Defamiliarization of the Object. Notes from a Lecture by Mykhailo Ziatin

In the spring of 2023, we conducted an educational program titled “The Enchantment of the Object: An Attempt to Read ‘The Philosophy of Theatre’ and Practice the Ideas of Les Kurbas.” The program was developed by Larysa Venediktova and consisted of seven sessions. Four of them focused on reading and discussing materials from the book. We’re sharing notes from the second lecture-conversation, which took place on March 29, 2023.

 

Mykhailo Ziatin is an independent researcher, philosopher, and military serviceman.

Les Kurbas was a philosopher engaged in the search for Origins – the pursuit of principles. He reflected deeply on fundamental questions and, at the same time, was a kind of fundamentalist himself, since Marxism is a form of fundamentalism. And here lies the paradox: a fundamental quest is incompatible with fundamentalism. When we already know in advance where we want to arrive, philosophy loses its meaning.

If we are to take Kurbas seriously, his ideas must be considered within the broader context of the European philosophical tradition – one that begins with Aristotle.

Kurbas was the first to engage with the problem of Ukrainian theatre philosophically. In a certain sense, he is the Origin – if we are speaking about the philosophy of theatre in Ukraine. Naturally, this leads us to the very philosophical issue of Origins. What legitimizes power? Is it God? A special lineage? The source of power, as stated in the Constitution, is the people. Or perhaps the Constitution itself is the Origin?

Take gravity, for instance. It simply acts regardless of our will. We don’t choose whether to be or not to be under its influence. But when we speak of physics, we always begin with something: with a change, with a movement. That is the Origin of the conversation, a shared conceptual starting point. At times, our starting point reveals itself as our ultimate destination. At times, our starting point reveals itself as our ultimate destination.

Another (peculiar) example: where does mathematics begin? Usually, with arithmetic: people count things. In the 20th century, it became clear that the arithmetic taught to children is, in fact, a foundational mathematical object (see Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness theorems). In a certain way, it contains all of the mathematics within itself.

Why is arithmetic so fundamental? Probably because of the question of prime numbers. One of the earliest theorems is the impossibility of determining the complete set of primes – there will always be new ones. In Ukrainian, they are called “simple,” while in English, more tellingly, “prime.” Mathematics could not have begun unless someone had asked an interesting question.

Our conversations are also a kind of Origin. We begin by thinking about Kurbas. And if we look closely at the thought itself, Aristotle, for example, suggests seeing it as both motion (energy) and rest at once.

Kurbas once said: “One must develop the ability for the most unexpected associations. And to reach the possibility of suchМихайло Зятін continuity in a certain imagined rhythm, the prerequisite is a focus on the object.”Михайло Зятін

Every object has an endless list of properties: colour, shape, flaws… If we begin listing them, we’ll never be able to finish. We cannot claim to know all the properties of any given object. At some point, we must pause – otherwise the conversation won’t even begin. And if we do stop, if we make an object the subject of discussion, we must explain why here, why this, what guided us.

Any object always carries within it the question of its Origin.

Every science has its philosophy. In physics, it’s the philosophy of physics (where the subject is physical laws); in biology, it’s the philosophy dealing with living beings. And then there is what Aristotle called First Philosophy (Metaphysics), which asks: how is expression even possible? Why do separate (physical, biological, political, theatrical, etc.) perspectives on the object exist at all? What is the Origin?

For Kurbas, theatre is the First Art. He emphasizes the analytical nature of theatre. But how do we distinguish analytical from synthetic theatre? Kurbas stresses that breaking down and reassembling alternate – and this very process is a mark of artistic mastery. Still, the essence lies in decomposition, in analysis.

The philosophy of theatre, for Kurbas, is the first philosophy of art. We are given an object – and within it, we may find poetry, music, and more. In music, for instance, its philosophy exists. We are confronted with the question: is music truly art or not? Theatre practice allows us to trace the Origin of various arts. That is why the analytical nature of theatre is so important.

Returning to the idea of thought as both motion and stillness—associatively, this stillness takes on a theatrical quality, because in theatre there is the problem of the pause…

Another principle that deals with the question of stillness is Occam’s Razor (a pun here is that in the Latin original, “to shave” also means to find truth, to cut away false assumptions).

“One should not assume multiplicity without necessity”, Kurbas adopts this principle to emphasize: we must deal with what exists.

And yet, among the various perspectives on an object, it’s always worth leaving a space for what remains unknown about it. For the viewer. For the other possibilities, the object may hold. For feelings. For sensations. If we fill this space with multiplicity, it will already be taken…

When reading The Philosophy of Theatre, it’s worth paying attention to where we pause. Kurbas suggests examining theatre and pathos from two angles: from the side of nature and physics (the pathos of the machine), and from the political side (“the impulse toward upheaval, toward a new social and state order”).

What, in your opinion, is the pathos of today?

To make theatre, we must first understand what governs us (perhaps these are the laws of nature and physics), and what guides us (what our principles truly are).

This material was created as part of the Per Forma grant program, implemented by the Kyiv Contemporary Music Days platform with the support of the Performing Arts Fund NL and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands, aimed at developing the performing arts sector in Ukraine.

Notes from the lecture compiled by Larysa Venediktova

Proofread by Yana Suporovska