ILLUSIONISTIC ENVIRONMENTS – DIGITAL SPACES (original) (raw)
Related papers
Dramatic Space and Performer ’ s Body , a Case Study (2015)
Studia Dramatica UBB, 2015
Mediated images alter the perception of the real, then again, they emphasize themselves in a dynamic manner arising critical attitude, for they compel the spectator to consider all the images entering his/her visual field, and to integrate them into his/her own reference system. As recorded images offer the possibility of simultaneous representation of parts of actors’ bodies, an interaction between virtual images and real / optical images occurs, interaction which, whether demonstrates itself compulsory, acquires a powerful dramatic finality, since the existence of a viable relation between the stage images, either virtual or real, is a sine qua non dramatic condition.
Body As Medium. Between Theory and Technology of Theater
archée revue d'art en ligne : arts médiatiques & cyberculture, 2018
We present the theoretical approach to the problems of body and technology in stage performance. The starting point is the status of the categories such as presence, ephemerality, immediacy of the (theatre) performance radically undermined in the texts of performance studies scholars such as Rebecca Schneider, Amelia Jones or Philip Auslander. Utilizing examples of performances from young Polish theatre: Krzysztof Garbaczewski (b.1983) and Radosław Rychcik (b.1981), we juxtapose two functioning models of body-technology relation on stage. The first one – represented by Garbaczewski – is based on understanding the body as always mediated. It multiplies (undermines) the body’s presence by use of audiovisual means. The second one – Rychcik’s case – is to push the theatrical presence of the body to the absolute maximum. In this case an audiovisual layer is used to build a strong opposition to the actor’s stage presence. The two examples are used to propose new theoretical approaches. We would like to show that such stage phenomena are not only the sign of a changing technological reality, but are also important theoretical input in the understanding of theatre itself. We posit that every single body on stage (no matter if consciously, as in Garbaczewski’s case, or unconsciously, as in Rychcik’s case) is already mediated, and the use of technological tools is a way to play with this specific aspect of theatre’s corporeality. This broader perspective also incorporate elements of the political dimension of annexing media-mediated and media-manipulated corporeality, for it follow the apparently transparent and natural dimension of such actions, whereby once again, as postulated by Jacques Rancière it turn aesthetic considerations into political considerations.
Body as Medium. Between Theory and Technology of Theatre
Our speech will present the theoretical approach to the problems of body and technology in stage performance. The starting point will be status of the categories such as presence, ephemerality, immediacy of the (theatre) performance radically undermined in the texts of performance studies scholars such as Rebecca Schneider, Amelia Jones or Philip Auslander. Utilizing examples of performances from young Polish theatre: Krzysztof Garbaczewski (b.1983) and Radosław Rychcik (b.1981), we would like to juxtapose two of functioning models of body-technology relation on stage. The first one – represented by Garbaczewski – is based on understanding of the body as always mediated. It multiplies (undermines) body’s presence by use of audiovisual means. The second one – Rychcik’s case – is to push the theatrical presence of the body to absolute maximum. In this case audiovisual layer is used to build a strong opposition to the actor’s stage presence. The two examples will be used to propose new theoretical approach. We would like to show that such stage phenomena are not only the sign of the (technological) reality changing but also a very important, theoretical input in the understanding of the theatre as such. We will state that every single body on stage (no matter if consciously like in Garbaczewski’s case, or unconsciously like in the Rychcik’s case) is already mediated and the use of technological tools is a way to play with this specific character of theatre corporeality. This broader perspective will also incorporate elements of the political dimension of annexing media-mediated and media-manipulated corporeality, for it will follow the apparently transparent and natural dimension of such actions, whereby once again it will turn, as postulated by Jacques Rancière, aesthetic considerations into political considerations, which would be the speech final point.
The Scenographic Unfolding: Performance of Immersive, Interactive and Participatory Environments
2018
Performance in theatre, as well as in certain forms of visual arts (such as happenings, performance art, etc.), has for the most part been understood as an action of a live performer in front of an audience while space / scenography has typically been conceived of as that which provides a certain atmosphere for or otherwise supports this said performance. This dissertation sets out to explore yet another way of thinking about performance: the performance of space itself, emerging from within a dialogue between theatre and visual arts as a scenographic unfolding. Insisting that material / technological mediation and transformation of body / space relationships is key in thinking about performance at the intersection of installation art (in visual arts) and expanded scenography (in theatre), this present research employs practice itself in the exploration of performance as scenographic unfolding in environments that are immersive, interactive and participatory. In so doing, this study...
Defining cyberformance as an emergent kind of art is the object of this paper. Cyberformance is developed through the Internet using digital technologies, like the computer, a narrower category than digital performance, that is defined for taking place through any digital means. Cyberformance happens live, in cyberspace-be it in a chat room or a MUVE (Multi User Virtual Environment)-and its performers and audience are distributed physically, sometimes around the globe, developing a form of telepresence. It is risky, deals with post-modern subjects and it is liminal in its experimentation. Cyberformance uses different sources but is mainly dependent on the computer and tends to never be finished and, so, to be an open work in Humberto Eco's (1962) sense. To define it, we work within a hybrid paradigm of theatre and performance happening in cyberspace. Certain cases-from performance using mainly text to performance using wearables and game consoles-and some ongoing projects will be evoked, notably the ones by the author of the term cyberformance, Helen Varley Jamieson as well as Cochrane and Valverde's Senses Places, a mixed reality performance using Second Life, with which the researcher has been collaborating. These experiments at the verge of the physical or actual world and the virtual one go beyond the purposes of art, creating new tools for Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and promising new and more corporeal ways of distributed communication. This article is, in part, a result of the research for the author's PhD thesis: «Cyberformance: performance in virtual worlds» (2013). 2. Defining cyberformance Cyberformance is live performance art that happens in virtual worlds and ambiences. The designation cyberformance was created by Helen Varley Jamieson putting together the terms cybernetics and performance. In her Master of Arts thesis Adventures in Cyberformance (2008), this performer, with experience in theatre, net art, software development and digital performance, defined some of the characteristics of this form of art from which my theoretical framework departed. In my Ph.D. thesis «Cyberformance: performance in virtual worlds» (2013), I extended and updated the concept for this emerging art, found its genealogy and identified and analysed three main forms through
FROM THE PICTORIAL SYMBOLS OF THE THEATRE TO THE VIRTUAL SYMBOLISATION OF THE REAL
The problem of the existence or not of a reality, which outside the dimension of the intelligent subject, that is, the relationship of the subjectivity of conscience and the objectivity of the world, comprises an issue lending itself to a multiplicity of approaches and dimensions such as ontology, gnosology, psychology and metaphysics, neurophysiology and sociology. The questions posed and the answers given appear in philosophical and literary texts, scholarly studies and artistic creations, directly or indirectly linked to notions suck as “utopia” and “science fiction”, “temporality” and “reality”, “futurity” and “metaphysics”.
'Multimedia as a Prosthesis': Mingling Live Theatrical Arts and Virtuality
The simultaneous presence of virtual and physical reality on a theatre scene is of problematic nature. In terms of empathy it is difficult for an attendance to identify with these 2 different dimensions of reality at the same time. This observation led us to conceive an expressive technological environment and a theatrical concept in which we could achieve a 'natural' symbiosis of the physical and the virtual: 'multimedia as prosthesis' This application of VR technology offers intuitive tools (for drawing and navigation, speaking,..) at a paralyzed, technology-dependant actor. In order to have the mimetic faculty of this man communicated to the audience we built a computer-cave on the theatre scene, so that he can share his virtual space with the spectators. This is an environment of which the parameters are generated and steered by the actor in real time.
Skenè. Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies, 2021
As digital design increasingly inscribes its own narrative from the outset of the rehearsal process, twenty-first century theatre artists and audiences are becoming more and more accustomed to porous dramaturgies, influenced by information technologies and digital articulations. This article explores the use of technology in contemporary performance by interrogating the diverse functions of the multimedia element by touching on a number of theoretical and practice-related issues: How has technology affected performance both in terms of creative strategies and audience experience? What are some of the pleasures and dangers involved in the omni-presence of the media in today’s theatre landscape? How has digital articulation enhanced, ironized or redefined structure and characterization? Under what conditions can the encounter of corporeal presence with an electronically interceded image provide meaningful experiences for the audience? Bringing in examples from different multimedia productions, I will try to illustrate a work method of compositional dramaturgy, where the philosophy that structures the mise-en-scène draws from the visual as well as ontological collision between the live and the mediated.