On the post-human political potential of puppets: a case study of Storm, an eco-activist

Abstract

With the confluence of interest in socio-natural or human-nonhuman entanglements and concern for the maintenance of a minimal humanism within such post-human ontologies, the puppet arises as a post-human artform that is well placed to address both simultaneously. To argue that the puppet is a post-human artform is not a new proposition, but what is new in this paper is its detailed account of how different features of puppet performance function in post-human fashion, both drawing the human spectator into the performance as part of its singularity and rendering accessible the enviro-political message behind the performance. Focusing on a giant (10 m tall) puppet – Storm – who attended COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 to promote protection of the world’s seas, we first address how the post-human puppet form was brought to performative life through identification of a series of constructional mechanisms, which function as spatial manoeuvres to reposition the spectator with respect to both the puppet character and her political message. Subsequently, we consider how these mechanisms differentially influence legibility, acuity and potency of the political message, explore potential risks to the effectiveness of those constructional mechanisms, and draw out three foundational tensions that must seemingly be navigated for optimal political effectiveness (relating to post-human, political and spatial concerns respectively). Ultimately, we hypothesise a bidirectional spatial and subjective transition on the part of the spectator, progressing from being one who becomes bound into the collective singularity of the puppet assemblage to one who funnels the agency of the collective singularity into their one-ness for optimum political potency. Thus, we present both a detailed empirical and critical reading of one specific puppet performance and provide a more abstracted account of the political potency of (giant) puppets.