It is through the sentient body that we experience, know and imagine—and so the body is perhaps the most important tool for making and experiencing art.

Imaginative Bodies reaffirms the central position of the body in various artistic practices through in-depth conversations with choreographers, composers, visual artists, hip hop artists, dramaturges, a light designer and a puppeteer.

Contributors discuss the place of the body in their own work and in relation to wider debates on the body in philosophy, science, medicine, anthropology, and the arts.

Each artist interviewed (Sue Buckmaster, Jonathan Burrows, Rosemary Butcher, Dana Caspersen, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Jonzi D, and more) also raises a more specific theme, ranging from poetics to politics, from mythology to ecology, from intercultural studies to conflict management. 

This discourse gives an intimate insight into the artists’ creative processes, inspirations, sources, identities and ways of collaborating.

Edited by Lisa Marie Bowler, with text by Guy Cools

Designed by Metahaven

Published by Valiz, 2017

Softcover, 344 pages, 5.25 × 8.25 inches

ISBN: 978-9-49-209520-6