Study day "Autistic artist: Art as a vector of empouvoirement and inclusion".
Organized by Yasmine GUITTARD, doctoral student LARSH-DeScripto
Presentation
L'approach to l'autism from a social angle is arousing growing interest in French academic research, offering the opportunity to study new issues and questions not only in psychology, but also in other disciplines, such as the Arts as a whole. Aside from sensationalist talk of artistic practice among people with autism, some artists, authors and creators concerned with this neuroatypia have been able to create works in a demarche d'inclusion, awareness and'acceptance - of oneself and by others. By way of'example, we can cite Mel Baggs, The Atypical Eye, Morgan Harper Nichols, or the creators of'Autistic Liberation Front on the Second Life metaverse.
L'intersection between the arts, social sciences and the neurodiversity paradigm offers the'opportunité to bear witness to the lived experience of the'other through a creative prism. As people with autism have long been perperceived as uncommunicative, lacking in'imagination and marginalized from society, sharing their experiences through artistic practice withès non-autistic people invites us to challenge our perception of this population, while questioning the potential of artistic creation in this context.
As an'example - and in a specifically digital framework - this exploration can take place in the publication of videos (YouTube, Tik tok...), educational comics on social networks, or even within online servers of sandbox-type video games (Minecraft, Second Life...). Outside'Internet, the creation of digital three-dimensional devices is an equally important field to experiment with, particularly in the field of the senses - people with autism being concerned with'hyper/hyposensitivity sensory. This was the case with the work Hypersensorium (2019, exhibition Inter'Act): created within the Fondation Vasarely, this work invited the public to experience an'auditory hypersensitivity and tactile overload by traversing dozens of strips of fabric with exacerbated sound. This installation was the'opportunité d'express fragment d'a personal autistic experience by proposing to the audience to live it l'space of'a moment, while noting the plurality of their reactions (amusement, tenseness, self-stimulation etc).
This field of research can also converge with processes of'embodiment and'inclusion, the latter making themselves present in the creative process of certain works: in In My Language (2007), Mel Baggs s'expresses himself by capturing his self-stimulations, then to the'aided by subtitles and'a synthetic voice. Autistic and non-oralizing-e, Mel Baggs advocated greater inclusion of autistic people in society while s'expressing and making his speech accessible through the creative medium of online video.
In line with this approach, this study day will be the'opportunity to'explore the creative practices of'artists with autism within a framework of'inclusion and'empowerment.
By what artistic processes can they create inclusive spaces? How can their creations bring about empowerment, emancipation? How do their arts dialogue with notions such as neurodiversity or autistic culture?
