Idiorrythmy and Experimentation with Forms of Sociality in an Alternative Artist Community at the Monastery of Saint Erme

Abstract

The article explores the life and experiments with forms of sociality of an alternative community of artists based in the monastery buildings in the town of Saint Erme. The historical and architectural spaces of the monastery buildings are described, paying attention to the traces of the former nuns’ congregation, school and community of the cult that occupied the buildings. The article reflects on the connection of the ideas of establishing the community with existential philosophy and the history of performance art of the late 20th century. The critical principles on which the self-organisation of the community and the idiorrhythmic relations between the individual and the community are based are presented. The article examines how the community treats property, mandate or authority, and how it experiments with different models of self-organisation. It also analyses relations with the mainly religious community of the town and with non-humans or animals. It reflects on efforts not to follow in the footsteps of flawed Western institutions and to resist manifestations of racism, class domination, and sexism.