Epitaphic Readings: Diagrams as (re)incarnations

Journal article


Sharples, V. 2023. Epitaphic Readings: Diagrams as (re)incarnations. Performance Research. 27 (8), pp. 125-132. https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2022.2224215
AuthorsSharples, V.
Abstract

The structural formula of a chemical compound is a shorthand, diagrammatic representation of a molecular structure, showing how atoms can be arranged in two dimensions of space. Often named Kekulé structures after August Kekulé, an early architect of structural arrangements in organic chemistry, these diagrams put forward a geometry of relations, enumerated through lines, symbols, vertices, and patterns (Rocke 1981). While suggestive of something substantial, the diagram often functions in the planular, and is therefore skeletal. For scientists, skeletal structures are not altogether representative of chemical constitutions, but of chemical arrangements (Hepler-Smith 2015). That is, they are analogous with formulas; not respective forms themselves. From this perspective, there is a severance of contextual placement, but not of performative function. As a presupposition to this construct, it seems that skeletal structures can be read as compositions and translations, but not as epitaphs or reincarnations. Following Deleuze’s and Guattari’s premise that the diagram constructs something ‘yet to come’ (2013:164), Victoria Sharples’ ‘Epitaphic Readings: Diagrams as (Re)incarnations’ presents skeletal structures as epitaphic readings; as accounts of something passed, and further to this as matter re-incarnate. Skeletal structures provide a genesis for this paper and are the seeming conclusion to Ash (2018–2020), an interdisciplinary study on which this article builds. For Ash, three pieces of Nepalese Lokta paper were placed on the surface of the sacred and contaminated Bagmati River downstream from Pashupatinath Temple: an open-pyre cremation site in Kathmandu. Once dried, the substrates were analysed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS); an analytical approach for forensic substance identification. Through the intersection of science and spirituality, this paper meditates on the potential ‘afterlives’ of Ash. Functioning in a space between active-passive and organic-machinic, the GC-MS diagrams function as epitaphic readings making that which has passed present, marking an arrival and re-incarnation of matter.

KeywordsEpitaphic Readings; Performance Research; Journal; Performance; New Materialism
Year2023
JournalPerformance Research
Journal citation27 (8), pp. 125-132
PublisherTaylor & Francis (Routledge)
ISSN1352-8165
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2022.2224215
Web address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13528165.2022.2224215
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online01 Sep 2023
Publication process dates
Deposited19 Mar 2024
Permalink -

https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/9q70v/epitaphic-readings-diagrams-as-re-incarnations

Download files


Publisher's version
Epitaphic Readings-2.pdf
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File access level: Open

  • 28
    total views
  • 21
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

Bodies: Art, Architecture & Archaeology
Sharples, V. and Howard, R. 2024. Bodies: Art, Architecture & Archaeology .
Becoming Part of the Architecture: Embedded Artistic Research
Orlek, J., Burke, S., McKinlay, J., Sharples, V. and Thompson, J. 2024. Becoming Part of the Architecture: Embedded Artistic Research. Vernacular.
Offering from the River
Sharples, V. 2023. Offering from the River .
An Elastic Continuum
Howard, R. and Sharples, V. 2023. An Elastic Continuum .
If It Thunders on All Fool's Day
Sharples, V., Burke, S., Gritted, T. L. and Squires, R. H. 2023. If It Thunders on All Fool's Day.
Overcast
Sharples, V. 2023. Overcast .
Two Queens Exchange Programme with GLOAM
Sharples, V., Rose Hedy Squires, Peter Martin, Jack Ginno, Stu Burke, Jonny Davey, Ross Oliver, Thomas Lee Griffiths, Sam Francis Read, Madeleine Adams and Alice Hicken 2023. Two Queens Exchange Programme with GLOAM.
UnCommon Worlds III Conference – Navigating and Inhabiting Biodiverse Anthropocenes
Sharples, V. 2023. UnCommon Worlds III Conference – Navigating and Inhabiting Biodiverse Anthropocenes. UnCommon Worlds III Conference.
Billboard Commission (at GLOAM)
McCausland, O. and Sharples, V. 2022. Billboard Commission (at GLOAM).
Beneath the Pewter Sky
Sharples, V. 2022. Beneath the Pewter Sky .
Anoxic Bodies
Sharples, V. 2022. Anoxic Bodies.
Figureheads: Bloc Projects Members Show
Sharples, V., McKinley, J., Hutcnhinson, S., Hughes, W and Poulton, D. 2022. Figureheads: Bloc Projects Members Show .
Offering from the River (Sheffield Showcase Festival).
Sharples, V. 2022. Offering from the River (Sheffield Showcase Festival).
Offering from the River (Exhibition Catalogue)
Sharples, V. 2022. Offering from the River (Exhibition Catalogue). GLOAM
Offering from the River (Exhibition at GLOAM)
Sharples, V. 2022. Offering from the River (Exhibition at GLOAM).
Forehead on Glass (Exhibition at GLOAM)
Celeste McEvoy and Sharples, V. 2022. Forehead on Glass (Exhibition at GLOAM).
An Expanded Field (Exhibition at GLOAM)
Nicola Bolton, Kieran Brimm, Stu Burke, Deb Covell, Ronan Dillon, Charlie Franklin, Jack Ginno, Philipp D Göbel, Dan Hamer, Alys Kuu, Jane Morter, Aslιhan Mumcu, Beth O’Grady, Ismael Ortiz, Sean Pearce, Molly Thomson, Alison Tirrell, Mark Titmarsh, Kees Van De Wal, Wilma Vissers, Just Yvette and Sharples, V. 2022. An Expanded Field (Exhibition at GLOAM).
MTPA (million tons per annum)
Singleton, J. and Sharples, V. 2022. MTPA (million tons per annum) .
Two Queens Member’s Show (Co-Curated with GLOAM)
Gino Atwood, Daniel Cowlam, Mateus Domingos, Jack Halford, Daniel Sean Kelly, Shivani Khoshia, Nick Mobbs and Sharples, V. 2022. Two Queens Member’s Show (Co-Curated with GLOAM).
Billboard Commission (at GLOAM)
Sharples, V. and Davey, J. 2022. Billboard Commission (at GLOAM).
Doves & Crossbones (Exhibition at GLOAM)
Woods, A. and Sharples, V. 2022. Doves & Crossbones (Exhibition at GLOAM).
On Symbiosis, Zoonosis
Sharples, Victoria 2021. On Symbiosis, Zoonosis. The Horizon Magazine.
Blowing Water, Critical Care
Sharples, V. 2022. Blowing Water, Critical Care.
Interdisciplinary Research in the Creative and Cultural Industries
Sharples, V., Howard, R. and Carnevale, V. 2022. Interdisciplinary Research in the Creative and Cultural Industries. Harnessing Our Potential: Interdisciplinary Research in the Creative and Cultural Industries.
The Performativity of the Photographic Print (Co-authored Conference Contribution)
Sharples, V. and Howard, R. 2022. The Performativity of the Photographic Print (Co-authored Conference Contribution). Un/Touchable: New Meanings and Values. Cumulus Association.
Material, Economics & Ecology (Exhibition and Paper)
Sharples, V. 2022. Material, Economics & Ecology (Exhibition and Paper). CIVIC LAB SYMPOSIUM ON DESIGNING FOR CIVILITY AND CULTURAL IMPACT 07-08 JULY 2022, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY, United kingdom. Derby, United Kingdom 07 - 08 Jul 2022
Material, Economics & Ecology (Conference Convenor)
Jumana Manna, Laura Wilson, Dr. Onya McCausland, Tony Butler, Rafael Pérez Evans, Sonia Levy, Ravi Agarwal and Sharples, V. 2022. Material, Economics & Ecology (Conference Convenor). Material, Economics & Ecology. .
Offering from the River
Sharples, V. 2022. Offering from the River . Fundamentals. 1 (1).
Offering from the River (Artist Talk on Exhibition at GLOAM)
Sharples, V. 2022. Offering from the River (Artist Talk on Exhibition at GLOAM).
When We Die, Where Do We Go?
Sharples, V. and Crabtree, K. 2022. When We Die, Where Do We Go?
The (in)separability of matter: on prāṇa, energy and permeation
Sharples, Victoria 2021. The (in)separability of matter: on prāṇa, energy and permeation.
Blood from a Stone (Exhibition with School of the Damned and GLOAM)
Balshaw, M., Banwell, M., Beasley, R., Carney, J., McColl, J., Griffiths, T., McConnell, C., Collins, G., Rough, I., Cosford, L., Eves, N., Gibson, G., Newnham, L., Parr, C. D., Routledge, L. and Sharples, V. 2021. Blood from a Stone (Exhibition with School of the Damned and GLOAM).
Anoxic Bodies (Fallow Group Exhibition with GLOAM and GP)
Sharples, V., Burke, S., Hedy Squires, R., Griffiths, T. L., Davey, J., Ginno, J., Read, S. F. and Hicken, A. 2021. Anoxic Bodies (Fallow Group Exhibition with GLOAM and GP).
FOCM: Spring-Summer (with GLOAM)
Main, F. and Sharples, V. 2021. FOCM: Spring-Summer (with GLOAM).
Method-Lab Part Deux
Baxter, N., Bracey, A., Britt, R., Buckley, K., Cifre Cerdà, J., Oliver, R., Simpson, N. and Sharples, V. 2021. Method-Lab Part Deux.
Children’s Media Conference (with TATO and GLOAM)
Sharples, V. 2021. Children’s Media Conference (with TATO and GLOAM).
The Magician
Baraklianou, Stella and Sharples, V. 2021. The Magician .
Billboard Commission (at GLOAM)
Singleton, J. and Sharples, V. 2021. Billboard Commission (at GLOAM).