Poetics of the ars combinatoria and Performance Philosophy, Negative Theology and Apophatic Aesthetics, Paradigms for a New Morphology of the Sacred

The latest modern developments of the ars combinatoria, whose origins are traced back to the work of the philosopher, theologian and troubadour Ramon Llull, have born in the last few years very surprising fruits, both in regard to a new comprehension of the Lullian method in itself and in its interpreters (Nicholas of Cusa, Giordano Bruno, G. W. Leibniz and others), and to its reception in the context of new digital languages and technologies, where a very singular precedent has been found in the Majorcan philosopher. The recent exhibitions about these developments in Barcelona (2016), Karlsruhe (2017) and Lausanne (2018) explore the computational derivation of Llull's method and, in addition, show the inspiring force of his language in the works of modern and contemporary artists, poets, architects and musicians.

With "Poetics of the ars combinatoria," we want to explore the poetic-mystical derivation of the Lullian method, that is, its creative (poietic) force and its versatility as far as the operations of its poetological concepts in the various fields of knowledge are concerned. One of the goals of this research, besides the crucial study of the texts, the spiritual contexts that generated them, and their current developments, involves the prospection and essay of a scenography that challenges the pedagogical models of transmission of mainly humanistic knowledge. Thence we are to test the limits and assets of the performance, by dialoguing with the origins of the poetic practice of the medieval Europe and by seeking new ways for philosophy and theology (to name just a few) to find a dramatized, or liturgic, dimension of their expressions. The recent collaborative project with the choreographer Cesc Gelabert and the playwright Valère Novarina is a remarkable example of this perspective.