The autonomy question: an investigation of the aporia of autonomy and dependency through arts practice and social engagement

This arts-practice Ph.D. thesis seeks to investigate the aporia of autonomy and dependency through arts practice and social engagement. Arts Practice was used as a robust and agile tool for allowing space for non-consensus and an open forum for discussion with participants, considering how we balance our freedom and our need for one another in society. Two distinct, yet inter-related works were created, connecting with over 300 people. These works sought to explore both autonomy and dependency in society from all who participated in the projects, including myself as an artist. Both pieces were multi-genre performance art pieces that sought to explore art-making and performance as a forum to engage with the community, responding to complex societal questions. Drawing from Derrida’s concept of deconstruction (1971), in particular in relation to aporia, the thesis explores arts practice, somatics and performance. This research included the voices and experiences of over 300 people, including my autoethnographic reflections of creation and production. The first work, The Autonomy Project, was a large-scale piece designed to create an artistic medium and arts-practice research to investigate diverse perspectives on autonomy through art. Involving young people within the community, professional artists, and academics. The second piece, The Kindness of Strangers, was a collaboration with Math Professor, John McLoughlin. It focused on exploring the conditions of dependency within my own life and community. This piece was a personal response to The Autonomy Project and investigated the reality of my dependency on those around me and the support networks that surround me. The most striking finding to emerge across both pieces was that participants came to view autonomy is a collective experience rather an entirely individualistic phenomenon. Relationships underpinned personal autonomy, for myself and those who participated in both pieces. As the youth artists in The Autonomy Project discovered, one person's autonomy cannot intrude upon another person's and trust, and respect were paramount within the groups. By placing individual autonomy in society at the centre of the project, what emerged was a story of community and collaboration. The devolved and democratic framework used for young artists and professional artists, facilitated the emergence of a rich tapestry of diverse performance and voices. The Kindness of Strangers extended this artistic exploration of the role of relationships through walking with 184 members of the public across four cities in Ireland. In collaboration with Professor McLoughlin, a mathematical equation was derived as a framework to conceptualise aspects of the surrounding ecology, representing a map of care and dependency. This map shaped how I engaged with the public and fostered a more in-depth exploration the networks of care that surround me and others and was used as a medium through which I could explore interdependency with those with whom I walked. These interlinked artistic explorations exposed me to the tensions at the heart of our human relationships. By foregrounding personal freedom, I presented community; by leaning on this community, I enhanced my creative freedom. The emerging findings and performances successfully illustrated the potential of art in providing a forum for engaging communities in shared exploration. This research argues for the role of artistic practice in negotiating the implications, challenges and opportunities inherent in the aporia of autonomy and dependency in human social and cultural dynamics.