Paper short abstract:

This paper will discuss the process of co-creation of a ‘participatory image’ in text. Can a classic text be conceived in a multimodal way even without using multimodal technology? What does it mean collaborating in such process and what does it mean to create a 'participatory image'?

Paper long abstract:

This paper will be based on the encounter between an artist, Letizia Gianella, and two anthropologists, Arnaud Dubois and Giulia Battaglia, interested respectively in curatorial practices/material culture and in visual/media/art anthropology. It will be based on an interview between these three individuals to discuss the work of the artist, which occurs at multiples levels – the participatory practice in school with children, the personal work done in the ‘atelier’, the installation of an exhibition. The challenge of this paper will be to reflect on questions of participation and collaboration in Giannella’s artwork but also in the encounter between the three of us and our ‘multimodal’ attempt to write a paper about it.

Playing around the concept of ‘trait’ or ‘fragment’ and the image that this can create, we will discuss the process of this project in which we seek to co-create a ‘participatory image’ in text. In other words, can a classic text be conceived in a multimodal way even without using multimodal technology? What does it mean collaborating in such process and what does it mean to create a 'participatory image' ?