liveness and multimedia performance

8/14/2019 Liveness and Multimedia Performance

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Revision:

Mul-media:Systemsthatsupporttheinterac1veuseoftext,audio,s1llimages,video,andgraphics.Eachofthese

elementsmustbeconvertedinsomewayfromanalogformto

digitalformbeforetheycanbeusedinacomputer

applica1on.Thus,thedis1nc1onofmul1mediaistheconvergenceofpreviouslydiversesystems.

www.tamu.edu/ode/glossary.html


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RandallPackerandKenJordan(200)suggestfivecharacteris1csintrinsictocomputerbasedmul1media:

integra1on,thewaydifferentmediaandartformsarebroughttogetherincertainworks

interac1vity,spectatorsoruserscandeterminethestructureoftheworkthroughtheirowninterac1onswiththework

hypermedia,followingthelinks immersion,sensorialoverload narra1vity,formsofconceptualorganiza1on(oNennonlinearnarra1ves)

OvertureMul&media:FromWagnerToVirtualReality,ewYork:W.W.ortonandCompany,Ltd(xiixxxi)

Thesetermsofferastar1ngpointfordevelopingalanguageinwhichtoar1culatetheformsandprocessesinherenttomul1mediaperformance.RosieKlichUSW


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The Wooster Group

980 Schechner dissolves Performance Group, the lease on Performinggarage transferred to LeCompte now ar1s1c director of the WoosterGroupwithWillemDafoe,SpaldingGray,PeytonSmith,KateValk,andRonVawter.

As Dafoe later describes it, the experimental group aims to create atheaterdisconnectedfromabsolutesoftextandpsychology,theaterthatspeakstoanage"wherewecantalkonthephone,lookoutthewindow,watchTV,andbetypingale`eratthesame1me..."LeCompteandthecompanyuseacollageofaudio,video,andspokenwordtoreinventwellknownplaysh`p://www.pbs.org


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TheHAIRYAPEbyEugeneO'eill(995)


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HOUSE/LIGHTSbasedonGertrudeStein(999)


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Keyworks:

Route 1 and 9 The last Act (98) Video ofThornton Wilders Our Town (938) andblackfaceperformance

L.S.D Just the High Points (984) cut ups ofArthur Millers The Crucible, Timothy learyspeechesandextensivevideo.Millersuesthe

company.(video)


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LaurieAnderson

980

metJohnCage TouredwithWilliamBurroughsandJohnGiorno themul1mediaperformanceUITEDSTATESIIpremieredat

theOrpheumTheater,ewYork

"ThisperformancewassponsoredbytheKitchenandwasthefirstpieceIdidinarealtheater.ItranforseveraldaysandIrememberfeelingguiltythatitwasmoreorlessthesame

everynightbecauseIwassousedtochangingthingsaroundforeveryperformance.


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980s

OSUPERMAreached#2ontheBri1shpopcharts;signedwithWarnerBrothersRecords(InspiredbyMassenetsOSouverain,oneoftheariasinLeCid)andlyricslike:

SoholdmeMom,inyourlongarms.../inyourautoma1carms.../yourelectronicarms.../yourpetrochemicalarms/yourmilitaryarms/inyourelectronicarms...

RecordedBIGSCIECE 983UITEDSTATESperformedinitseighthourversionatthe

BrooklynAcademyofMusic

984MetPeterGabrielandwroteandperformedTHISISTHEPICTUREfor"GoodMorningMr.Orwell"livevideobroadcastorganizedbyamJunePaik

985ShotHOMEOFTHEBRAVEproducedbyPaulaMazirandfilmedbyJohnLindley


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990sandaNer

AndersonwrotethesoundtracktoSpaldingGrayssoloperformancesSwimmingtoCambodia986andMonsterinaBox99

992STORIESFROMTHEERVEBIBLE,theperformance,waspremieredatExpo'92inSeville

999SOGSADSTORIESFROMMOBYDICK(BAM) 2004ASAar1stinresidenceTHEEDOFTHEMOO


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Cyberne1cperformance

LaurieAndersonsconstruc1onofthebody...acyberne1cbodyratherthananaturalone,an

interfacewithtechnologyeg;themicdbodyplayedaspercussion,thevocoderalteringvoiceproduc1onproducingthe

intona1onofamale,thepas1cheofmalecrossdressing.


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Einstein on the beach 1976/84

therepeatperformanceofEinsteinonthebeachtookplaceattheBrooklynAcademyofMusicinDecember984.ThispiecewasconstructedaccordingtoWilsonssketchbookimageswhichdividedthespaceaccordingtopainterlyprinciplesofportraiture,s1lllifeandlandscape.

Theentractes(knownasKneePlays,becausetheyservedasjointsbetweentheacts)wereperformedinfrontofthestagecurtaininavery

shallow,closeupspacethathe(Wilson)thoughtofintermsofportraiture.Thesetsforthescenesshowingatrain,abuilding,acourtroom,andaprisoncellgavetheseobjectstheintermediatedepthoffieldcommonins1lllifecomposi1on.Andfinallythesetsthatprovidedmaximumspacefordancegroupstheopenfieldandthemassivespaceshipinteriorhadthedepthoflandscape.(TrevorFairbrother,RobertWilsonachronologicalessayRobertWilsonsVision p20


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Thecri1c,RobertBrustein,arguedthatthevisualeffectsarethemostdazzlingandoriginalaspectsofthework:Wilsonisessen1allya

painterwhopaintsinmo1on.(qtd.inFairbrotherop.cit.p20)

Bythe1meEinsteinwasfirstshownin976Wilsonhadalreadyacquiredaninterna1onalreputa1onasanimagistforthetheatre.His

firstmajorinterna1onalsuccesswaswitha7hourpieceen1tled

DeafmanGlancewhichcontainednodialogueandnolinearnarra1ve,

justaseriesofliveimages.Thepiecewasinspiredbythedrawingsofa

deafmuteblackchild,RaymondAndrewswhomWilsonhadadopted

aNerseeinghimbeingharrassedbyapolicemaninewJerseyin969.

Wilsonencouragedthechildtoexpresshimselfindrawingsandinvited

thechildtoteachWilsonstheatrecompanyhispreverballanguageof

gesturesandsounds.TheresultwasDeafmanGlancewhichWilson

describesasasilentoperaaNerCage.

Aplayconsis1ngonlyofgesturesandimagesbasedonthedrawingsofachildwithnootherlanguageisprobablythemostextremeformofa

theatreoftheimage


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Wilsonatthis1mewasopposedtotheno1onof

aliterarytheatre:

peoplearejustbeginningtoreturnagaintodiscerningvisualsignificancesasaprimarymodeormethodofcommunica1nginacontextwheremorethanoneformorlevelexists.Inthatsenseofoverlaysofvisualcorrespondences...See,werenotpar1cularlyinterestedin

literaryideas,becausehavingafocusthatencompassesinapanoramicvisualglanceallthehiddenslicesongoingthatappearinclearawarenessasencodedfragmentsseemstoindicatetheatrehassomuchmoretodothanbeconcernedwithwordsinadriedout,flat,onedimensionalliterarystructure.ImeantheModernWorldhasforcedustooutgrowthatmodeofseeing.(SpeechIntroducingFreudTwen&ethCenturyTheatre.ASourcebookp60)


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ReviewingAuslander:

LiveVMediatedperformanceisacompe11veopposi1onatthelevelofculturaleconomynotatthelevelofintrinsicorontologicaldifferences.

AuslandersviewisthatLive&Mediatedaremutuallydependentforreasonsthatarebothhistoricalandexperien1al:

historical(thetheatricalityoftv,tvasalivemedium;ubiquitoususeofmediainliveperformancesuchasdance)

experien1al(goinglive,in1macyandimmediacy,interac1vity,mul1plecamerasetupenablestvtorecreatetheperceptualcon1nuityoftheatre,p9cinema1cvocabofspectators,laughingoncue,stadiumconcertsandsportsevents)


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Is1lldontgetit

Ifweunderstandaperformancework,howevervitalorimprovisatory,asaworkwithinarepresenta1onalframe,thenitcanbedefinedintermsofmedia,asaneventwhichismediatedbythear1s1corins1tu1onalcontextinwhichitoccurs.

Thereforeitfollowsthatthedocumenta1onofsuchaworkinaphotographicorvideoformat,andwhichiscons1tutedasaworkinitself,canbeseenasaremedia1onofthatwork.


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theeconomyofrepe11on

Media1sedcultureinvolveswhatA`alicallstheeconomyofrepe11onthemassproduc1onofartandmediaobjectsimagesandsounds.(p0)A`alisaysWhatirony:peopleoriginallyintendedtousetherecordtopreservetheperformance,andtodaytheperformanceisonlysuccessfulas

asimulacrumoftherecord.(qtdp2)

Liveperformancemustrecreatethemedia1sedversionofit:musicvideo,standupcomedy


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thein1macyeffect

ThisisthesignificanceofWalterBenjaminsartworkessay(936)forAuslandersargument,themediasshapingofthesensorynorm:theproduc1onofadesireforproximity,thein1macyeffectsuggestsanothersetoftermsfortheinterconnec1onbetweenliveandmediatedperformanceforms.

Duetoourfamiliaritywithtelevisualimagesweseethemasproximatenoma`erhowfarweareawayfromtheminphysicalterms,eveninthelastrowofaMadonnaconcert.(p4)

Someoftheadvantagesofmixingmedia(p5)aretheproduc1onofconsciousandunconsciousworlds,objec1veeventsandinternalsubjec1vemo1vescancoexistinthemiseenscene.


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TheLiveVMediateddebate

LiveVMediatedperformanceisacompe11veopposi1onatthelevelof

culturaleconomynotatthelevelof

intrinsicorontologicaldifferences.


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Dumb Type OR and S/N

seekstoexploreevernewdimensionsofhumansysteminterac1on.

virtualmul1mediadancetheatrecollec1ve formedinKyotoJapanin984byTeijiFuruhashithenastudentatKyotoUniofFine

Arts.


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In990theirpiecePHtoured9countriesandtookasitsthemetheglobalinfobahn

Thispiecefeaturesprecisionchoreographyonatenniscourtlikegriddedstageover

whichanenormouselectronicboom

(actuallyametalscanner)sweepsbackandforthprojec1ngtextsandimagesontothe

floor


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PH:Onesuchtextisthephraseewworldorderwhichmorphs

intonewworldborder


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S/N

alaterpieceS/N(99298)concernstheinterac1onbetweenmedicaltechnologiesandthebody:

SIGAL/OISE SOUTH/ORTH SOCIETY/ATURE SIG/AME STATE/ATIO SYSTEM/ETWORK SESE/OSESE SCIECE/ECROMACY SAMPLE/ARRATIVE


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Idream...mycommonsensewilldisappear. Idream...myracewilldisappear. Idream...mypropertywilldisappear. Idream...mystylewilldisappear. Idream...myfearwilldisappear. Idream...mydutywilldisappear. Idream...myauthoritywilldisappear. Idream...mypowerwilldisappear.


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OR994

Explaining the issue around the border of life anddeath. And how technology is involved in to distinctthis border now. Idea came up from my experiencesin the hospital when my mother (cancer) died in

August, and my brother (traffic accident), my lover(AIDS) in the past. How much the science cancontrol this border. How much our mind can controlthis border. This is the border which all the humanshave to confront some day. teiji furuhashi. oct 1995


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ORinstalla1on

Images ofdeath, looked

at from

various view

points, be itreligious,

philosophical,

medical,

cultural or

emotional


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KyupiKyupiAudio

visualperformanceunitfoundedin996


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While maintaining a baseof activities in Kyoto, theiraudiovisual works andperformances have beenshown at museums inParis, New York andLondon

videoworks suited toprivate spaces and liveworks at public venues,directly stimulating thesenses via diverseplatforms transcendingmedia barriers


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Influences

kawaii culture (helloKitty etc)

Manga graphic novelculture - mainstream in

japan

Cyberculture with theemphasis on WAP andmobile phonetechnologies (internet

enabled mobiles)


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BLASTTHEORY

(99present) Ma`Adams,JuRowFarrandickTandavanitjbasedinLondon


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Companystatement

Blast theory explores interactivity and therelationship between real and virtual space witha particular focus on the social and politicalaspects of technology. It confronts a media

saturated world in which popular culture rules,using video, computers, performance,installation, mobile and online technologies toask questions about the ideologies present inthe information that envelops us.


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Since2000,BlastTheoryhasbeenexploringtheconvergenceofonlineandmobiletechnologiesincollabora1onwiththe

MixedRealityLab,Universityofongham

RecentProjectsincludetheawardwinningCanYouSeeMeow?,UncleRoyAllAroundYouandILikeFranktheworld'sfirstmixed

realitygamefor3Gphones.


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StagingmediaKidnap998

In 1998 Blast Theory launched a lottery in whichthe winners had the chance to be kidnapped.Ten finalists around England and Wales werechosen at random and put under surveillance.

Two winners were then snatched in broaddaylight and taken to a secret location wherethey were held for 48 hours.

http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/kidnap/regform.htm


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Kidnap

The two winners were DebraBurgess, a 27 year old

Australian working as a tempand Russell Ward, a 19 yearold from Southend working

in a 24 hour conveniencestore.The whole processwas broadcast live onto theinternet. Online visitors wereable to control the videocamera inside the safehouseand communicate live with

the kidnappers.


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DesertRain2000

A game, an installation and a performance placing participantsin a collaborative virtual environment and sending them on a

mission into a virtual world. In a world where Gulf War images

echo Hollywood images, where Norman Schwarzkopf blurs into

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Desert Rain looks for the feint line

between the real and the fictional.


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DesertRain

You have 30minutes to find the

target, complete the

mission, and get tothe final room,

where others may

have a very different

idea of what actuallyhappened out there.


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New media performance in

Australia

PerformanceSpace(980present) DenisBeaubois;IntheEventofAmnesiatheCitywillRecall(998ewYork)

TheKingPins:Tcha Noble b.1977, EmmaPrice b.1975, Katie Price b.1978,

Anglelica Mesiti b.1976


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liveness and multimedia performance

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