Projects—Master PPS Performing Public Space

Jun 30

Jun 30 THE PERKS OF BEING A RHIZOME

CLASS 2020/21

The Perks of Being a Rhizome is a self-reflexive multidisciplinary project that deals with the possibilities and potentials of performing a handstand position in public space. A meditative way of staying in a place without time, and available to receive the full potential of that location through the senses. Rita is interested in the possibility of using the public space not only as a stage, but also as “a performer”. She questions, dialogues and embraces the rhizome concept, the human perception and the heterotopia in her project. The philosophical concept of rhizome (from Deleuze and Guattari) and the botanical concept (a plant with the capacity of growing almost anywhere*) inquires the performer about the positioning of her body in the space and contributes to the transformability of the stiffness of the gymnic exercises into fluid and organic movements.

She started her pps journey with the aim of creating a circus show for public space. During the year, she started to be more interested in this different perspective offered by an inverted position. Her artistic research started to bloom her imagination, sensibility and poetry, and fostered the translation of her circus vision into video and photography techniques. Her methods were mostly performance, trials and errors, repetition and self-reflection, however photographing a ginger, the construction of handmade pinhole cameras, or working with camera obscura were also part of the process.

*A rhizome is a plant with an unconventional form, with the capacity of growing almost without water, soil or sun. Its growth is influenced by the circumstances of the space around. The growth environment is the generator of its multiple possibilities of shape and function (root, branch, trunk, or flower), a phenomenon called multiplicity.

Special Thanks
To David, my tutor, for all the patience and our long interesting conversations, but also to Danae and Heleen for fostering my curiosity, critical sense, and new perspectives. To Ulla and Xenia for making things happen in a kind and professional way; to my PPS dream team: Anne, Dimitri, Ellie and Vittorio for all the laughs, intense work and friendship; To my sister and my parents for all the care and support. To my cousin Bárbara for all the artistic research and art discussions. To Margarida Ribeiro for her help and photography insights. To Manuel Sousa Pereira for always telling me that I was an artist not a pharmacist.

Rita Carmo Martins

Rita did a round-off back flip from gymnastics to contemporary circus. She found in aerials, acrobatics and handstands techniques the freedom and the extension of her previous training. A community pharmacist for four years, she started to question how both areas could communicate with other people, with a message, with a gesture. She is co-creator of the company Coração nas Mãos, investigating poetry, simplicity, movement through circus and dance languages. Rita has also worked with Portuguese circus and theatre companies, as an acrobatic gymnastics coach, as a circus teacher, as a circus cabarets organizer and as a freelance photographer. Her curiosity and adventure spirit took her to Toulouse, to Lido, where she was part of the FOCON formation, and to Tilburg, to Fontys, to the Master Performing Public Space.

Website