The Art of Quitting : A Dissection in six Acts

Sammanfattning: This study offers insight into the process and frst-hand experience of quitting circus. The focus lies in the defning of acts of stopping as a consciouschoice. Stopping is generally seen as negative and unproductive as it caneasily be associated with giving up or failing, and therefore seems to be anunlikely and unworthy subject to be researched. But in the artist’s opinion thedecision to stop carries a consciousness and a creative potential, which qualifes Quitting as a research subject. A substantial part of the research was devoted to defning and redefning the subject’s borders, as well as its heart. Within these explorations, concepts of phenomenology, psychology, storytelling,deconstruction, vibrant materiality and memoir-writing were discovered andrevealed. As a circus performer in transition, the artist was guided throughher research journey by sharing her own story of starting and stopping circus,sharing insights gained through reflective writing and self-observation. These were further enhanced by participating in physical and performance exercises and movement improvisations.Quitting’s potentiality is anticipated inspaces of resistance, moments of inertia, in the motivation for stopping, andin the felds between the old and the ‚not yet‘. This inspired the investigationof symptoms like training, repetition, pressure, perfection and identifcation. The initial defnition of Quitting as an ‚Intended Un-becoming‘ in a cleansingact of creating a new, unspoilt and authentic starting point was confrontedwith the realization that consequent Quitting would result in death. This challenged the project’s realizability and led to a confrontation with questionsabout achievement and performance. The abandoning of an impossible concept while continuing to pursue the project, presented Quitting as a paradoxand indicated possible new approaches. Recognizing the act of letting go as an individual event, and practices of realigning and re-synchronization as a generating of the potential that was searched for in Quitting, established the telling of Quitting Stories as a Making ofSpace. Storytelling and interviews with Quitters, practitioners and therapistsare therefore the main practice and expression of this research. Understanding Quitting’s paradoxical nature enabled its potential as an artistic practice, by presenting subjects in an unexpected way and allowing themto be seen in a new way. Quitting as an artistic practice is an intended futurecontinuation of the research.