Bodies raising their voice

An aesthetic-political analysis of the actions of flo6x8

Abstract

flo6x8 is an artistic-political collective that, during the 2008 financial crisis, occupied different Spanish bank branches dancing and singing flamenco as a protest action against the atrocious act of dispossession activated by the recession and its management. In this essay, we propose to delve into the tactics used by these bailaoras and cantaoras to articulate an artistic act of guerrilla with deeper political meaning than the apparent. We will start with the aesthetic proposal of Jacques Rancière and his ideas about the distribution of the sensible in order to analyse how the unusual gesture of dancing or singing in the bank forces a redistribution of the common. We will compare the French philosopher's thinking with some studies about the ways in which flamenco can be political. Erika Fischer Lichte’s detailed study of the aesthetics of the performative or Judith Butler’s ideas about uprising, among other authors, will help us to explore the power of the body as a plural, intuitive, fragmentary and vulnerable entity. Lastly, we will draw a connection between flo6x8 and the subversive nature of Carnival that is pointed out in different texts about Mikhail Bakhtin’s work.