (Aue bach: 1959, 35).
⁶
ga e an ex emely ele an con ibu ion o he ambi alence o he concep o igu e, by in e p e ing
he e en s o he Old Tes amen as p ophe ic p e igu a ions o he New Tes amen . In his igu al
eading, he igu a o he Old Tes amen co esponded o umb a o imago, ‘in he sense o “deepe
meaning in e e ence o u u e hings”’ o come, and he New Tes amen was called ‘ e i as’ (35-36).
Figu a, hen ‘appea s also as an idol, as d eam igu e o as a ision’, bu ‘by a he mos o en, i appea s
as p e igu a ion’ (idem), bo h spi i ual and ca nal.⁶ The e m igu a, hen, acqui ed a heological,
he o ical and he meneu ical ele ance, p oducing an alliance be ween spi i uali y and eali y, whe e
inde e minacy and openness we e cons i u i e o he e m's ichness and complexi y.⁷
The ele ance o obse ing he mu a ions o he concep o igu e is no ewo hy no only because o he
new icono- ex ual gen es ha appea , bu also because o a mo e deeply new way o hinking, esul -
ing om a e unding o igu a i e hough in e ms o a humanis symbolism, which has pe aded all
a eas o Eu opean cul u e. As in O id’s Me amo phosis, igu e embodies his possibili y o pe manen
change, while emaining he same, as he wax ma e ial ha can be molded in o di e en igu es bu
keeps i s ma e iali y. Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as has o en e e ed o how she is in e es ed in he
possibili y o being o he (s), while a he same ime emaining he same.
Dance is, in ac , a ield o po en iali y o wi nessing he singula wo k o igu es in mo emen , ei he in
he con igu a ion o cho eog aphies o in he ans igu ing p ocesses o me amo phoses o ges u es
and bodies, which ha e a i ual quali y beyond he limi ed con ou o an image. So, he igu al wo k
o dance exceeds he igu a i e ool, and ex ends owa ds he po en iali y o a o ce o be ansmi -
ed h ough he uns able igu abili y o a body in mo emen .⁸
This po en iali y inhe en in he igu e, exp essed by i s ambi alence be ween ealness and abs ac
-
ion, spi i uali y and conc e eness, imago and me amo phosis, simulac um and embodimen , o
he ep esen a ion o he un ep esen able, has ende ed he igu e a p ominen isual and ma e-
ial ool o cho eog aphy. In he wake o F eudian me apsychology au ho s like Aby Wa bu g,
Didi-Hube man, Louis Ma in, Hube Damish ou Ma ie-José Mondzain, u he de eloped he
disloca ions o he concep o igu a by he Ch is ian iconog aphy demons a ed by Aue bach,
and how i s ‘ opes and ambi alences we e compa able o one o F eud’s d eam-wo k p ocesses
(Rücksich au Da s ellba kei ), o conside a ions o ep esen abili y, o o igu abili y’ (Bou ie :
2017). To his ‘F eudian e olu ion is a ached wha is some imes men ioned as igu al u n’
(Dumo a: 2017, 13).
In he philosophical ield, he concep o he igu al coined by Jean-F ançois Lyo a d in his wo k
Discou s, Figu e (1971) ela es o hose o ces ha make up unconscious ope a ions, ‘including
DISFIGURING FIGURES
THE POLITICAL POTENTIALITY OF MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS’S CHOREOGRAPHIC WORK
Alexand a Balona 111
condensa ion, displacemen , second elabo a ion and all he d i es ha a e pa o he “libidinal
economy”— a i le, p ecisely, o ano he Lyo a d’s essay (1974)’ (Dumo a: 2017, idem).
Gilles Deleuze, in his wo k Logique de la sensa ion (1981), in o de o analyse he pain ing o F ancis
Bacon, adop s he concep o igu al, which he opposes o he igu a i e and o ep esen a ion.
Remaining a p egnan ield o indisce nibili y, o Deleuze, he igu e pe mi s a sense beyond logi-
cal and a ional signi ica ion, one ha ollows he o ces o unconscious d i es (Deleuze: 2017, 61).
I Lyo a d analysed Cézanne’s and Klee’s pain ing o ‘ ai e oi que oi es une danse’, ‘dance will p ob-
ably be he p i ileged a o m whe e o analyse he isions o excess [Ba aille] ha eside whe e he
eye sees i sel seeing’ (Bou ie : 2017).
Guin che (2010), he i s enown solo wo k by Ma lene Mon ei o F ei as, depa s om he expe ience
o a jazz conce by A chie Shepp, ollowed by he need o d aw his expe ience, and hen o endow he
d awn igu es wi h li e. This me hodological ges u e allows o some ques ions. Fi s ly, how o d aw
he con ou s o an expe ience? Secondly, how li eable, changeable and anima ed can he con ou s
o hose igu es become? Thi dly, how o ansla e and ans o m (in he sense o me amo phosis)
a d awing in o a dance?
Acco ding o Ma lene, a d awing can be ali e, allowing o ans o ma ion by he single ac ion o e asing
he mou h, o ed awing he eyes di e en ly. Thus, a ace can easily acqui e a di e en appea ance,
in ensi y o o ce, and his po en iali y o me amo phosis is ansposed om he d awing o he
dance igu e. Wha do d awings wan , hen? O , as would W. J. T. Mi chel asks in his homonymous
book, Wha do pic u es wan ?
Depa ing om he wish o anima e a d awing, o he belie in he li eable powe and in ensi y o his egis-
e , Ma lene c osses he hin mode n di ide o animism. ‘The idea ha pic u es wan some hing’, e e s
Michael Taussig, ‘e okes he belie ha pic u es a e spi i s’, and he ‘colonial esponse’ as we know i ,
‘was o be suspicious o such a claim’ (Taussig, 2009: 263), ega ded as an animis supe s i ion held by
o he s, bu no by he Wes e n mode ns. In his book ha p oposes pic u es o be ali e, W. J. T. Mi chell
ad ances he concep o he ‘me apic u e’, as ‘a igu e ha helps o explain he o en-obse ed uncan-
niness o images, hei ghos liness o spec ali y, hei endency o look back a he beholde , o seem-
ingly (…) o "wan some hing" om he beholde .’ (Mi chell: 2006). ‘To p ope ly unde s and images',
Mi chell con inues, one would need o e u n o ‘ i alism and animism’, no in he sense o a eg es-
sion o a p imi i e hough , bu ‘(as Le i-S auss so o en insis ed) a aking accoun o he pe sis ence
o he "sa age mind" a he dialec ical hea o wha e e we mean by he mode n.’ (Mi chell: idem).
Fo he mode ns, animism was he con luence and mix u e o all he di e ences hey had es ablished
— namely, he dissolu ion be ween subjec and objec — esul ing in images o s angeness and
Guin che – o he incohe ence o all ma e
The animism o a d awing
Machines, Spide s and Buccanee s
WALKING AROUND THE SUN. No es on Eu ope. The Dogma ic Sleep.
112
an asy which called in o ques ion he con ol ha he Ca esian subjec had o e he ep esen a ion
o eali y, causing anxie y and, ul ima ely, he loss and des uc ion o ha same Ca esian subjec
and his supe io i y o e na u e and all o he ei ied (colonized) subjec s. Anselm F anke has aced
a b illian diagnosis o animism as a ‘ghos ha haun s mode ni y’, oge he wi h all he o he nega-
i es, such as he imagina y, he unconscious, and all o he ness ha exis ed on he o he side o he
G ea Mode n Di ides. The ask, he cu a o unde lines, will be o b ing hese nega i es back in o
his o y as he only way o ‘accoun o he ela ional cons i u ion o he p esen ’ (F anke, 2012).
In he cho eog aphies, Ma lene a e ses back and o h all hose mode n di ides, no only by con ey-
ing unconscious and d eam-wo k p ocesses as cho eog aphic ools, bu also by e oking a wide ange
o hose nega i e beyond mode n Wes e n posi i i y.
Coming back o Guin che, i can ake se e al o ms: om he conce o a d awing, hen a dance ha is
also a ci cus show, a me amo phic wax igu e. Howe e , as Ma lene no es, be ween all hese he e
is no esemblance, only he same in ensi y, he same na u e (F ei as, 2013). As a wo d in Cape
Ve dean c eole, Guin che has se e al meanings: a bi d ha builds his nes wi h wha e e he inds in
his su oundings, a p os i u e, a woman o a man ha has se e al pa ne s, o i can also gene ally
e e o someone who li es his/he li e making nei he logical no cohe en choices.
Guin che, he dance, is indeed he embodimen o incohe en opposi ions and immeasu able excesses.
P opelled by an exul an o ce, Ma lene embodies he po en iali y o simul aneous con adic ions,
he u y and s angeness ha challenge no only he du a ion o he mo emen , bu also a a ional
comp ehension o he Guin che igu e.
He body is di ided in o wo: he lowe limbs oo ed in he g ound ollow he epe i i e mechanics o
he hip mo emen , wi h a mo emen and hy hm eminiscen o Cape Ve dean dances. The uppe
limbs and ace exp ess a kaleidoscopic a ay o modes and s a es, as a d awing ha is pe manen ly
ed awn, ecalling bi d-like ges u es, animalis and clownish pos u es, ela ing ea opa ody, i ony
o indi e ence, exci emen o sadness, cannibalism o e o icism. Ma lene’s ace exp ession gains
p ominence in he eyes, he p ope locus o he subjec ’s iden i ica ion, and he mou h, one o he
mos symbolic body openings. Thus, hese polymo phic dis o ions aim a diso ganizing he s abil-
i y o his igu e, a igu e ha a e ses and ans igu es some o he mode n di ides, such as human
e sus puppe , human e sus non-human animal, a ionali y e sus animism.
Ci cus music wi h d ums se s he one, and he piece un olds in wo pa s: in he i s , longe , Ma lene
dwells in his indomi able spli mo emen ; in he second pa , wi h a slowe pace, Ma lene s a s
To emba k upon his ask is hus o unde s and hese [nega i es] a e ne e gi en “uni e sals” o
he mode n, bu i s e y ela ional p oduc s. They a e he si es ha mode n his o y is silen abou ,
o he ex en ha he e y na a i e o he “ he mode n” is buil upon his silence as i s undamen .
The na a i e-imagina y acuum o he p esen is he di ec ou come o his silence. This silence
ells us ha i is ac ually no animism, bu mode ni y ha is he ghos – hal way be ween p esence
and absence, li e and dea h. And he u u e g and na a i es o mode ni y may well speak o his
ghos om he pe spec i e o i s o he , om i s “animis ” side. (F anke, idem).