Seafoam & Research

Dismantling aerial practice

What if…aerial practice fell apart?

SEAFOAM is an artistic research project that examines vulnerability and responsibility, through dramaturgical operations of audience engagement, intensification and destruction whilst dismantling the normative aesthetics of aerial practice.

Dramaturgical operations and concepts and lineages

Destroying material and deconstructing norms and Press

By intentionally destroying the equipment I hang from on stage, I deconstruct the norms of aerial practice, where perfection, control and virtuosity define the aesthetics, with its expectations of grace, gender and perfection (Tait, 2005, 4, 70). This dramaturgical operation of destruction was influenced by Johannes Mach´s act “Press” which I saw in January 2025 at Fontys University. In the performance Mach enters the stage and gives a red buzzer to an audience member. He then climbs onto a  trapeze, performs a few tricks and, by nodding to the audience member holding the buzzer, he encourages her to press it. When she does so, a string with a scissor attached lowers from above. Mach takes the scissors and cuts one of the trapeze strings, whilst sitting on it. This sequence repeats until all strings are “cut”, causing the trapeze to split in two and Mach to fall onto the mat. 

Inspired by this act and wanting to use a quick release system (which make it look like the aerial equipment breaks whilst remaining safe) on my aerial plastic equipment, I contacted him for information about the system he uses. I tear the plastic strings below the Mini-Hoop and using the recommended sailor´s quick-release system I create the effect of destroying the very base (above the mini-hoop) of my aerial equipment without risking actual failure. Instead of free-falling like Mach whilst the equipment “breaks” but stays hanging, I decided to release only the plastic equipment and finish with the image of my free hanging body.  

Audience engagement and Workshop

I engage with the audience introducing plastic as a game; a multi-shaped material, and as a connector between me as a performer and the audience, and among audience members themselves, creating “dialogical aesthetics” (Grant Kester, 2004, 118). Mach also uses audience engagement each time he cuts off a piece of his trapeze string, creating the illusion of audience responsibility through the buzzer. In reality, he subtly encourages the audience member to activate it.

The audience engagement in SEAFOAM started during the pre-research and creation process in a Workshop I led at the Zirkus Zeit residency at TRAP. What the participants shared after a free writing exercise and the guided movement exploration with plastic not only informed my research but also became part of the performance – through voice recordings, interactions and movement. Some workshop contributions that influences the performance include: the desire to touch and engage with plastic, the sounds it produces, its interconnectivity, its toxicity and associations with jellyfish and toxic storytelling.

Responsibility and dismantling conventions and vulnerability

The audience engagement during the performance is essential for the creation of the stage net design. At the same time, it questions responsibilities and compliance by giving them partial control over the aerial equipment, again dismantling aerial conventions. The audience becomes both potential threats and protectors, mirroring the complexities of our society. Even though audience members are free to act, their actions have consequences, as freedom is entangled with vulnerability (Butler, 2015, 22). I am free to use and destroy a lot of plastic, but I do all that with responsiblity: The plastic I use is mostly recycled, and what I cannot reuse for the next performances I collect to create or document through these pieces.

Intensification and tension building

Thorughout the performance I intensify and build tension to increase the level of vulnerability. I start the performance lying on the ground in a light atmosphere, smiling and playing with the audience. Gradually the intensity of the games, tension and spatial level rise, up to the point of rupture.

Each aerial acrobatics act puts the body of the artist under tension and at risk. I remember clearly why I started to fall in love with aerial acrobatics: it was the adrenaline that kicked in, when learning a new trick or when climbing higher than the day before. Now I must actively seek that adrenaline kick, but that does not minimize the real risk. In fact, the more skilled and advanced I got, the less I perceived risks and the more impactful the injuries could be. I must acknowledge that as an aerialist, I put my body in a vulnerable space, often risking my life. In SEAFOAM not only do I perform aerials, but I also give my audience partial control over the level of risk they put me in. Placing one´s life at risk might be the most vulnerable thing a human being can do to their body.  In circus, specifically in aerial practice, this is controlled risk; in performance it becomes edgework. I do not want to simply increase danger, tension and intensity, but rather allow the audience to feel and control parts of the risk - to experience the consequences and responsibilities of actions. “Edgework is about performance and the fine line between being out of control and harnessing excitement in life and death contexts" (Walby & Stuard, 2021).

Cut piece and Rhythm 0

Numerous artists are working with intensification; Yoko Ono in “Cut Piece” (1965) invites the audience to destroy her clothes or Marina Abramovic´s work "Rhythm 0"(1974), a durational performance with written instructions peaking in the moment an audience member holds a loaded gun to her head. Abramovic puts a well-known weapon on the table, so the stakes are clear. In SEAFOAM the audience is instructed non-verbally through the initial games, and the consequences are explored collectively. Through these games and audience engagement I create space for collective responsibilities.

Compared to these iconic performances I choose an active role whereas Abramovic and Ono stay passive, Abramovic even states “I am the object”. During my research and creation process I explored a more passive role, but I ultimately chose to introduce my audience actively to the stakes of plastic materiality and its impact on the aerial body, whilst I lead the rhythm to allow space for intensification.

Narration and Three Times Left Is Right

Through recorded voice I also create changes in rhythm and structure, leaving space for breath-holding, and intensifying through silence. The narration is deconstructed through fragmentation and layering of language, whilst my agency and live voice are reclaimed.

I was inspired to use fragmented narrative by the theater-performance “Three times left is right” (2025) by Julian Hetzel which I saw at Wiener Festwochen. It starts with a screen and recorded voice stating “This performance contains...” follwed by 15 minutes of keywords that partially contradict themselves. Inspired by this operation including name dropping, fragmented language and associative thinking, I begin my performance with “Once upon a time there was…” introducing Medusa, the myth and the animal, the Little Mermaid and my own story. When I was raped I lost my voice, literally and systemically, like Medusa, like the Mermaid. Through this performance I deconstruct the notion of vulnerability as a survivor of rape by reclaiming my voice. By deconstructing language and meaning, I leave space for audience interpretation, while keeping an emotional distance from my own story.

Vulnerability

In SEAFOAM I explore what it is like to destroy equipment, to resist obeying norms, how collectively we can build and dismantle structures and how Medusa is not only an animal or a story but the vessel to my own reclaiming. I put myself in a vulnerable position on several levels.

It goes without saying that vulnerability is not only physical risk but also

the risk

of not being understood,

of exposing one´s artworks and

of being graded on research.

Dramaturgical operations and concepts and lineages

by Amina Riccetti