Vibrant Matter in the Performative Apparatus: Sound, Bodies and Movement in Stefanie Egedy’s “BODIES AND SUBWOOFERS (B.A.S.)” and Doris Uhlich’s “TANK”

Abstract

This thesis explores the intra-action of sound, bodies and movement in performative works, focusing on Stefanie Egedy’s BODIES AND SUBWOOFERS (B.A.S.) and Doris Uhlich’s TANK. Drawing on critical dance studies, sound studies, and material culture theories, it examines how vibrant matter resonates in human and non-human bodies inside the performative apparatus. In B.A.S. Egedy creates site-specific subwoofer set-ups with sub-bass frequencies that set human and non-human bodies into vibration. Uhlich’s TANK is a solo performance within a glass tank in collaboration with Boris Kopeinig’s electronic music. It interrogates bodily transformations and their material-discursive interrelations. Through a mixed methodology combining discourse and phenomenological analysis, the thesis applies Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter and Karen Barad’s “Posthumanist Performativity: Toward an Understanding of How Matter Comes to Matter” to investigate how sound and movement intra-act with human and non-human bodies in space and create the audience’s experience. Field research, audience quotes, and a phenomenological analysis of B.A.S. and TANK enrich the analysis, revealing that both works challenge traditional boundaries between performer, sound, audience, and space. Ultimately, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of the relational dynamics in contemporary performative arts, showing how performative works can transform audience perception of bodies, space and sound.