“Even those who fight in resistances or in revolutions had to undertake bodily actions to claim their rights and to create something new” – Judith Butler, 'Can one lead a good life in a bad life?,' Radical Philosophy 176 (2012)

Marinella Senatore’s 'Can one lead a good life in a bad life?' (2019) is part of a series of black-and-white photographs with drawing, presenting a female body in plastic positions taken from the dances that animate the artist’s complex performances, with additions of such geometric and three-dimensional decorative elements as small mirrors, coloured plastic and cotton threads.

Addressing the speech that Judith Butler gave in 2012 when she was awarded the Adorno Prize, 'Can one lead a good life in a bad life?' (2019) constitutes a celebration of the body as a site of political action and generator of social change.

This series is inspired by the artist’s project 'The School of Narrative Dance'. Founded in 2012, the school takes the shape of a series of actions and happenings the artist organises around the world – at the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice (2015); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2017); and Hayward Gallery, London (2018), amongst others – and during which the artist gathers participants, often from non-artistic backgrounds, to collectively activate their creativity.