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The Observatoire Critique experiment traces its origins to the international symposium “Corps en scène” (Bodies on stage), organized by Josette Féral (University Paris 3) and Louise Poissant (UQAM), and which took place in Paris from the 3rd to 5th of June 2015. An event on the international scale, it assembled 105 participants from 21 countries, including Brazil, Egypt, Lebanon, India, Singapore, New-Zealand and Cyprus for a total of 26 tables, 93 papers submissions, and 17 invited speakers. Acting as a partner of the symposium, the team of the research group Labex Arts-H2H “La scène augmentée: jeu de l’acteur, pratiques de création et modes de transmissions” (The augmented stage: work of the actor, practices of creation and modes of transmission), wished to play a specific and original role. Group leader Erica Magris (University Paris 8), deriving inspiration from collaborative, critical analysis collectives found in Italy, thus proposed to create a group of young researchers and students who would analyze the work of the symposium. The project team members sent out an informal call for participation. Fourteen students and young international researchers from multiple universities responded with enthusiasm and curiosity. The final group consisted of students from: Paris 3 - Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris 8 — Vincennes Saint-Denis, Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense as well as the Labex Arts H2H.

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Following this first experimental iteration, auto-analyzed in a collective article published in the revue Aparté, the Observatoire Critique was reconstructed in 2016 for the symposium “Luca Ronconi, maître d’un théâtre sans limites” (Luca Ronconi, master of theatre without limits), in the context of the “Master Scènes du monde, histoire, et création” of Paris 8 University. Most recently, it has come again into existence for the first conference of the EASTAP: “Decentering the vision(s) of Europe: the Emergence of New Forms” (2018). The core questions have remained the same: How do indvidiual viewpoints collectively merge to form a group critique of a research symposium? In what manner do new technologies and the modes of communication influence the operational functionality of the collective? What are the opportunities and the risks of a work dynamic made completely ‘horizontal’? How can we pass from pure observation to live theoretical elaboration and creation? And finally, what collective strategies should be adopted to create a satisfying equilibrium between individual actions and the construction of a coherent ensemble? These questions are at the heart of this work-in-progress experiment, which is always in the process of re-defining itself.