The Potential Machine: Doing Thinking in Research and Performance

This chapter delves into the concept of performance as a potential machine that engineers multiplicities from reproducible and repetitive forces shaping human experience, emphasising the exploration of creativity and generosity. The chapter outlines a theoretical framework grounding the book in performance philosophy, integrating poststructuralist thinking and affect theory. The chapter discusses the application of Deleuzian affect theory and phenomenological processes in the study of affect, emphasising the slippery nature of affect and its philosophical and ontological implications. It also addresses the micropolitical aims of the productions that will become case studies. The methodological approach of the Play/Test Galway project, which integrates transdisciplinary artistic research methodologies, is outlined. The chapter acknowledges the challenges in documenting such research, emphasising the complexity and multivalence of larp documentation due to its experiential and embodied nature. The chapter also addresses criticisms of artistic research, such as the lack of agreed-upon methodologies and the breadth of available methods, acknowledging the need for assessment and effective application of these methodologies. Overall, the chapter presents a sophisticated exploration of performance philosophy, affect theory, and artistic research, offering insights into the theoretical framework and methodological approach of the Play/Test Galway project.