Catalogue & Exhibition Essay

Automatisme Ambulatoire: Hysteria, Imitation, Performance

2021

Image from Automatisme Ambulatoire: Hysteria, Imitation, Performance
Bibliographic Reference

Published in 2021 in conjunction with the exhibition Automatisme Ambulatoire: Hysteria, Imitation, Performance, curated by Amanda Cachia, and presented at the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, from 6 September to 6 November 2019.

The exhibition Automatisme Ambulatoire is a philosophical exploration of representation and its complexities. Inspired by the term “ambulatory automatism”—an expression that conjures up notions of the compulsive traveler, while simultaneously implying irresistible urges and movements such as grimaces, tics, and other gestures—it brings together the performance-based works of six Canadian and international artists, and artist collectives. It seeks to explore the relationship between body, performance, and corporeal pathologies, and takes as its point of departure, “Why the French Love Jerry Lewis,” a well-known essay by scholar Rae Beth Gordon that focuses on unconscious imitation and spectatorship in French cabaret and early cinema.

Related Curatorial Projects

Automatisme Ambulatoire: Hysteria, Imitation, Performance