Starting from an embodied approach to the study of the mind, and drawing on Alva Noe’s proposition that the work of art allows us to move from seeing to seeing differently, I propose that some art performances emphasize the fact that the community bears this passage, and particularly highlight the importance of joint attention in this process. To develop my argument, I will consider what art historian Claire Bishop has termed the “gray zone,” which has emerged in the last 15 (...) years or so as a result of the entry of the performing arts, normally housed in theatrical spaces, into museums, usually used for the display of immobile objects. This shift involves the breaking of certain spectatorial constraints, such as sitting isolated in the darkness of a room typical of traditional theater, and puts the subject in a position to engage in processes of joint attention. I will focus in particular on the analysis of the performance Faust, emblematic of the gray zone that I propose paradoxically emphasizes the potentially transformative power of “we”. (shrink)

This paper explores how the phenomenon of Joint Attention (JA) drives certain core features of team sport and how sport illuminates the nature of JA. In JA, two or more agents focus on the same object in mutual awareness that the content of their experience is thus shared. JA is essential to joint sporting actions. The sporting context is particularly useful for illustrating the phenomenon of JA and provides a valuable lens through which to examine rival theoretical accounts of its (...) workings. This paper draws novel connections between the respective philosophical literatures on JA and sport, suggesting prospects for mutually advantageous cross-pollination. I contend that the workings of JA within joint sporting action are misconstrued on intellectualistic and individualistic theories which posit reductive explanations in terms of the contents of individual minds. The best evidence and strongest philosophical arguments support ‘relational’ accounts whereby joint sporting actions exceed the sum of their parts. I reject the ‘extensionalist’ contention, associated with ‘lean’ versions of the relationalist approach, that objects of JA are individuated in terms of causal properties not sensitive to how they are perceived. Siding instead with ‘rich’ versions of the view, I argue that team collaboration depends on convergence in terms of the ‘aspectual shape’ of the objects of JA. Finally, a further possible application for these ideas is suggested: that JA plays a central role in the constitution of sport-specific kinds. On this proposal, JA facilitates collective perceptual recognition of particular objects and situations as embodying the general types described in the rulebook, playing an important role in creating and sustaining the public ‘social space’ of sporting competition. (shrink)