My Bovine Heart

‘my bovine heart’ is a practice-based research project that investigates the potential for contemporary performance practice to engage with the moral dilemma of ‘meat culture’. It consists of a solo theatrical performance that addresses the question of ‘cowness’ through the interplay of text, image and sound within a postdramatic framework and an exegesis that discusses the paradox of attempting to speak for the animal subject through performance languages. Framed by Feminist Care Theory, this research addresses the question, is it possible to (re)present the animal with care? It argues that the artist (carer) must focus their practice (labor) on attending to the animal (cared for) sympathetically, bearing witness to animal suffering, in the co-presence of the audience to avoid replicating the power structure implicit in ‘meat culture’. This research is fundamentally informed by my practice as a Sydney based theatre maker over two decades, exploring political issues through contemporary performance practice. It examines two other examples of performances that engage with the question of the animal, Matthew Herbert’s recital One Pig (2013) and Irish performance artist Kira O\u27Reilly’s ‘dance’ with a pig carcass, inthewrongplaceness (2006). ‘my bovine heart’ draws on Josephine Donovan’s Aesthetics of care (2017) and Maria Puig de la Bellacasa’s Matters of care (2017); Derrida’s philosophical thinking on The animal that therefore I am (2002) and Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘becomings’ (2004); and Hans-Thies Lehmann’s Postdramatic Theatre (2006) and is contextualized by the field Animal Studies. This performance research project seeks to contribute to the ongoing interdisciplinary inquiry into the realities of ‘meat culture’, particularly regarding artists’ ethical responsibility towards the animal

Nitric oxide in Liver Cancer

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Towards an integrated understanding of low-dose chemical exposures in the development of human cancer

Both genetic and environmental factors can play a role in an individual’s cancer susceptibility, and lifestyle-related factors have been a primary focus of our prevention efforts for several decades. However, advances in our understanding of cancer causation have resulted in additional concerns being raised about exposures to chronic, low-level exposures to combinations of chemicals. In this project, a large multinational task force comprised of twelve teams was organized to review 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer and identify priority target sites for disruption in each area. Prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets were then identified, and dose-response information was gathered. Evidence of low-dose effects for each chemical was noted and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals were documented. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). This analysis reveals that every day exposures to individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals that act on a range of mechanisms, pathways, and systems could conspire to instigate environmental carcinogenesis. Additional research on carcinogenesis is needed and the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemical that act selectively to enable these hallmark phenotypes also needs to be explored. Current models of risk assessment will also need to be revisited as they are not at aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology

Origins and destinations: representation in the theatre of Romeo Castellucci

This thesis: Origins and Destinations: Representation in the theatre of Romeo Castellucci, investigates the working methodology of the Italian theatre director, Romeo Castellucci and his company, Societas Raffaello Sanzio. It provides an account of Societas Raffaello Sanzios history, working methods, a detailed reading of the thematic and philosophical landscape in their works especially Genesi: from the museum of sleep, and the cycle: Tragedia Endogonidia, and a discussion on the companys artistic process towards the formation of its compositions and performances. This research and investigation is based on numerous viewings of most of the companys theatre works created in the last six years, interviews with Romeo Castellucci as well as other participating artists, two privileged periods of observation (residencies) in Italy of the rehearsal and creation processes of three shows, and the analysis and discussion of some of the key critical and intellectual responses to the work of Romeo Castellucci. The thematic focus of the thesis is the notion of Origins and Destinations, and its relationship with the language of representation in Romeo Castelluccis theatre. The theoretical discussion in the thesis is organised around Giorgio Agambens notion of Potentiality within the composition and content of Castelluccis theatre. This concept provides a link between the key ideas of Origins, Destinations and Representation. Castelluccis application of Agambens Potentiality deconstructs dramatic structure, narrative and action down to the fundamentals of the act itself, separated from its meaningful context. It is the conclusion of this thesis, that in the instant of this singular act, Romeo Castellucci manages to represent a point where origin and destination meet, or a point where they both are, for an instant, one and the same thing