Nonviolence

Abstract

Nonviolence resembles the aporetic structure and ambiguity of many works of art or our conceptualization of them. As a term of engagement in the arts, nonviolence is insightful as an operational and comparative concept: operational insofar as it unfolds performative strategies in the arts and comparative insofar as those strategies often resemble the aesthetics of political gestures, e.g., Mahatma Gandhis nonviolent approach to political engagement and change. This essay examines the potential of the term nonviolence in three short case studies—three performances by Akira Takayama (McDonald’s Radio University, 2017), Kandis Williams (Eurydice, Orpheus, and the Maenads, 2019) and Petr Pavlensky (Lightning, 2017).