Living Lens: exploring interdependencies between performing bodies, visual and sonic media

in immersive installation.

An exegesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the of the requirements for the degree of PhD (research) in the

Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology

Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, B.A. (University of New England) Queensland University of Technology December 2007

i

KEYWORDS performer-media interdependencies, immersive installation, poetic felt space, living painting, multi-sensory, butoh, dance/movement, body-as-texturiser, embodied visualisation, visual imagery, digital collage, sound palette, adaptable clusters, interactivity

ii

ABSTRACT Living Lens is a practice-led study that explores interdependencies between performing

bodies, visual images and sonic elements through two main areas of investigation: the

propensity for the visual mode to be dominant in an interdisciplinary performance

environment; and, a compositional structure to integrate performing bodies, visual and

sonic elements. To address these concerns, the study necessitated a collaborative team

comprising performers, visual artists, sound designers and computer programmers. The

poetic title, Living Lens, became an important interpretative device and organising

principle in this study, which is weighted 70% for the creative work and 30% for the

written component.

Working from an experiential and emergent methodology, the research employed two

iterative cycles of development. Drawing on a previous work, Patchwork in Motion

(2005), the extraction of one fragment entitled Living Lens (2005-6) was selected for

further development, specifically to balance the relationship between performers and

visual media with a deeper focus on the sonic component. The initial creative

development (June-July 2005) addressed the area of interdependencies through the

concepts of “poetic felt space” and “living painting”, whilst the final stage of the study

(June-July 2006) adopted the concept of “worlds within worlds” to facilitate greater

contrast and connectivity in the piece.

The final performance made partial progress towards shifting visual dominance and the

development of an integrative structure, the digital media serving to enhance tangible

connections between aural, visual and kinesthetic senses. As an immersive performance

installation, the study thus adapts and extends painterly and sculptural sensibilities into a

contemporary and interactive arts setting. Presenting a case for the personalised position

of the practitioner voice, the study also offers practical and conceptual insights and

solutions, to be adopted, adapted or applied tangentially, by other practitioners and

researchers working in the domains of body movement practices, visual and sonic arts

and human communication technologies.

iii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP The work presented in this thesis, to the best of my knowledge and belief, is the original, except as acknowledged in the text. This material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university or higher education institution.

Signed:_______________________________ Date:________________________________

iv

CONTENTS KEYWORDS .............................................................................................. i ABSTRACT ............................................................................................... ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.......................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................. vii DVD CONTENTS & HOW TO USE ....................................................... x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................... xii PREFACE ............................................................................................... xiv FRONTISPIECE ......................................................................................xv INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1

0.1 Background ........................................................................................................... 1 0.2 Living Lens development ....................................................................................... 2 0.3 Director as cultivator ............................................................................................. 3 0.4 Living Lens as poetic translation of experience ...................................................... 4

CHAPTER 1 – RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................... 5 1.1 Experiential methodology...................................................................................... 5 1.2 Research concern................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Limitations of the study......................................................................................... 7

1.3.1 Scope of the study........................................................................................... 7 1.3.2 Bias of the study ............................................................................................. 7 1.3.3 Ethical considerations ..................................................................................... 8

1.4 Collaborative environment as “habitat”.................................................................. 8 1.5 Practice-led Research as performative research...................................................... 9

1.5.1 Creative Production/Design Research ........................................................... 10 1.5.2 Iterative Process............................................................................................ 11

1.6 Research Methods: Applied processes of practice................................................ 13 1.6.1 Developing movement material as “primary data” ........................................ 13

Image –based methods: ‘butoh-fu’; ‘graining’.................................................... 13 Temporal linkage through ‘clusters’................................................................... 14 Flow Continuums: devising a scaling tool.......................................................... 15

1.6.2 Developing XV3 visual imaging system ....................................................... 15 Image texture bank ............................................................................................ 15 XV3 Imaging tools ............................................................................................ 16

1.6.3 Developing the sonic environment ................................................................ 16 Improvised sound streams to real-time sound “palette” ...................................... 16

1.7 Tracking emergences........................................................................................... 17 1.7.1 Distilling concepts ........................................................................................ 17 1.7.2 Visual mapping............................................................................................. 18

1.8 Feedback ............................................................................................................. 20 1.9 Analysis .............................................................................................................. 20 1.10 Summary........................................................................................................... 22

CHAPTER 2 – CONTEXTUAL REVIEW .............................................23 2.1 Through and With the “Lens”.............................................................................. 23 2.2 “Living” spaces of experience ............................................................................. 24

v

2.2.1 Notion of Felt Experiencing.......................................................................... 24 2.2.2 Notion of Perceived-Conceived-Lived .......................................................... 25 2.2.3 Poetic Felt Space .......................................................................................... 27

2.3 “Living painting”................................................................................................. 28 2.3.1 Tableaux Vivants.......................................................................................... 28 2.3.2 Physical/Virtual painting............................................................................... 29

2.4 Towards performer-media interdependencies....................................................... 30 2.4.1 Shifting the visual mode ............................................................................... 30 2.4.2 Notion of Sensuous Geography..................................................................... 33 2.4.3 Immersive Space........................................................................................... 35

Self-contained/distributed performance spaces................................................... 36 2.4.4 Performers as inhabitants .............................................................................. 38

‘Shared Sensibility’: Biped ................................................................................ 38 Impact of technology: The Builders Association................................................ 40 Relationship of organic and electronic: Troika Ranch ........................................ 41

2.5 Summary............................................................................................................. 43 CHAPTER 3 - From Patchwork in Motion to Living Lens......................45

3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 45 3.1.1 Generating diverse structures: the notion of “patch” as modular segment ...... 45 3.1.2 Immersive imaging: developing technical tools............................................. 46 3.1.3 Black and white imagery: Test-patches ......................................................... 49 3.1.4 Colour and texture: Patchwork in Motion...................................................... 51

3.2 Focusing on a microcosm: Living Lens ................................................................ 55 3.2.1 Towards a fluid continuum: from “living filmstrip” to “living painting” ........... 55

3.2.2 Developing criteria for analysis and further creative development................. 56 3.3 Living Lens: creative development ...................................................................... 58

3.3.1 Context of Accented Body Project ................................................................ 58 3.3.2 Collaborative team........................................................................................ 58 3.3.3 Towards an immersive installation................................................................ 59 3.3.4 Component “lenses”: body, visuals, sound.................................................... 62

Body “lens”: Butoh and Image induction........................................................... 62 Texture and Space ............................................................................................. 64 Visual “lens” ..................................................................................................... 65 Sound “lens”...................................................................................................... 66

3.3.5 Integrating components: tentative structure based on sleep cycles ................. 67 3.4 Feedback ............................................................................................................. 69

3.4.1 Peer Feedback............................................................................................... 69 3.4.2 Participant feedback...................................................................................... 70 3.4.3 Personal observations ................................................................................... 72

3.5 Further strategies towards an integration of distinctive entities ............................ 73 3.5.1 “Idiosyncratic” movement: specific work areas............................................. 73 3.5.2 Defining and refining movement clusters...................................................... 74 3.5.3 Setting up indicators of change: worlds within worlds................................... 75

3.6 Summary............................................................................................................. 77 CHAPTER 4 - The “Living Painting": Worlds within Worlds..............78

4.1 Generating contrast in the fluid continuum .......................................................... 78

vi

4.2 Developing distinctive bodies.............................................................................. 80 4.2.1 The Serpentine Line...................................................................................... 80 4.2.2 Notion of idiosyncratic body......................................................................... 82 4.2.3 Parameters for exploring idiosyncratic movement......................................... 83

Body as “seismograph”...................................................................................... 83 Tactility and torsion........................................................................................... 88 “Topography” of the body ................................................................................. 92 Mutable forms: the body as “metaball” .............................................................. 94

4.3 Furthering the notion of clusters .......................................................................... 98 4.3.1 Clusters as adaptable movement sequences ................................................... 98 4.3.2 Image clusters: the “digital collage”.............................................................. 99 4.3.3 Sonic clusters: the spatial-acoustic “palette” ............................................... 102 4.3.4 Shaping clusters as relationships between body, visuals and sound ............. 106

4.4 Feedback ........................................................................................................... 107 4.4.1 Participant Feedback................................................................................... 107 4.4.2 Peer feedback ............................................................................................. 109 4.4.3 Personal Observations................................................................................. 111

4.5 Summary........................................................................................................... 112 CHAPTER 5: FURTHER DISTILLATION.........................................113

5.1 Contributions to the field ................................................................................... 113 5.1.2 Conceptual and performative contributions ................................................. 113

Interdependencies as mutual influences ........................................................... 113 Context of living painting ................................................................................ 114 Adaptable kinetic pathways ............................................................................. 114 Poetic felt space............................................................................................... 115

5.1.3 Technological innovations .......................................................................... 116 5.1.4 Contributions to methodology..................................................................... 116

Personalised position: the practitioner voice .................................................... 116 The metaphor of lens ....................................................................................... 117

5.2 Future directions................................................................................................ 117 5.2.1 Technological focal areas............................................................................ 117 5.2.2 Adaptable clusters....................................................................................... 118 5.2.1 Embodied visualisation processes ............................................................... 119

5.3 Summary........................................................................................................... 119 REFERENCES .......................................................................................120 BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................124 APPENDIX 1: Credits for final performance .......................................132 APPENDIX 2: Biographies of participants (final performance)..........133 APPENDIX 3: Flow Continuums (Laban) ............................................135 APPENDIX 4: Excerpts of butoh-fu ......................................................136 APPENDIX 5: Excerpts of poems by Judith Wright............................137 APPENDIX 6: Workshop excerpts: Interior & exterior space ............138 APPENDIX 7: Texture: body/space ......................................................139 APPENDIX 8: Energy/dynamics ...........................................................140

vii

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Diagram of iterative cycles of research process Figure 2 Diagram of emergent patterns of practice Figure 3 Diagram of researcher’s coiling process adapted from Rosenberg’s Poetic Research Model Figure 4 Diagram of motions sensor and network system Figure 5 “Barcode”, performer Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk,

Photo: Miro Ito, 2004

Figure 6 “Liquid Dream”, performers Fukiko Endo, Era Kawamura Photo: Miro Ito, 2004 Figure 7 Digitised sides of hand-painted and organic textures Textures and photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2005 Figure 8 Simulation of lens effect in After Effects software Figure 9 “Living Lens” fragment,

Performers Fukiko Endo, Haruna Yamazaki Photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2005 Figure 10 “Liquid Dream ver.02”, performers Fukiko Endo, Haruna Yamazaki Photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2005 Figure 11 “Signal”, performer “Sara” (stage name) Photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2005 Figure 12 Oscar Schlemmer’s human figure and spatial delineations

Schlemmer, O. (1996) Man and Art Figure, p.23 Figure 13 Spider in amber Photocollage: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk Figure 14 Image of chrysalis

<http://wwwdallasbutterflies.com/Butterflies/PUPA/plexippuspupa.html>

Accessed July 10, 2004

viii

Figure 15 Performers Ko-Pei Lin and Elise May working in The Loft with

screen plan in progress projected at rear Photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2005

Figure 16 Schematic of screen object Figure 17 Screen object installed in a curvilinear configuration Photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2005 Figure 18 Living Lens: dream/sleep cycle structure Figure 19 Elise May’s mapping of sleep cycles pathway to screen object Figure 20 Modes of sequencing: from phrase to cluster Figure 21 Living Lens: Worlds within Worlds overlay Figure 22 Integrative structure as contoured landscape Figure 23 System plan for Living Lens final performance Figure 24 Unfurling fern fronds as figura serpentina Photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2006 Figure 25 World of Neurology Ward, performers Ko-Pei Lin, Elise May,

Richard Causer, I-Pin Lin Photo: Kirsten Fletcher, 2006 Figure 26 World of Neurology Ward, performer Elise May Photo: Aaron Veryard, 2006 Figure 27 World of Neurology Ward, performers Elise May, Ko-Pei Lin, I-Pin

Lin, Richard Causer Photo: Aaron Veryard, 2006 Figure 28 World of Forest/Cave, performers Ko-Pei Lin and Elise May Photo: Aaron Veryard, 2006 Figure 29 Ko-Pei Lin with motion sensor on wrist Photo: Aaron Veryard, 2006 Figure 30 World of Vortex, performer Ko-Pei Lin Photo: Tomofumi Yoshida, 2006

ix

Figure 31 World of Vortex, performer Ko-Pei Lin Photo: Tomofumi Yoshida, 2006 Figure 32 Sculpture entitled “Back” (1976) by Magdalena Abakanowicz Abakanowicz, M. & The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

(1982) Magdalena Abakanowicz, p.93 Figure 33 World of Chrysalis, performer Richard Causer Photo: Polly Harrison, 2006 Figure 34 Metaball object

Image: Tetsutoshi Tabata Figure 35 Henri Michaux, Untitled (Mouvements) (1950)

Michaux, H. (2000) Emergences-resurgences, p.35 Figure 36 World of Chrysalis, performer I-Pin Lin Photo: Aaron Veryard, 2006 Figure 37 World of Cosmos/Nebula, performers Ko-Pei Lin, Elise May, Richard

Causer Photo: Tomofumi Yoshida, 2006 Figure 38 World of Forest/Cave transition to World of Water/Ice, performers

Elise May, I-Pin Lin Photo: Polly Harrison, 2006 Figure 39 Dr Junji Watanabe preparing ultrasonic speakers in moving light

housing Photo: Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk, 2006 Figure 40 Image of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

<http://www.ravenna2000.it/Turismo/S_Vitale.htm> Accessed February 5, 2006

x

DVD CONTENTS & HOW TO USE

How to use the DVD The enclosed DVD has been tested on a range of machines and is playable on Macintosh

and Windows computer platforms that incorporate a DVD drive, as well as on PAL DVD

players. Where possible, it is recommended that the reader play the DVD before reading

the written exegesis to become familiar with the different sections outlined in the diagram

above.

The navigation structure employs a main menu which accesses four sections, including

movie files of both the creative development and final performance of Living Lens

xi

(10mins. and 20mins. respectively), and short excerpts of previous works that inform this

study. Other sections include photographic images of the installation and final

performance, as well as stills of visual textures used as source material for the visual

media. The section, “Sound Palette”, contains various sound samples used in the

production, while the section, “Credits”, lists the names and roles of personnel involved in

the creation of Living Lens and the two informing projects, Test-patches and Patchwork in

Motion. Throughout Chapters 3 and 4, references will be made to the appropriate sections

in the DVD, accessed separately via the DVD menu and viewed discretely. This icon

appears in the text wherever reference is made to the DVD. In DVD player mode, movies

of the creative development and final performance of Living Lens have not been clearly

demarcated into chapters. This is to maintain the integrity of the piece, conceived to be

experienced as a fluid continuum. In computer playback, however, particular sections of

the final performance are referred to in the text by giving the time codes.

xii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The three years of this study, involving an upgrade from a Master of Arts to doctoral

studies, has been made possible through the generous support from a wide array of

people, both in relation to this particular study as well as in previous projects and

experiences that inform the research journey.

I would like to thank the staff at the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University

of Technology for administrative, technical and financial support. Here, I also

acknowledge the QUT Postgraduate Overseas Study Grants-in Aid Scheme award for

assistance in transportation costs to Japan, which enabled me to work on artistic and

technical concerns together with my Japanese collaborators as well as check important

archival materials related to the study. I am also grateful to have received the Australian

Postgraduate Award, which supported my living costs during full-time work on the

project through 2006 to early 2007.

My very special thanks go to all the participants of the Living Lens project. Without their

ongoing enthusiasm and creative inputs, this project would not have been possible. I

extend my appreciation to Kirsten Fletcher, whose sensitively designed costumes were

especially created on the theme of Living Lens. My thanks also to Philippa Rijks, whose

sound composition was an integral part of the final pre-performance installation, yet

could not be covered in this exegesis.

I would like to thank my associate supervisor, Adjunct Professor Richard Vella, for his

warmth, humour and insightful comments, particularly in the articulation to the PhD. I

express my gratitude to my principal supervisor, Associate Professor Cheryl Stock, who

initially agreed to take me under her wing as a postgraduate student, and whose

unwavering faith in my ability led me to consider upgrading to doctoral studies. I further

thank her for being a deeply committed companion, as well as for all the support made

possible through the “Accented Body” project, which enabled this work to be set among

a wider field of practice as part of the 2006 Brisbane Festival.

xiii

On both an artistic and personal level, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my

partner, Tetsutoshi Tabata, without whose ongoing support and collaboration I would not

have been able to undertake this journey. My sincere thanks also go to him for authoring

the DVD that accompanies this exegesis.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this work to the lady with amber eyes, my mother,

Louisa Anna Theresia Verdaasdonk; and to the dancer of amazing grace, Akiko Motofuji,

who helped unlock the deeper recesses of my body-mind-spirit.

xiv

PREFACE

The site of research involves a collaborative team of both Japan and Australia-based

participants, including dancers/performers, visual artists, sound creators and researchers

in information design. As both director and deviser of the research design, written

component and artistic outputs, I am facilitator and co-creator of the work. While I have a

central role in the conceptual and practical process, the research area is a mutual test-bed

to develop environments involving performing bodies and digital media.

As a resident of Japan for thirteen years, I am accustomed to communicating verbally

with the Japanese participants in either Japanese or English, and thus have transcribed or

translated responses myself. The Taiwanese participants have undertaken both

undergraduate and postgraduate study in Australia and hence communication was always

conducted in English. Dialogue and feedback from collaborators has been an integral part

of the research process, however, these responses were more of an informal nature,

including unstructured interviews, e-mail messages, telephone conversations and personal

journals. At times I have taken direct quotations or paraphrased participants’ comments

or written reflections. These records can be made available upon request.

The written component employs Harvard author-date system in referencing published

material, with occasional footnoting for explanatory details. Other issues, including bias

and limitations of the study, are dealt with in Chapter 1, which discusses the research

design.

xv

FRONTISPIECE

She hid in her paintings, clothed, clouded in leaves; and her piano scattered glittering notes of leaves in sunlight, drummed with winter rains, opened green depths like gullies.

Judith Wright (1994, p.328)

Living Lens, July 2006 The Loft, Queensland University of Technology Performers: Richard Causer (left), Ko-Pei Lin Photo: Fiona Cullen

1

INTRODUCTION am I / I am

a living lens

0.1 Background

The creative work, Living Lens, lies at the intersection, or indeed the confluence, of

diverse stimuli drawn from my cultural heritage and life experiences: my Dutch

background, my childhood and early adulthood in Australia, and my long-term residence

in Japan. From these areas emerge my personal “lenses”, the filters that shape my ongoing

concern with ways to bind or locate the human body, the human presence, within

imaginary landscapes.

Within these orientations and aspects of self, I find affinities with southern Netherlandish

and Flemish pictorial approaches, particularly in the attention to detail or the depiction of

multiple views within one field or frame. From this source, for example, stem early

impressions of the fantastic worlds of Hieronymous Bosch, whose weird, composite

creatures seemed to scurry from the posters on my bedroom wall. Impressed upon me too,

from an early age, are the decorative impulses and sacred iconography of a Catholic

upbringing. Later, sporadic work experiences in the horticulture industry fostered my

interest in the intricate textures and shapes of foliage and flora, while several years

alternating as an assistant trekking guide and sea-kayak guide opened up further embodied

experiences of the Australian landscape. Here I am infused by a stream of sensations and

memories: paddling into misty lagoons to gradually unfurling vistas; my body melded to a

kayak and rocked by waves in a disorienting ganzfeld of fog; echoes of water dripping as a

woman sings in the acoustic chamber of a grotto; the poised silhouette of a solitary bird

reflected in the mirrored surface of a pond, encompassed in the twilight glow by a rugged

orange and black escarpment…

2

My experiences of nature in both nurtured and wild contexts in Australia helped shape an

interest in the relationship between humans and nature that was further developed in

Japan. Here I became aware of a deeply cultivated sensitivity to nature, for example, in the

metaphors of the cosmos found in Zen gardens; the notion of the macro within the micro

world, such as the idea of a universe contained in a single flower; the beauty of partially

concealed views; and the association of seasonal life cycles with death and rebirth. Several

years study of the Japanese dance-theatre form known as butoh further exposed my

interest in the human body and imaginary environments, and so I find – more deeply in

retrospect – that it reconciles the various orientations within myself. Receptive to the

micro and macro structures of life, the body in butoh is perceived both in union and in

opposition to the workings of nature. Fetal positions, twisted and sinuous shapes, the

crouching bodies of animals and goblin-like creatures, are but a few of the varied,

composite configurations often inspired through the use of visual and poetic imagery. I

find that the interplay of the visual and poetic is significant in my work, reflecting my dual

training in theatre and visual arts. Deeply influenced by this image-based approach and

returning to Australia for doctoral studies, I became reacquainted with the Australian

landscape through the poetry of Judith Wright, her imagery evoking a bodily, sensory

world that became one of the inspirations in developing Living Lens.

0.2 Living Lens development

This study, Living Lens, is an emergent piece that traces a lineage from two earlier works

developed in Japan: Test-patches (2001-2003), and Patchwork in Motion (2005), the latter

being conducted as part of my Master of Arts studies. These two works explored the

performing body and imaginary or virtual landscapes primarily in connection with digital

visual media. The imaginary is conceived here in terms of visual imagery as abstract

textures and patterns, as well as through specific visualisation methods used for

developing movement material, discussed later in this exegesis. The extraction of Living

Lens (2005-6), a fragment of Patchwork in Motion, facilitated a focus on a microcosm of

my artistic process in the creation of work, and was also a means of determining criteria

3

for analysis, critique and further development in the final iteration of Living Lens, which

constituted the creative project for this study. Areas for development identified from the

previous version, included the desire to shift from the earlier patchwork approach of

juxtaposed fragments to a more fluid, layered continuum, as well as the need for a greater

focus on sonic elements.

Employing an experiential methodology generated and shaped through the creative

encounter, two areas of research interest emerged: shifting the perceived dominance of

visual images in motion, and a compositional structure to integrate performing bodies,

visual and sonic elements in an immersive installation. To address these issues, the

creative development of this study (November-December 2005) explored the notion of

“living painting” through dynamic and sculptural body movement, hand-painted and

computer-modelled images and a textured body of sounds. To generate more distinctive

aspects in the fluid continuum and facilitate deeper relations amongst the components of

performing bodies, visual images and sound, the final stage (June-July 2006) explored the

structural device of “worlds within worlds”, together with the notion of adaptable clusters

as a flexible method for temporal sequencing. This is discussed in further detail in

Chapters 3 and 4.

0.3 Director as cultivator

Showing a predilection for organic metaphors harking back to my background experience, I

regard the art-making process as a kind of cultivation, allowing for contexts of both

“nurture” and “nature” to co-exist. In the role of project director, I am “gardener” and

“guide”, a cohesive force responsible for the artistic vision, conceptual thinking and

practical process. As gardener, I plot the layout, determine and nurture the “seeds” – seen

here in the sense of both creative ideas and collaborative participants – and allow these

seeds to grow and take shape. As guide, I am responsible for mapping out the terrain to

find pathways and possibilities for action, whilst remaining alert to peer and participant

feedback. The collaborative participants of this project have thus come together as part of

4

my aesthetic view, helping to interpret this world as a translation of the imaginary, into

tangible theatrical experience.

0.4 Living Lens as poetic translation of experience

Led by the methods and meanderings of artistic practice, negotiating tangible research

outcomes involves a series of articulations. In my view, the process of articulation occurs

through the coherent expression of thoughts and feelings, as well as in an embodied sense

of the way the various “joints” – in this case, the various components of the study –

connect as parts of a whole. In Living Lens, these articulations become poetic filters,

poetic translations of the creative experience. I find this translation occurs through a kind

of doubling: of my life experiences and artistic ideas into the creative work(s) proper and

of the creative process into the concrete language of this exegesis. Accordingly, Living

Lens is not only a poetic title for the creative work, but a poetic metaphor that I employ

with several practical intentions:

• A means of shedding light on my methods in creating work;

• A way to catalyse theoretical thinking in and around the work;

• An interpretive device focusing on the constituent elements of performing bodies,

visual images and sound;

• An overall organising principle for articulating the journey.

The following Research Design chapter provides a further lens for articulating the

experiential nature of this study where the creative practice itself, along with the continual

refinement of this practice over time, forms the basis of the interpretive environment.

5

CHAPTER 1 – RESEARCH DESIGN

The intellect can give you the misconception that you understand something by thinking about it analytically, so that we forget that these are not problems to be solved but, rather, arenas to be inhabited, to be encountered through Being. (Viola and Violette, 1995, p.273) All this is part of the process of ‘naming’, an important step in creative development. Naming is any symbolic representation of the creative act in which that act is described in a medium outside of that reality. (Vella, 2005)

1.1 Experiential methodology The role of researcher in this study is as participant-observer within the natural setting of

lived experience, where having background knowledge of the research site enables me to

be responsive to the immediacy of the situation. The process of researching, however,

does not follow preconceived pathways. Rather, it seeks to shape creative experience,

generated through the imaginative intuitive process, the collaborative interaction of

researcher and participants and the positioning of researcher and research site in the wider

theoretical and artistic environment as outlined in the subsequent Contextual Review

chapter.

The experiential approach of this study is perceived as the interplay of both intuitive and

intellectual processes. Intuitive and non-verbal felt experience is deemed essential in the

creation of meaning while interaction with conceptual and theoretical language helps

shape these intuitively felt understandings. Engaging with the intuitive side alone often

entails pursuing that which feels right or natural, thus there is an inherent tendency for

habit making. Drawing on external theoretical concepts potentially expands more

inwardly-focused intuitive feelings of the artist/researcher, thereby triggering fresh

insights and new levels of experiencing. As a creative practitioner, I address theoretical

concerns through the process of practice, in the handling of ideas, materials and the

relationships with participants, which together form the essential elements of this study.

Theoretical constructs are thus treated as utilitarian rather than pedagogical thinking tools.

6

Whilst these constructs may appear to be a “grab-bag” of disparate theories, they form a

cognitive process by which to help craft a language and thus articulate the practice. In this

way, the study combines an analysis of the work from both a research viewpoint and a

personal journey, in an interweaving of academic and experiential styles.

1.2 Research concern

An open-ended approach emergent through lived experience, the study seeks a means to

both guide and work through creative processes, yet without prescribing this experience

through predetermined concepts and theoretical frameworks. Here, the assumption is that

a particular area of interest arises through immersion in the often “murky waters” of

creative practice:

…many practice-led researchers do not commence a research project with a sense of ‘a problem’…Practice-led researchers construct experiential starting points from which practice follows. They tend to ‘dive in’, to commence practicing to see what emerges. They acknowledge that what emerges may be individualistic and idiosyncratic. (Haseman, 2006, p.100)

The ‘starting point’ of this study was a broad focus on the way different relationships are

created through the combination of performing bodies and digital media, with the

subsequent emergence of two areas of interest:

• Exposure and shifting of the visual mode due to the propensity of visual images in

motion to become the dominant element.

• The nature of a compositional structure arising from the interdependencies

between the elements/entities of performing bodies, projected visual images and

sound.

These two areas are clues to facilitate inquiry with the anticipation that new focal areas

will emerge, not only through research conducted as part of postgraduate study, but also

through further ongoing creative practice.

7

1.3 Limitations of the study

1.3.1 Scope of the study This study is primarily concerned with visual and performance influences where

technology is seen as a means for enhancing these fields rather than as a conversation

between technology and performance per se. Thus the digital media discussed in this study

provide one of the tools to enable interdependencies to co-exist within the framework of

installation performance. I recognise that there are many cross-disciplinary collaborative

approaches in contemporary performance making and that this work could also be

analysed through the lens of a mediatised performance environment. However, the scope

of this study aims to articulate a poetics of performance and technology that does so by

drawing upon references from a predominantly visual arts lineage to expand the notion of

painting within a dynamic and kinesthetic context.

1.3.2 Bias of the study

The elucidation of “lenses” in which to observe creative practice may assume an

unobstructed observation process with the capacity for distinguishing discrete features of

the environment being observed. However, my view as participant-observer is necessarily

embedded and subjective, hence there can be little distance between the observer and the

observed. Thus, while the isolating of certain focus areas enables the study to move

forward, it also involves the preclusion of other possible modes of experiencing (Gendlin,

2000, p.17). Demarcation offers a practical means for detailing lived experience, entailing

a somewhat artificially constructed process where the

…setting up of divisions and subdivisions through which the study is presented are, to a great extent, superficial. They have been created for convenience and to aid us in the perception of a reality that we generally experience as one forceful totality, not in analyzable parts. (Ani, 1994, p.7)

Whilst the lived experience of all participants cannot be captured totally in this exegesis,

this research site with its artistic outcomes is however, the acknowledged collaborative

8

effort of people of different backgrounds and cultures. As an artificial construction, I

further acknowledge the susceptibility of this study to be filtered through my own

experiences and beliefs. To facilitate a common communication ground, English was the

main language used in the Australia-based research phase, with individual participants

interpreting where necessary into the Japanese and Chinese languages. Though useful as a

cross-cultural communication tool, an emphasis on English may, however, have precluded

verbal and non-verbal nuances specific to these two other languages. Hence the study is

not an impartial view, and, whilst every attempt has been made to include participants’

feedback through interviews and informal dialogues, this document cannot be completely

representative of the lived experiences of all members.

1.3.3 Ethical considerations

As initiator and director of the research site, I am aware that I am entering into personal

relationships with actual people and their lived experiences. As such, there is a duty of

care to ensure that my intentions and purposes do not become the overriding factor in the

relationship. While I have a central role in the conceptual and practical process, the

research area is a reciprocal test-bed: my artistic process is enhanced through skills

brought to the research site by the collaborative participants, with approaches to the body

and applications of visual and sonic media being extended through the combined inputs of

all members. All participants have given written permission for their feedback and

interview material to be included in this research text, the relevant sections of which they

have read and approved. Furthermore, artistic outcomes of the research are the intellectual

property of all creative participants who have given permission for documentation to be

included in the study.

1.4 Collaborative environment as “habitat” The collaborative relationship is fundamental to exploring the connection between

performing bodies, projected visual imagery and sonic media. This involves creative

pathways negotiated between myself, as creative director, in collaboration with dance

9

artists, visual artists, sound designers and computer programmers. Borrowing ecological

terms, I perceive the investigation site as a kind of habitat bringing together a small

community of people of various experiences and backgrounds. Here, I find the context of

biotope, defined as ‘the region of a habitat associated with a particular ecological

community’ (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004, p.136), aptly describes the

collaborative environment. The notion of biotope articulates the process of co-creation:

given the varied cultural backgrounds and skills of the creative participants, the research

site itself becomes the unifying ‘habitat’ of this ‘ecological community’. This study,

however, is concerned with the activities of a particular assemblage of humans, rather than

of plants or animals living within natural ecosystems. Yet there is, nonetheless, a nurturing

aspect to the research site as a specifically constructed community that corresponds to my

directorial role of initiator, guide, and “cultivator” of the creative process, outlined in the

introduction to this exegesis. Full description of the participants and their roles is given in

Chapters 3 and 4, while credits and biographies are included in Appendices 1 and 2. The

diversity of participants and skills within this particular study reflects the broader,

multivalent context of creative practice as research.

1.5 Practice-led Research as performative research Creative practice is a field of research that embraces a vast array of practices, thus location

within it entails the need to shape methods according to how events emerge through the

particular practice being investigated. Currently there are various approaches attempting to

position creative practice in the field of research, including, for example, practice-based

research, creative practice as research, practice as research, or practice-led research. In my

own research journey I have found myself oscillating between all of these terms, with the

realisation that although they may share a commonality of creative practice, there are,

however, subtle differences. To clarify, this study is conducted through the lens of

practice-led research, an approach that is characterised by the tendency for research to

flow from experiences arising through practice rather than from questions, problems or

issues defined at the outset; and by research outcomes being made through symbolic

‘material forms of practice’ (Haseman, 2006, p.100-101). Examples of symbolic material

10

forms arising from this particular study include creative works, audio-visual

documentation and the exegetical component. Within the context of practice-led research,

‘performative research’ is an emerging research paradigm. Here, research is perceived as

being enacted through the creative process and presentation outcomes and, in this way,

‘they not only express the research, but in that expression become the research itself’.

(Haseman, 2006, p.102) Thus, in performative researching, knowledge is not only

embedded within the creative work per se, but in fresh understandings revealed through

active engagement with the processes and actions in creating the work.

1.5.1 Creative Production/Design Research In accommodating the interests of creative practitioner-engaged research, Scrivener

(2000), distinguishes between ‘technology research projects’ or design research that

produces a functional artifact or product through a process of problem-solving, and

‘creative-production projects’ where research is not generally shaped according to a

specific set of problem-solving criteria, or may not always yield an ultimate outcome.

Scrivener further states that problem-based research aims for solutions that can be widely

applicable or transferable, whilst in creative production, any “know-how” or contribution

to knowledge, occurs as a by-product rather than as a primary objective. He admits that

although the distinction between the two is not always clear, it is useful to understand the

difference in order to prevent creative production processes being subsumed into more

established problem-solving approaches.

I find both the distinction and connection between Creative Research and Design Research

highly appropriate to a research site that is developing a creative work through an ‘open

problem’, yet in the process is also developing visual media tools in response to more

specific aims. Thus, whilst the overall study positions itself in the zone of Creative

Research, it also slides along a continuum towards Design Research through testing and

development of an original motion graphics software called XV3. Here, my intention is

not to presume a common or unified nature to the various approaches used in the field of

design. Rather, I identify with aspects of design research in terms of prescribing a

particular set of requirements, which in this case, is determined in response to the needs of

11

artistic practice. Specific aims of the XV3 visual media tool include the layering of

multiple textures, the capacity for continuous projection across multiple surfaces and the

rendering of three-dimensional graphic objects on the fly. Details of this software and its

application are further described in Chapters 3 and 4.

1.5.2 Iterative Process

The progress of the creative work, together with the media systems within it, involves a

cyclic process with emphasis on the experiential nature of development (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

The iterative process includes: the informing piece, Test-patches; the research project

Patchwork in Motion undertaken as Masters of Arts study; the extraction of Living Lens in the upgrade to doctoral studies.

12

In terms of iteration, there is further connection to Design Research, where the

methodology is

based on the cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing and refining a work in progress. In iterative design, interaction with the designed system is used as a form of research for informing and evolving the project as successive versions or iterations of a design are implemented. (Zimmerman, 2003, p.118).

The design iteration of XV3, currently in a beta version1, has involved the creation of

specific visual effects in response to artistic needs, for example, the title of Living Lens is

also the name of a 3D object and motion graphics effect developed by media programmer,

Takahisa Sasaki. The requirement determined and given at my behest was for a

transparent spherical object creating a moving magnifying glass effect over the underlying

visual textures. For further description and images of this effect, please see Chapter 3.

Iterations occur on three levels in the research: the development of the media tools,

occurring within the overall process of the creative work, which itself is the outcome of

several previous iterations. These iterations include: the informing piece entitled Test-

patches (2001-2003) created as part of independent arts practice; the first iteration

undertaken through formal academic research entitled Patchwork in Motion (2005); and

the subsequent extraction of one fragment entitled Living Lens (2005-2006) for further

development and refinement. This process is fully explored in Chapters 3 and 4. In terms

of a cyclic process, I see affinities with aspects of Action Research, not in the pedagogical

sense, but in the way practitioners are action and reflection oriented with the motivation to

improve the practice and quality of artistic outcomes implemented through a series of

cycles. The three tenets of Action Research (Bunning, 1994, p.44) are also central to this

site: conditions for intentional change, the subjective inflection of the researcher as

participant-facilitator and the potential empowerment of all participants through the

encounter. The collaborative aspect of Action Research is also relevant here, with the

researcher as a co-participant initially setting the parameters of the research, whilst also

1 ‘Beta’ version is a software engineering term describing the stage of development: new features have been added but are still in the process of being debugged through testing under real conditions, in this case, through live performances.

13

establishing opportunities for participants to influence the agenda, evaluate the process

and implement improvements.

1.6 Research Methods: Applied processes of practice

As the research undertaken in this study is enacted through the creative process, that is, as

performative research, the process of “data collection” or “data gathering” is generated

directly through the processes of the practice. In this way, primary source data derives

from specific procedures connected to the three essential components of the study: the

performing body, visual images and sonic elements. The research involves interacting and

responding to this data to seek possible relationships or themes that emerge and take shape

as the creative process unfolds.

1.6.1 Developing movement material as “primary data”

Image –based methods: ‘butoh-fu’; ‘graining’ The approach to developing movement material in Living Lens has been through the use

of poetic texts, and pictorial images such as photographs and paintings. The concern is not

to portray or mimic images with the body, but to allow motion to arise from the

experiences of the body in relation to the texts and images. In particular, the aim of this

approach is to activate sensory levels beyond everyday conscious awareness. Here, there

are similarities to other image-based approaches to the body, such as Ideokinesis or

Skinner Releasing, where visualisation processes are used to modify movement patterns,

or to release and activate energy flows. In this study, however, workshop sessions have

been based around various improvised and task-based explorations derived from the

Japanese dance-theatre butoh, specifically through the use of evocative poetic words

known as butoh-fu. Focusing awareness, for example, on nerves extending through the

body and outwards through the fingertips, or on the location of individual insects crawling

on different areas of the body, helps to develop finely articulated, sculpted movement

14

qualities. In the close-up viewing environment of the installation space, attention to

minuscule detail is essential.

A further approach adopted in the project is a practice known as ‘graining’ (Nikolais and

Louis, 2005). In this approach, a person envisions small particles of varying density

streaming through the inner spaces of the body, and outwards to the external space

surrounding the body. The purpose here is to develop inner textural qualities and an

awareness of directional movement flows. This is particularly important given that Living

Lens is an immersive installation space where performers need to project their energy in

multiple directions.

Temporal linkage through ‘clusters’

In the development of movement sequences, I was seeking a way to understand temporal

linkage beyond the approach of many forms of contemporary dance where a short

sequence of dance steps or movements is generally referred to as a “phrase”. As a

grammatical unit, a phrase is a string of words in poetry or prose, usually separated by

punctuation and pauses. Temporal linkage involves one phrase linked to another,

separated by pauses that give emphasis to what precedes or follows. I sought a different

mode of linking, where a pause potentially becomes an active, generative stillness.

Inspired by Adshead’s statement that ‘a movement is not just a ‘turn’ but a cluster of

spatial and dynamic elements combined with a particular use of the body in action’ (1988,

p.24), I decided to use the term ‘cluster’ to explain particular domains of movement

sequences. With the potential for a malleable and porous temporal mode, sequences could

be rearranged, be open to gaps or be embedded within other movement sequences. Visual

mapping of this idea and discussion of how this process was developed with performers is

detailed in Chapter 4.

15

Flow Continuums: devising a scaling tool

To enhance flow and add tensile qualities to the performers’ movements, I was interested

in the flow continuums of Rudolf Laban, a movement theorist who developed processes

for identifying, analysing and notating elements of dance. To this end, a scaling tool

(please see Appendix 3), was devised based on the work of Dunlop-Preston (1980), who

further expounds on the theories of Laban.

Mapping these continuums as a series of sliding scales, I found this to be a useful

processing device that performers applied to preexisting movement material. Here,

continuums − based on the elements of time, space, weight and flow − include movement

transitions between sudden and sustained, direct and flexible, heavy and light, and free

and bound. The performers modified their specific movement characteristics by

individually applying the scales to their own movements, followed by group work where

they directed one another in accordance with the scales.

1.6.2 Developing XV3 visual imaging system

Image texture bank Visual source material for Living Lens has involved the development of a texture bank of

images. This is an ongoing process, conducted by myself together with visual artist,

Tetsutoshi Tabata. My specific visual input for the Living Lens project includes the

recycling of earlier materials through digitally scanning handmade slides containing plant

fibres and hand-painted textures that I made for butoh performances in the early 1990s.

Further input has involved the creation of new jelly-like textures painted onto acetate and

then digitised, as well as a large collection of photographic close-ups of plant, insect, and

mineral textures. Tetsutoshi Tabata subsequently treated these images, for example,

through enhancing colour and resolution, or clarifying textural details, in preparation for

further processing in the XV3 imaging system.

16

XV3 Imaging tools

XV3 is an imaging system that contains a database of moving images, as well as a texture

bank of still images that can be manipulated into multi-layered 3D space and set into

motion. As mentioned, media programmer Takahisa Sasaki, has developed various effects

and objects of this imaging system specifically in response to my artistic direction. These

include algorithm-based effects such as waves, snow, clouds and the living lens effect.

The lens effect, for example, simulates refraction and hence a magnified image can be

seen through the transparent fish-eye lens, with distortion occurring at the edges to further

enhance the illusion of a magnifying glass. Non-algorithm effects include 3D objects, such

as spheres and cubes, as well as kinetic effects such as scrolling and spinning. The outer

surface or “skin” of the 3D objects can be rendered with the various image textures from

the texture bank. As the system allows for the rendering of images on the fly, it is possible

for objects and effects to become responsive to performers’ movements via the use of

motion sensors. Further details of this process are given in Chapter 3.

1.6.3 Developing the sonic environment

Improvised sound streams to real-time sound “palette” In the first phase of the Australia-based creative development of Living Lens, the initial

starting point for ideas about sound was inspired by the excerpt from the poem by

Australian poet Judith Wright entitled The Falls Country, given in the frontispiece to this

exegesis. The sound concept was for a contoured stream of sounds reminiscent of the

waning and waxing of lifecycles, and sounds evoking atmospheric conditions such as the

tinkling of water, the rustling of leaves or the dry wind of desert sands. Here, the idea was

to create a kind of dreamscape through the collaboration of two sound artists working in

different contexts, Matt de Boer, working in live acoustic sound, and Luke Lickfold,

exploring computer filtering processes. In the public showing of the first creative

development on December 17, 2005, this process was conducted largely through

improvisation: Luke Lickfold applying filtering processes to the direct sound inputs

generated by Matt de Boer’s acoustic instruments. For the second stage of development, in

17

which Matt de Boer would not be available, Luke Lickfold and I decided that a pre-set

palette of sound textures created in accordance to a specific set of sound tasks, would

provide a more structured sonic environment with the capacity for real-time manipulation.

Details of this process are further discussed in Chapter 4.

1.7 Tracking emergences

1.7.1 Distilling concepts As a practitioner with sixteen years independent arts practice, I find the context of

academic research inquiry particularly challenging in regards to articulation of the practice

and its contextualisation in the wider world of practice and theory. However, glancing at

the various piles of material that surround me, the large number of notebooks and

computer journal files are testimony to the fact that engagement with practice, both

independently as well as in formal research, involves a veritable storm of jottings,

sketching and note-taking. Here I find resemblances to the creative process of Bill Viola

when he states that making work involves

Mapping a personal course through various readings, quotations, associations, observations, experiments and ideas for pieces, all jumbled into one. (Viola and Violette, 1995, p.267)

The process of sorting and sifting through this ‘jumble’ of information has involved the

distilling of salient themes and concepts. The submission of a paper accepted for

publication by peer-reviewed journal, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, was an important

milestone in distilling and revising concepts and ideas from the journalling process into a

coherent manuscript. This paper, entitled “Patchwork in Motion”, appears in the special

edition issue, Multimedia Performance, November-December 2005. This process provided

another kind of iteration in textual form, adding a further layer to the reflective stage of

the research cycle.

18

1.7.2 Visual mapping Visual methods of tracking emergences include visual diagrams, such as the looping

iterative overview of the creative process given hereto (Fig. 1) and the mapping of

emergent patterns of practice (Fig. 2) as an aid to orient and situate practice. This provided

a means from which to develop the Contextual Review and further focal areas in this

exegesis.

Fig. 2

Visual overview of emerging patterns to contextualise practice.

Other visual mappings include practical working areas, for example, the idea of temporal

linkage through clusters (see p.74) and the flow continuums scaling tool (see Appendix 3).

To understand the researcher’s way of engaging with practice within a larger global

19

context, I have adapted Rosenberg’s (2000) Poetic Research Model (Fig. 3), which he

states reflects the ‘impulses’ of creative practice rather than being a fixed methodological

stance.

Fig. 3

Researcher’s engagement involves coiling inwards to a ‘ground’ and outwards towards ‘open water’. Adapted from Rosenberg’s Poetic Research Model (2000).

Here, there is a coiling inwards and outwards: a centripetal drawing inwards to a ‘ground’

through connecting with existing knowledge or mode of practice; and a centrifugal or

outward expansion towards ‘open water’ as a way to develop new references and

possibilities. A further visual method used in the project is the video documentation of

aspects of the rehearsal process and practical outcomes as a means to evaluate the work

using criteria related to the research aims. This is further discussed in the Chapter 3.

20

1.8 Feedback Extending the cyclical forms of analysis, it is necessary to elicit evaluation through

participant and to a lesser extant, viewer feedback. Participant feedback has occurred

chiefly via e-mail correspondence, interviews based on a guiding set of discussion points

or unstructured interviews with no preset agenda. The collaborative process, however,

involves ongoing dialogue, a large portion of which is not captured by any particular

documentation mode. The participants’ direct involvement can be seen as a kind of

immersion in practice, where the study itself becomes the immersive context, in both the

creative development process as well as in the live performance outcomes. In this way, the

concern is with the encounter between the elements and the participants themselves, rather

than the encounter between the work and an audience per se. Selected peer feedback,

however, provided an important external viewpoint on the live outcomes. This occurred

through direct communication and via e-mail responses from the general public generated

through the participation of Living Lens in the wider context of the Accented Body project,

details of which are outlined in Chapters 3 and 4.

1.9 Analysis

In the process of iteration, analysis involves the selection of certain criteria as a means to

refine and develop the work for the subsequent iteration. Thus, the research process

involves the distilling of criteria as well as concepts, which then become further filters or

lenses in which to understand the work. While criteria should emerge directly from the

work itself, which in this case, lies in documented traces such as photography, video and

notebooks, the process of extracting criteria also requires time in which to cultivate a

reflective mode of understanding. To grasp the feel of the work’s meaning and move onto

further focusing requires hindsight, for:

It is because our actions and those of others have revealed what the situation was. By that time we see many moves we could have made. Then we say that we know better “what the situation was”. When we know the implied action-possibilities we know what the situation is. (Gendlin, 2000, p.46)

21

The idea of ‘action-possibilities’ is a useful way to view criteria from the perspective of

social practice, for in a collaborative project it is necessary to consider the wider situation

of the creative participants, together with the creative work itself, as a means to determine

the action required for the next phase of development.

As the nature of research requires legitimacy, particularly given the subjective nature of

practice-led research, I look to Richardson’s (2000, p.934) notion of crystallisation, as

contrasted to the traditional triangulation method requiring that different research methods

carry an equivalent domain in order to be “fixed” at a point. It would seem that in more

open research methods, the shifting multi-dimensionality of the crystal becomes a more

appropriate image, one that encompasses the position that whilst something − at least

partially − can be known, there can be no single perspective. The emblem of the crystal is

in itself attractive, its glass-like transparency and ability to refract and reflect colours has a

similarity to the metaphor of lens. As crystals grow and change, there is a “biological”

connection to living lens, a further analogy of the shifting nature of creative practice.

However, there is a solidity and symmetry to the crystal I find somewhat idealistic in light

of this research project. Given that concepts and criteria are being distilled, the notion of

“condensation” becomes a more appropriate metaphor, where inquiry of the methods and

actions of practice, its visualisations, articulations and analysis, occur in the more fluid

and humid conditions of human experience. In this way, the process of crystallisation, thus

inflected with the quality of condensation, becomes an interpretative method for distilling

ideas and concepts as well as a means for determining possibilities for future action.

Here I need to clarify that the distillations articulated in this exegesis, however, are not so

much arrived at or concluded, but are given throughout; the chapters themselves occurring

as distillations conveyed through word and image. This exegesis is a translation, an

interpretation of the creative experience, yet I find that, as such, it is not merely a

subservient vehicle for articulation. Rather, it is itself a kind of Living Lens, taking on its

own life as a creative outcome of the research process. In this light, knowledge is not

something acquired at the end of the research activity, nor is it merely expounded through

“findings” in the conclusion. It is a process, and as such this exegesis moves through

22

phases, drawing on past experiences to inform practice, talking around and about the work

to the contexts in which the work is situated, whilst also acknowledging uncertainty in the

moving of the “lenses” through unmapped terrain. I believe, therefore, that the action of

translating these experiences is a knowledge claim in its own right.

1.10 Summary This study locates the researcher as participant-observer within the naturalistic setting of

lived experience. As such, it involves an experiential methodology emergent from the

needs and processes of creative practice. Addressing the research concern of structuring a

composition as interdependencies between performing bodies, visual and sonic elements,

entails a collaborative process involving dancer-choreographers, visual and sound artists,

as well as media programmers, whose combined efforts have contributed to the overall

process and outcomes. The study sites itself within the context of practice-led research,

more specifically as performative research, a model that allows for practice to perform its

outcomes and processes. Here, the research slips between creative and design research for

it includes the development of digital media tools in the overall creative production.

Specific methods for developing and gathering primary source data are applied processes,

for example, through image-based approaches to devising movement material, as well as

the development of imaging and sonic effects in response to particular artistic

requirements. Tracking emergences throughout the study has entailed a cyclical iterative

process, details of which are discussed at length in Chapters 3 and 4 and subsequent

conclusive distillations. The following Contextual Review provides further lenses on the

study through theoretical and experiential perspectives, whilst also situating the work

within the wider realm of painterly practice and performance in a dual live and mediated

environment.

23

CHAPTER 2 – CONTEXTUAL REVIEW

2.1 Through and With the “Lens” Living Lens is a poetic metaphor for a fluid magnification bringing the inner or micro

world to the external or macro world, a shifting window to explore worlds within worlds.

In this way, the title − directly emergent from the creative practice itself − becomes a way

to position the research for both practical and written components:

Lens (metaphorical):

‘…the lens metaphor, which assigns perceptive faculties to organizations, namely ‘eyes’ able to ‘see’ and search, filter, distort, and gatekeep information, processing it through the various ‘membranes’ that connect individuals, organizational units and the environment’. (Strati, 2000, p.53)

Lens (literal):

‘A piece of glass or other transparent material with one or both sides curved for concentrating or dispersing light rays’. (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004, p.816)

For the purposes of this research, the above meanings could also be posited in this

manner: through the lens as a way of seeing; and with the lens as a way of being. Possible

lenses with which the specific elements of the research area are to be understood include

the body lens, the visual lens and the sound lens. (Due to the applied nature of discussion

on these elements, these “lenses” are further explored throughout the processual Chapters

3 and 4). A metaphorical sense of lens allows for constructs through which to articulate

practice, for example, possible theoretical and conceptual lenses. The second definition

given above has both metaphorical and literal potential in the sense of an intermediary. As

a practitioner-researcher, I perceive that I am a lens, a living lens through and with which

the research is being observed and experienced. ‘Light’ in this sense, concentrated or

divergent, becomes a metaphor for articulation of experience rather than a metaphor for

truth.

24

However, both a metaphorical and experiential notion of lens is ambiguous for the word

itself infers transparency: the presence of a clearly observable field and an unobstructed

observation process. The lens metaphor is vision-reliant or ‘ocularcentric’ (Jay, 1994, p.3),

susceptible to the assumption that features of an environment or situation can actually be

focused on as discrete entities (Crary, 1999, p.14). As a participant-observer in the

research process, my view is necessarily embedded and as such, I am fully aware that this

process is a subjective and temporary outlook on a dynamic, shifting environment. In

positioning myself as a living lens, I acknowledge at the outset that my perspective is

being filtered through my own beliefs, values, past experiences, intentional and

unconscious perceptions, and hence the risk for possible distortions. In this way, living

lens is not only a metaphor for the work itself, but also a paradigm through which practice

is emergent. As a process that acknowledges the living, ongoing flow of experience, there

is no prioritising ‘of what is known or seen over what is lived’ (Lefebvre, 1991, p.61).

Accordingly, the experiential process here applies to the practice itself, as well as to

theoretical concerns arising through the encounter.

2.2 “Living” spaces of experience

2.2.1 Notion of Felt Experiencing

In terms of the relationship between practice and theory, Gendlin (1997) claims that

meaning derives from an interaction of experience with terms and concepts. The

experiential nature of human behaviour often involves a pre-conceptual focusing or ‘felt

experiencing’ of a given situation through concentrating on an inner sensing. As he states:

…the roles of felt experiencing in all our conceptual operations are not illegitimate “biases”. They are natural and proper functions… we cannot even know what a concept “means” or use it meaningfully without the “feel” of its meaning. (1997, p.5)

Gendlin further indicates that:

It is not at all vague in its being there. It may be vague only in that we may not know what it is. We can only put a few aspects of it into words. The mass itself is always something there, no matter what we say “it is”. (p.11)

25

Words and concepts are not substitutes for experience, but rather flexible markers that

assist in detailing as yet-to-be-described aspects of experience. Once these aspects are

named, they become transitions to further focusing and articulations. Gendlin thus posits a

dynamic two-way flow between language and experience: the use of words as reference

points, and the inclusion of the pre-conceptual stage of experience as a guide in the

creation of meaning. Gendlin’s views are valuable in light of creative practice-led

research, for he acknowledges a mode of inquiry that makes connections between things

through active cultivation of experience, a mode that does not set out to overturn or deny

logical or objective concepts or methods, but dialogues with them in a mutually

responsive process. Here, the notion of ‘felts’ (Bohm, 1994), namely, feelings connected

to past experience, offers an additional outlook on felt experience. In distinguishing

between ‘thinking’ and ‘feeling’ as ongoing action, and ‘thought’ and ‘felt’ as past

activity, Bohm draws attention to the way past experiences and habits may cloud or block

receptivity to new emergences. Accordingly, ‘felt experiencing’ is here understood as an

ongoing receptive activity, with emergent experience potentially modifying and

transforming previously held methods or concepts.

2.2.2 Notion of Perceived-Conceived-Lived

As a theoretical lens to open up further spaces of experience, I am drawn to Lefebvre’s

concept of the ‘perceived-conceived-lived triad, an interconnection of social space or

‘spatial practice’, mental space or ‘representations of space’ and lived space or

‘representational space’ (1991, p.40). Here, the intention is neither to engage with these

concepts on a hypothetical level nor to infer a Lefebvre-based reading of the creative

work. Rather, the triad is both a catalyst for thinking about the way space is produced and

created as well as a useful means of bridging the nexus between theory and practice.

First in the triad is perceived space, also termed social space or spatial practice, which

includes an individual’s active engagement as a member of a group, the individual’s

relationship to the group and vice-versa, as well as the networks and dynamics that make

26

up a group. The notion of spatial practice also has a practical basis in terms of the creative

practice of this study. This includes, for example, a performer’s positioning in space,

her/his relationship with the visual imagery, or in regard to the sonic environment, the

spatialisation of sound. These ideas are further addressed throughout the processual

Chapters 3 and 4.

Second in the triad, conceived space, is that which tends towards the coherent, verbalised

and intellectually calculated realm of signs and schematics, including geometric and

architectural spatial representations. Contextual examples here include the diagrams and

charts given in the Research Design chapter and appendices of this document as a means

to visualise the research process and distil emergent patterns. Lefebvre notes the tendency

of conceived space to be the ‘dominant space’ in society (1991, p.39), a relevant point in

creative practice-led research for it is essential that the exegetical component, indeed this

very document, incorporates terms and concepts as a way of looking through and at

practice, rather than the converse where practice becomes subordinate to conceptual

language or preconceived frameworks.

Third in the triad is lived space, the locus of a certain lived action, event or feeling. This is

a fluid realm of non-verbal symbols and signs, such as those associated with metaphors,

dreams and memory. I find affinities with this type of space as it implies pre- or meta-

conceptual, poetic and associative nuances inherent in artistic practice. Yet Lefebvre

sounds a challenging note when he states that this is perhaps the space of artists, writers

and philosophers who ‘describe and aspire to do no more than describe’ (p.39). This

comment is particularly pertinent to practice-led research in view of the relationship

between creative and exegetical outputs where verbal articulation may, perhaps

unavoidably, fuse description of the work with processes involved in making the work.

However, when Lefebvre further elucidates lived space as ‘the dominated – and hence

passively experienced – space which the imagination seeks to change and appropriate’

(p.39), I find that that I must necessarily diverge. Specifically, Lefebvre here infers two

aspects of the creative act that seem to contradict my own feelings as a practitioner: firstly,

a mode of imagination that operates through transformative reactions to a perceived

27

reality, and secondly, a notion of lived space as passively acted upon by the imagination.

In contrast, I seek an imaginative mode that creates its own space of reality, yet without

negating the vitality of the lived world. Hence, it is a perception of the creative act as an

interaction of dynamic lived experience with a creative, rather than merely reactive, mode

of imagination.

2.2.3 Poetic Felt Space

Filtered through Gendlin’s felt experiencing and Lefebvre’s lived space, I seek an active

creative space that lies beyond, or in-between, these notions. The concept of “poetic felt

space”2 is an intuitive frame of reference that both relates to and extends these two

notions. The allusion here is not specifically to poetic verse; rather the term “poetic” is

applied more expansively to the way lived, felt experience is transformed into artistic

expression.

Bachelard’s Poetics of Space (Bachelard and Jolas, 1994) is a notable and oft-quoted

source of inspiration for creative ideas and thinking on artistic practice. From a complex

array of evocative ideas and images, I find Bachelard’s notion of ‘inhabited space’

particularly resonant in conceiving a poetic felt space in relation to an installation with

performers, visual and sonic media. Living Lens is an inhabited space, for example, in

terms of the performers as “inhabitants” intimately engaging with the installation space.

However, the notion of ‘inhabited space’ may be further applied to an embodied imaging

process where pictorial images and poetic text fragments provide the inspiration for

devising dance movement. (Due to the applied nature of this method, details are further

discussed in Chapters 3 and 4.) Bachelard infers a tactile and emergent quality in the way

a poetic image can ‘take root’ and ‘become a new being in our language, expressing us by

making us what is expressed’ (1994, p.xix). The notion of poetic felt space – thus inflected

by Gendlin’s felt experiencing, Lefebvre’s lived space and Bachelard’s inhabited space –

becomes an active, ongoing interrelation of senses, emotions and feelings. Essentially, it is

2 This term is an outcome of a discussion with PhD peer, Luke Jaaniste, following the November-December 2005 creative development period of Living Lens.

28

perceived as the connective tissue that links the performing bodies, visual images and

sound, shaping these elements into creative expression. Here, the notion of “living

painting” is seen as a means to activate this relationship in tangible terms.

2.3 “Living painting”

The Living Lens installation is perceived as a “living painting”, a definition that appears to

emphasise a visual experiencing of the work. The visual images, projected onto a screen

situated at the core of the installation, technically comprise a two-dimensional visual field.

However, through combining photographic and hand-painted textures with computer-

generated imagery manipulated live by visual media artists, the screen becomes an

activated, “living” surface. The performers endow the installation with further dynamic

qualities, creating a more tangible effect than that of static two-dimensional painting

alone. It could be said that the presentation style in Living Lens also involves a pictorial

sensibility in terms of the viewer positioned in front of a wall-like projection surface.

However, the screen is installed in an S-curve configuration and, as such, becomes a three-

dimensional object. Subsequently, a sculptural sensibility emerges, both through the

screen object and the movements of the performer-inhabitants, creating a spatial

environment than can be viewed from different angles.

2.3.1 Tableaux Vivants

Living paintings, in the form of tableaux vivants, also stand at the intersection of painting,

performance and sculpture. In a traditional sense, these include re-enactments of classic

paintings by statue-like performers holding a pose. In a more contemporary sense, these

include the “living sculptures” of 1960s and 70s performance art, for example, Under the

Arches (1969) by Gilbert and George; or video and cinematic approaches, for example,

Hermine Freed’s video work, Art Herstory (1974), where she restages art history by

inserting herself into the painting; Bill Viola’s video installation, Emergence (2002),

where performers re-enact scenes from Renaissance religious painting, or Peter

Greenaway’s film, A Zed and Two Noughts (1985), with its narrative-based reference to

29

Vermeer (Peucker, 2003). In Living Lens there are also allusions to tableaux vivants for, in

devising movement material, influences include, for example, the ink drawings of Henri

Michaux, the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch and the sculptures of Magdalena

Abakanowicz. The approach, however, deriving from the Japanese dance-theatre form

known as butoh, involves working from an inner bodily sensing rather than through

mimetic likeness to a specific sculpture or pictorial image. In terms of a sculptural

sensibility, on the other hand, slowed down movements, moments of stillness or suddenly

arrested motion, may serve to highlight particular moments within a fluid continuum. In

this way, Living Lens references certain aspects of tableaux vivants through its statue-like

poses against a painterly backdrop. However, connections between performers and images

are manifested through abstract objects and textures rather than as figures clearly depicted

against representational scenery. Furthermore, as images occur virtually through emitted

luminance and not as actual painted surfaces, the imagery at times serves to camouflage,

rather than highlight the performer.

2.3.2 Physical/Virtual painting

Other “living” painting approaches beyond the two-dimensional format of the picture

frame, include the process-oriented “live paint actions” of the 1950s and 60s, such as

American Action Painting, the Viennese Actionists and the Japanese Gutai. The body is

located at the centre of the creative process, often in visceral or ritualistic events involving

the spattering and smearing of substances, such as paint or blood. Other approaches that

directly insert the body into the painting process include, for example, Carolee

Schneemann’s live performance work, Meat Joy (1964), or Paul McCarthy’s video work,

Black and White Tapes (1970-1975). In depth discussion of the examples given here is

beyond the scope of this exegesis, however, it will suffice to point out a distinct physical

materiality in the nature of these works.

In relation to painterly traditions, it could be said that the action painting and video

performances mentioned above, are in some ways a precursor to current media arts

practices that use digital technologies to create simulated or virtual textures, with many of

30

the works having the capacity to react to actions or gestures of the body. A responsive

installation by Plancton Art Studio, Sensitive Painting (Annunziato et al., 2002) is a

specific example of a painterly approach using a combination of real and virtual textures.

In this piece, a large pictorial image created through the multiple layering of coloured

paper fragments is situated on a wall in the installation space. The inner layers of this

painting have been captured and memorised by a computer and projected directly onto the

painting’s surface. Set on a table in front of the painting is a three-dimensional object with

a sensitised surface that modifies visual and acoustic variables in response to the position

of a visitor’s hand movements. Exploring the layers and fragments of the painting, the

visitor triggers modifications in colour, shape and sound that appear to emanate from the

painting itself. Thus activated both visually and sonically, the piece can also be regarded

as a kind of sound painting. In Living Lens, the digitally manipulated images become a

kind of ‘virtual scenery’ (Saltz, 2001, p.124), not only in the sense of an electronic

backdrop of scenic effects, but in the multiple layering of textures. In this way, it is

possible to consider the idea of virtual painting beyond the visual mode, in terms of a

sculpting and layering of sounds to further enhance the “living” qualities of the installation

space.

2.4 Towards performer-media interdependencies

2.4.1 Shifting the visual mode

The research site involves a converging of digital technologies with live elements,

including performers, media programmers and visual and sound artists responsible for the

live manipulation of the visual and sonic media. In accordance with Auslander (1999), it

positions itself broadly within ‘mediatized performance’ where both live and mediated

elements are co-present. In Living Lens, the projection screen is the central ‘locus of

mediation’ (Causey, 1999) becoming both a physical and a virtual space: physical in the

sense of an installed sculptural object; virtual in the sense of an electronic painting

comprising digitally manipulated and simulated images.

31

Auslander questions whether the combination of the live and the mediated can be

complementary or equal partners, the tendency being for viewers to be more compelled,

for example, by visual images in motion. This concern has been one of the initial triggers

of my investigation. He cites the piece entitled Pôles (2000) by Montreal group Pps

Danse, a performance he states the makers describe as ‘Dance+Virtual’. In this work, two

dancers perform with holograms of themselves against a background of moving digital

projections. Distinguishing the dancers from their holograms becomes difficult, moments

Auslander admits to finding the most interesting, the live dancers as seemingly able to

enter into the virtual world of projections as their hologram counterparts. However, he

then raises the question as to whether in such performances viewers see

…a juxtaposition of the live and the digital, a shifting among realms? My feeling is that the answer is no, that we now experience such work as a fusion, not a con-fusion, of realms, a fusion that we see as taking place within a digital environment that incorporates the live elements as part of its raw material. Rather than a conversation among distinct media, the production presents the assimilation of varied materials to the cultural dominant. In this sense, Dance+Virtual=Virtual. (1999, p.38)

In Auslander’s view, the live performers are subsumed into the dominant feature, in this

case, the shifting digital projections. As a practitioner, this raises a challenge in terms of

creating an installation environment where there can be interdependencies between

performers and visual media, but in a relationship that need not always blur the distinctive

physicality of the performers’ bodies.

To open up this issue, Birringer (1998) highlights the potential for interdependencies when

he states that:

...[If] technology and bodies are seen in terms of flows of energy or intensity or as a fluid dynamics, then there is grounds for collaboration. (p.127)

Dinkla (2002), corroborates this when she proposes that in interactive performance

environments, performers act as part of a networked system:

The field is characterized by the inherent changeability as well as the impossibility of disentangling the interdependencies between the dancers, choreographer, musician, stage

32

space and technological/digital systems, which are interconnected and subject to mutual influence. (p.22)

In Dinkla’s view, it seems that along with the notion of a fluid, reciprocally beneficial

relationship there is an inherent inextricability, a view somewhat similar to Auslander’s

‘fusion’ of elements mentioned earlier. Arnheim (1972), on the other hand, discusses the

issue of dominant feature in a theatrical setting from the perspective of visual perception

theory. In terms of ‘figure’ as the salient or foreground feature, and ‘ground’ as the less

salient feature or background of a visual field, a dancer in motion against a static backdrop

is seen

…in a hierarchical relationship of dependence…The dancer is seen as part of the stage setting, not the stage setting the outer rim of the dancer. (p.366)

The dancer in this kind of setting, clearly outlined against a motionless backdrop, is

perceived as the salient figure in a relationship of dependence to the ground. From the

perspective of creative practice, Arnheim’s quote takes on a shimmering quality for it

provides the inspiration from which to explore the idea of the screen and shifting digital

projections at times becoming, perhaps not the outer rim, but extensions of a performer’s

movement. The intention here is neither to refute Arnheim’s view nor to overturn vision

perception theories as such. Rather, it is an instance of theoretical views opening up

potential artistic ideas. Extension of a performer’s movement in a visual sense is possible,

for example, through wearable motion sensors that capture variables of the performer’s

movement such as speed or rotation, that are then translated to graphic representations on

the screen. Therefore, what is posited is not a denial of the figure-ground relationship, but

an impetus towards possible interdependence between the performer and projected visual

images.

33

2.4.2 Notion of Sensuous Geography

To open up interdependencies beyond a relationship between performers and visual

media, it is necessary to take a wider account of experience. Rodaway (1994), refers to

sense experience as a ‘sensuous geography’, a spatial and temporal orientation he

describes as a ‘multisensual and multidimensional situatedness in space and in relationship

to places’ (p.4). Here the senses are taken to include the sensory modes of touch, taste,

smell, hearing and sight, as well as the wider dimension of kinesthetic and vestibular body

senses. Rodaway, however, observes a duality inherent in the word ‘sense’ in terms of

sensations and meaning:

The senses gather information but also contribute to the definition of that information, that is, participate in sense making. Sensuous geography, therefore, is an interaction with the environment both as given to the senses and as interpreted by the senses themselves in conjunction with the mind. (p.26)

This highlights the stance of practice-led research in terms of the nexus between theory

and practice, here seen as an interaction between immediate experience and the setting up

of mental constructs through which to understand experience. However, the notion of

sensuous geographies also enriches the idea of poetic felt space from a practical

perspective. For, if following Auslander and Dinkla there is a blurring of identities in

performances using visual projections and/or interactive technologies, then Rodaway’s

insights open up ways to expand sensuous dimensions beyond the visual mode.

Through ‘haptic geographies’ (Rodaway, 1994, p.41) or the sense of touch, the performers

focus on tactile experiences, such as grains of sand, flowing water or the fissured bark of a

tree, as a way to add tangible details and textures to their body movement and installation

space. Rodaway specifies four touch ranges (1994, p.53): ‘global touch’ as the sense of the

body in contact with an environment, for example, a surface, texture, pressure or

temperature; ‘reach touch’ as the body stretching out and exploring space; ‘imagined

touch’ as tactile experience embedded in past experiences or expectations; and ‘extended

touch’ as touch mediated by a tool, for example, motion sensors that amplify a

performer’s movement to graphic representations on the screen. While primarily a two-

34

dimensional visual field, the projection screen itself potentially becomes an illusory tactile

surface of visual textures for the performers to inhabit.

In addition to tactile experience, Rodaway refers to auditory experience, or ‘auditory

geographies’ (1994, p.82), alerting attention to the vision metaphor inherent in the term

‘soundscape’. He connects this to the term ‘landscape’ that

…implicitly links the soundscape concept to traditions of painting and architecture, and ideas of linear perspective and the composed view or scene. In this visual tradition, the observer is detached, the image is static and is viewed from a privileged position. Auditory experience is far more dynamic and the sentient participates within a sonic environment. (p.86)

Sensuous Geographies (2003), conceptually inspired by Rodaway, is an immersive,

interactive installation by Sarah Rubidge and Alistair MacDonald that actively

experiments with the notion of sensuous, auditory geographies. Here, ‘sentients’, the

visitor-participants, don coloured cloaks and blindfolds, their movements triggering sonic

and visual effects via camera tracking and colour recognition software. Deprived of the

use of vision, participants explore the installation space by following their own emitted

sounds and those generated by the movements of others. In this way, the sensory

dimension is stimulated beyond the visual mode, the directional movement of the

participants creating a dynamic sonic environment. Yet, as the collective movements of

participants could be viewed as resulting in a spatial contouring of sounds, it may be

equally valid to say that they are contributing to, and participating within, a soundscape.

The notion of sonic environment is appropriate in terms of a multidirectional,

interweaving and layering of sounds, with variations in intensity, pitch and rhythm. The

visual connotation in soundscape, on the other hand, also has creative potential for it

implies a sculpting or structuring of sound in the manner of “hills” and “valleys”, growth

and decay, architectural surfaces, or different “scenes” unfolding over time. With

reference to the visual mode of experiencing however, particularly in installations

incorporating visual projections, the ‘image in motion will always capture your look,

inscribe you into a direction’ (Cubitt, 1998, p.121). The auditory space in contrast,

35

perceived as a sonic environment and/or soundscape, offers both directional and

encompassing qualities. Situated within the enclosed environment of the Living Lens

installation space, it becomes possible to mould and shape sound towards a more tangible

immersive experience.

2.4.3 Immersive Space

Grau describes immersive spaces from a visual perspective as those ‘where the intention is

to install an artificial world that renders the image space a totality or at least fills the

observer’s entire field of vision’ (2003, p.13). He references illusionistic painting and

photographic techniques of the past, such as frescoes, frieze paintings and panoramas

where the viewer, integrated into a figurative or representational image space, is

positioned at the centre. Grau also refers to contemporary immersive spaces, such as

virtual reality environments where, for example, performers and/or viewers interact with a

computer-generated image world by way of head-mounted stereoscopic monitors or other

sensing techniques3. The aim of researchers into these environments, Grau states, is to

achieve a multi-sensory experience where

…simulated stereophonic sound, tactile and haptic impressions, and thermoreceptive and even kinaesthetic sensations will all combine to convey to the observer the illusion of being in a complex structured space of a natural world, producing the most intensive feeling of immersion possible. (p.15)

Given Grau’s distinctions, the Living Lens installation is only partially or semi immersive,

for both performers and viewers move through, or around, the projection surface rather

than being centrally positioned in a 360-degree image space or enveloped in a three-

dimensional digital environment.

However, Grau points to a possible immersion strategy in terms of the treatment of visual

elements, specifically the technique applied by Monet in his monumental diptychs and 3 Contemporary virtual worlds such as Internet-based Second Life, however, do not require sensing devices. Through a downloadable program, users create their own customised avatars, or digital personas, that allow them to interact with others, as well as create and trade items. This is also an immersive experience, with the creators, Linden Lab., regarding users as “residents” inhabiting a three-dimensional digital world.

36

triptychs of water lilies and lakes. In these paintings, the horizon is removed to position

viewers within, as Grau states, ‘the watery scene, not “submerging” them in water, but

immersing them in an image space with indeterminate perspective: floating above the

water’s surface’ (p.142). I find this comment valuable for it reveals potential immersive

qualities in terms of the treatment and layering of textures rather than through depiction of

perspectival horizons.

Self-contained/distributed performance spaces

In positioning this research site, I find it useful to make a distinction between self-

contained and distributed immersive spaces. Specifically, self-contained immersive space

refers to an event situated within a single, physical space; while distributed, also referred

to as telematic4, immersive space refers to events networked via computers or the Internet

over multiple time-spaces, both physical and virtual. Parameters necessarily blur, for

example, distributed events can be seen as being both self-contained and distributed, while

self-contained events may involve various media being networked through computers.

However, in the context of a stand-alone installation in a single site, Living Lens is an

example of a self-contained immersive space. In both self-contained and distributed

spaces, immersive qualities occur through multiple digital projections and spatialised

sonic elements, with many artists employing interactive technologies that enable

performers and/or viewers to potentially influence the work in some way.

The Kyoto-based multimedia collective Dumb Type is a notable example of artists using

immersive approaches within a self-contained performance context through eclectic multi-

layered collages of digital imagery and electronic sounds. Media art critic, Yukiko

Shikata, claims that in Dumb Type’s work the performers

4 Telematic (adjective) or telematics (noun) is a broad term for computers networked with telecommunication systems. In telematic performances, artists and technical personnel collaborate remotely from different physical locations, transmitting live video feeds or data converted from body movements into sonic and/or graphic representations. In this way, the performance or movement occurs in various spaces or dimensions, for example, in physical space, in video or projected space and in virtual, or remote space.

37

… function as mapping modules of the image machine and are permeated by its effects which are generated by connections and complicity between media technology and the real physical body subject to sensory experience. (2000, p.42)

In the piece entitled pH (1990), audience members look down into what seems like a huge

scanning machine, the performers perilously ducking under automated low-moving

trusses. In OR (1997), on the other hand, a rapid montage of digital images, stroboscopic

flashes of white-outs and periods of unrelenting electronic noise, generate a bleak and

alarming environment that is felt on both a retinal and a visceral level. Interspersed with

poignant and quirky moments, the total effect of a Dumb Type performance is a surreal,

multi-sensory experience where both performers and audience members are not only

immersed, but are ‘permeated’ by an intensity of visual and auditory information.

Escape Velocity (1999), the work of Melbourne-based new media ensemble Company in

Space, is a distributed piece involving two dancers located in remote sites performing the

same choreography. The two women become

…a composite dancer floating in a third space created by the overlaid projections, which included film footage of several outdoor locations (a forest, a desert)…a dialogue between spectral dancers mixed onto the pixilated, filtered and manipulated surface of the filmic space created by the projectors’. (Birringer, 2003, p.106)

Here, a multi-dimensional otherworldly quality emerges, the physical presences of the

performers co-existing with their simulated counterparts to create a wraith-like hybrid of

them both. Hellen Sky, co-founder of Company in Space and choreographer/dancer in

Escape Velocity, describes the feeling as an ‘expanded sensory perception of being

present, and giving presence to both physical and virtual worlds’ (2005, p.11). In this way,

immersion in an embodied, physical space extends into the immaterial realm of virtual or

data space. The Light Room (2002) incorporates dance, live music, spoken text, lighting

and digital projections in an interactive set design of luminescent glass. Although not

distributed in the sense of being connected to remote sites, this piece however, also

involves an interaction of physical and virtual dimensions. Reminiscent of a hall of

dreams, the piece is described on the Company in Space website as an, ‘immersive filmic

opera’, a ‘transcending of art into the realm of poetics of technology’. Responding to my

38

e-mail query as to what sense a ‘poetics of technology’ is here implied, Hellen Sky states:

I suppose here the idea that technology alone is not able to transform something into a poetic experience - it is in the space in between the creation - the creativity, the ideas that evolve the experience becomes the medium, that the combination of the technological system and the creative imaginative which then uses it alchemically can shape the experience of the work, can be taken to another realm, into the poetic realm - 'the poetics of technology'. (Sky, 2006, August 23)

I find these comments insightful for it becomes possible to consider immersive space not

only in terms of physical and virtual spaces, technological systems, or creative outcomes,

but further beyond to a creative in-between space that actively shapes and transforms

experience. In this way, the intuitive realm of poetic felt space finds resonances with

Hellen Sky’s notion of a ‘poetics of technology’, in both an embodied, as well as

metaphysical, sense.

2.4.4 Performers as inhabitants

‘Shared Sensibility’: Biped

A prime example of artists whose work can be considered in light of a ‘poetics of

technology’ is renowned choreographer, Merce Cunningham, an early pioneer in

collaborations of dance performance and technology. Whereas Living Lens investigates

the nature of intentionally interdependent connections between performers and media,

Cunningham’s oft-cited approach randomly brings together elements of movement, sound

and stage décor which are developed independently, only coming together near or at the

time of the public presentation. This, however, is not simply an arbitrary arrangement of

elements, but is developed through a ‘shared sensibility’ (Copeland, 2004, p.9) among the

collaborative artists involved in a particular work.

A significant example of this ‘shared sensibility’ is the 1999 piece entitled Biped, a

collaboration with digital artists Shelley Eshkar and Paul Kaiser. In this piece, movements

39

of the dancers were first motion-captured5; this information was then translated as hand-

drawn humanoid and abstract animations and later projected onto a large transparent scrim

across the proscenium in front of the dancers. The scrim created a shifting, floating realm

of live bodies and their doubled, virtual selves, the dancers seemingly materialising from

booths located at the rear of the stage. The device of abstraction, which in Biped involved

the human figure, was investigated in Living Lens through the abstraction of plant and

organic textures rather than the human form. Abstracting and layering textures in this way

reflects my interest in bringing a painterly sensibility to dealing with technology. In Biped,

the sketched figural outlines in motion juxtaposed with the movement and bodies of the

live dancers, also displays characteristics of “living painting” approaches, outlined earlier

in this chapter. Furthermore, the use of frontal scrim adds to a sense of inhabited theatrical

space, the projected animations at times appearing as external armatures of the live

dancers. In an essay on Biped, Kaiser (2000) states that chance operations were used for

deciding sequencing of animations, the projections and dancers uniting for the first time at

the premiere night. As a result of these chance operations, one dancer appeared ‘haloed in

a projection of her own motion capture’, a feeling Kaiser states she later described as if

she were dancing inside herself. This sheds light on the dancer’s connection to her virtual

body, where rather than being perceived as something “other” or outside of self, this entity

– that she herself had generated – becomes an extended periphery of her own live body.

Hence a sense of inhabited space occurs not only in context of the stage environment as a

whole, but through an embodied perception of self inhabiting “self”. For Kaiser, it was

important that the connection between the dancers and their virtual counterparts remain

credible. As he notes, they

took care never to lose the underlying perception of real and plausible human movement. A case in point: when our stick figure leaped, its various lines were flung upward in the air, then gathered back together on landing. While no human body could do this, you could still feel the human motion underlying the abstraction. (Kaiser, 2000)

5 Originally developed in biomechanics research, motion capture is a technique used in computer animation that digitally records body movement such as position, range of motion, velocity and acceleration, via markers worn on specific parts of the body.

40

Thus, while at times the animations transformed into abstract dots and lines, there was a

perceived need to maintain anthropomorphic or dancer-like aspects of these virtual bodies

in order for the connection to be understood. The transparent scrim played a crucial role in

the illusion of dancers and visual projections co-inhabiting three-dimensional space yet the

piece was still framed in a conventional proscenium arch environment. An immersive

installation, on the other hand, requires that performers, audience members and technical

elements inhabit the same environment at the same time, thus to a more tangible, physical

sense of inhabited three-dimensional space.

Impact of technology: The Builders Association

Whilst Biped incorporated motion-capture technology, this was a technique used in the

pre-production stage; in the actual production, however, no real time interactive link

occurred between the dancers and their projected counterparts. In contrast, many

contemporary performance groups actively integrate interactive components into their

productions, where performers have a role in triggering, manipulating or affecting sonic

and/or visual events. The Builders Association is a performance and media group directed

by Marianne Weems that uses a combination of live performance, sound, video, text and

architectural elements. There is a distinct televisual quality to their work where multiple

images and architectural simulations are projected onto large-scale rectangular backdrops,

the performers operating functions on computer desks or speaking directly into cameras,

in an approach that exposes the mechanisms of the mediation between the live and virtual

bodies. In this way, relationships between performers and media are effectively opened up

for observation.

A further method of The Builders Association is the use of narrative-based structures that

explore the impact of technology on humans. One example is the 2005 work, Super

Vision, created in collaboration with dbox design studio. This piece incorporates live

actors, computer music and digital animation techniques in the attempt to make tangible

the invisible aspects of the data world of surveillance and information. Here, there is a

multiplying of bodies; the physical bodies with virtual “data” bodies, whilst projections of

41

simulated rooms further add to the sense of the performers as co-inhabitants of the virtual

or data space. In this kind of mise en scène, therefore, the live performers seem fully

integrated into the mediated environment. Weems (2005), however, points to a further

characteristic of their work that arouses my curiosity in terms of interdependencies

between the live performers. In her view, the emphasis is on the individual isolation of

each performer, for as she states:

In every performance, in all of our shows, for me it is about the performers being really isolated physically, but we are mediating them electronically and so what the audience sees is the network that is joining them all. (Weems, 2005)

In this approach the network of relationships is exposed to viewers, yet it requires that the

performers themselves maintain physical isolation from one another, where addressing or

interacting with each another occurs only through the projected visual imagery and

mediated counterparts. While in some ways this highlights the alienating effects of

technology on the individual, it is certainly a provocative approach, particularly given

performance conventions that depend implicitly on direct connections made between the

physical performers. As Living Lens was designed as an immersive installation and the

relationship was one of interdependencies, interaction occurred between the performers

themselves as well as between the performers and the mediated elements.

Relationship of organic and electronic: Troika Ranch

An example of a company that also incorporates both inter-performer relationships and

performer-technology relationships is Troika Ranch, a dance theatre company directed by

Dawn Stoppiello and Mark Coniglio. Deep ongoing research into human gesture and the

potential for interactive manipulation and control has resulted in the development of

original software and hardware, including MidiDancer and Isadora6. On their website

Stoppiello and Coniglio state their aim for the media elements to possess the vitality and

6 MidiDancer is wireless sensory bodysuit that tracks multiple points on the dancer’s body to measure flexion and extension of different body parts. This movement data is then transmitted to Isadora, a graphic programming environment that receives information from various sensory devices for real time control and manipulation of visual and sonic elements, lighting and robotic set pieces.

42

live-ness of the actual dancers themselves, yet claiming that the ‘linkage of body and

technology highlights the uneasy relationship between the organic and the electronic’

(Troika Ranch, n.d.), a central theme in their work. Whilst Troika Ranch actively seeks

complex interactions with technology, the suggestion here is that this relationship involves

discomfort and uncertainty.

The nature of how human or organic gesture can be mapped to electronic media formats is

one that is constantly explored in Troika Ranch’s works. In an interview (2002) Coniglio

uses a biological metaphor to explain this relationship:

In the past I have referred to our technology as “parasitic”, in the sense that it feeds off of the live performer, and cannot survive without the host. But this parasitic relationship goes both directions: do we modify the movement of a dancer who is being monitored to satisfy the needs of the technology that is reacting to her movement? The answer is yes, but, and I feel this is important, not unconsciously. We try to be hyper-aware of the ways in which we are accommodating the technology that we choose to make use of, so that these limitations inform the piece itself. (Coniglio, 2002)

These comments certainly convey a sense of unease, for rather than being seen as

symbiotic or mutually beneficial, there is the feeling of a reciprocal depletion of energies.

In contrast, however, Troika Ranch further details this relationship through the analogy of

“instrument” and here an image emerges of the dancer learning to “play” the interactive

components in an extension of her/his own body movement. Given the various graphic

and sonic parameters that are controlled through body gesture and movement, dancers

need time to practice with these devices. A concern here for Troika Ranch is the extent

audience members are cognisant of the instrumental nature of this practice (Broadhurst,

2007, p.120) and whether connections between the various triggered events and body

gestures are perceptible or coherent.

From an array of works by Troika Ranch investigating this linkage between the body and

technology, 16[R]evolutions (2006) focuses on a single evolutionary path that explores

‘similarities and differences between human and animal and the evolutions that both go

through in a single lifetime’ (Broadhurst, 2007, 126-127). Here performers’ gestures

influence 3D visual imagery, such as all-enveloping breathing ribcages and ribbon-like

43

strands of DNA, to convey the idea of evolutionary change. The creators state on their

website that their aim was for the virtual elements to be ‘more “animal” than the

characters onstage’ (Troika Ranch, n.d.) in a questioning of whether it is possible to

connect basic needs of survival to so-called higher evolving forms of life. Thus there is a

perceived need for the electronic elements to take on greater attributes of the organic,

possibly to a domain where the ‘uneasy’ linkage of bodies and technology moves from

relations between human and animal, to similarities and distinctions between organic and

artificial life forms. Although the specific focus of Troika Ranch is on the uneasy linkage

of bodies and technology, my interest in their work is the idea of technology taking on

greater attributes of the organic. In my background in body movement and visual arts

practice, organic metaphors and textures and have been at the forefront of my creative

process. Troika Ranch’s approach, therefore, resonates with my own exploration into

more seamless connections between natural and mediated contexts.

The examples given above help both frame and differentiate the approaches of Living Lens

in relation to several key issues. Specifically, the need for a shared sensibility between

collaborative participants and between the performers and the media, as well as the issue

of perceptibility, particularly in case of Living Lens where visual images are not virtual

bodies in the sense of anthropomorphic or humanoid entities, but rather form an abstract

tapestry-like environment where any interactive relationship may be more difficult to

discern. In addition, Living Lens is located in an installation environment and not in a

proscenium or seated auditorium that perhaps sites performers against more clearly

identifiable backdrops.

2.5 Summary

This Contextual Review presents a set of lenses through which to view the processes and

practice of the work Living Lens, thereby locating it within a wider frame of reference. An

experiential sense of living lens implies recognition of, and receptivity to, the lived,

ongoing flow of experience. The notion of poetic felt space attempts to capture the

embodied and metaphysical dimensions of the work, whilst also providing a paradigm

44

through which practice is emergent. As such, it enables the setting up of conceptual or

theoretical lenses through which to articulate practice. Addressing the issue of visual

dominance by positing interdependencies between performing bodies, visual and sonic

media, Living Lens is conceived as a “living painting”, where performers inhabit the sonic

spaces and “skin” of the projected visual imagery. Examples of artists and groups using

digital technologies in live performance help shed light on the nature of collaboration and

issues related to live bodies in mediated environments. To further position the work within

an emergent and iterative context, it is necessary to discuss the development of Living

Lens through the lenses of previous works, discussed in the following chapter.

45

CHAPTER 3 - From Patchwork in Motion to Living Lens

An idea nurtured in minds and bodies is passed from one to another by a process of variation (embellishment or modification), selection (chosen or remembered), adaptation (editing, or elimination)… Processes involving both thought and action unfold in time. Substantial achievement is the result of the blossoming of ideas, the selective success and further evolution of some of these ideas and the dying away or editing out of others. (McKechnie, 2005, p.85)

3.1 Introduction The main focus of the creative process in this study is the exploration of performing

bodies within imaginary visual and sonic worlds facilitated through digital media.

Iterations of this process include an earlier work entitled Test-patches (2001-2003),

followed by Patchwork in Motion (2005), undertaken as part of my Master of Arts studies.

The subsequent extraction of one fragment of the work entitled Living Lens (2005-6)

facilitates a focus on a microcosm of the creative process and is also a means of

determining criteria for further development in the upgrade to doctoral studies.

3.1.1 Generating diverse structures: the notion of “patch” as modular segment

As stated in the Contextual Review chapter (see p. 32), Auslander highlights a key

concern in the perceived tendency for visual images in motion to become more compelling

than the movements of the performers whose physicality is often subsumed by the visual

media. The intention in the earlier works was to open up this issue by generating a

diversity of performer-media experiences through a series of short performance segments.

To clarify, the use of the word “patch” does not refer to computer code or to linked

modules in sound and graphics programs as such. Rather, along with the word

“patchwork”, the two terms were engaged as metaphors to create a non-linear assemblage

of juxtaposing contrasts or moods, yet with no central, predominant motif. While this

approach echoes the rapid switching and short attention span of channel-surfing, it also

reflects the manipulation and combinatory possibilities of digital media, for as Birringer

46

states, ‘the velocity of digital video also brings concepts of non-linear editing to the

practice of composition and scenography’ (2003, p.95). Developing scenes as segments

enabled an exploration of diverse relationships between visual images, electronic sounds

and body movement derived from ballet, contemporary dance, mime and butoh. Ordering

of the segments necessitated taking into account not only artistic options in terms of

associative connections and overall compositional structure, but also logistical concerns,

such as costume changes, performer energy levels and the technical preparation required

for each segment. While Test-patches was composed as a series of brief vignettes or

“patches” developed around a particular mood or theme, the patch metaphor was actively

extended in Patchwork in Motion where scenes, reminiscent of fragments in a patchwork

quilt, are joined together as subsystems in an interconnected fabric or network. The

fascination here was in the creation of larger structures from smaller ones, for open,

mobile spaces to be added onto and/or reconfigured. Whilst an actual patchwork quilt is a

two-dimensional static form, a stage space comprising performers and audio-visual media

operates within kinetic and dynamic spatial and temporal dimensions. As such, the

compositional structure can be thought of as a patchwork in motion.

Both Test-patches and Patchwork in Motion appropriated a cinematic editing style in,

what I have termed, a “living filmstrip” approach. This played out temporally in the live

presentations as a series of segments of varying duration and rhythm within a continuum.

In terms of the creative process, the scenes were composed in the manner of a series of

action “shots”. However, where a specific cinematic aim may be for a seamlessness that

conceals or dissolves the edges of shots to create the illusion of uninterrupted sequences,

the intention in the live staging was for a sequencing sufficiently fluid to sustain the

patchwork in motion, yet that also ensured the marks of its construction – its patchwork

structure – were not effaced in the process.

3.1.2 Immersive imaging: developing technical tools In addition to the patchwork structure explored in Patchwork in Motion, a further aspect of

the process included immersive dimensions of the visual imagery. Immersive imaging, in

47

the form of panoramic paintings, tapestries and murals were used in times past to represent

the visual qualities of landscape. Contemporary digital software tools further enhance

possibilities for creating visual representations not only imbued with aspects of landscape,

but imaginary worlds of geometric shapes and abstract representations, surface texturing,

lighting and motion. While there is a range of commercially available motion graphics

tools, what has emerged through ongoing practice using visual media in live performance,

is the need for a customised program with the capacity for transforming a variety of visual

textures, including still images, into kinetic three-dimensional digital space. Thus, in

collaboration with visual artist, Tetsutoshi Tabata, and media programmer, Takahisa

Sasaki, I have been contributing ideas and visual input towards the ongoing development

of the XV3 software. As mentioned in the previous chapter, this is a graphics program

with a growing palette of visual textures and effects that can be used to compose images

as three-dimensional objects and render these images on the fly. This program has enabled

great flexibility in exploring a wide variety of graphic images and textures in relationship

with the performing body.

In addition to graphics software development, Tetsutoshi Tabata and I have been

collaborating with Dr. Junji Watanabe, a cognitive scientist, on wearable motion sensors

to connect a performer’s movement to the imaging system. These sensors are modified

wireless pointing devices normally used as presentation tools where subtle hand gestures

in mid-air activate the control of various effects. The application of these sensors as

human motion tracking devices enables the sensing and measurement of a performer’s

movement such as body angle and rotation. This data is then converted to the digital data

exchange protocol MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and sent to the XV3

imaging system (Fig. 4).

48

Fig. 4

Wireless sensor measures data from rotation/body angle, which is then converted to MIDI and sent to the XV3 imaging system.

Via MIDI, it becomes possible to link body movement to visual as well as sonic elements.

To date, these sensors have been used on single points on a performer’s body such as

wrists, hips or upper back. This contrasts to more complex wireless sensing systems such

as the MidiDancer system developed by dance theatre group Troika Ranch (described on

p. 41) which measures joint flexion of up to eight points on a performer’s body. However,

it is the interest in this project to explore an immersive space where visual or sound media

only at times become responsive to performer movement through technological devices.

The concern here is rather with the visual and sound artists responsible for the live

manipulation of the media as being co-agents in the creation of the work.

49

3.1.3 Black and white imagery: Test-patches In the informing piece, Test-patches, black and white imagery was used to minimalise

visual information. As the natural world is generally perceived in colour, typical visual

associations may have been suspended, while the use of bold computer-modelled

geometric shapes and sharply defined areas of darkness and light, facilitated high contrast

visual environments that masked, highlighted or immersed the performer. In a scene

entitled “Barcode” (Fig. 5; see DVD under Test-patches movie files), alternating black

and white gratings of varying widths create a vertical venetian-blind effect.

Fig. 5

“Barcode”: Shifting black and white gratings both mask and highlight the performer.

The black-costumed performer is partially viewed between the shifting gratings while

multiple cast shadows complicate the task of distinguishing the actual performer. A

similar masking effect is achieved in the scene “Montage” (See DVD under Test-

patches movie files) through successive white squares that frame different body parts of

the three performers in a tight synchronisation of choreographed body movement to

prerecorded visuals and sound. A synchronisation of body movement to visual image also

50

occurs in a scene entitled “Liquid Dream” (Fig. 6; see DVD under Test-patches movie

files), where liquid Chinese-ink ripple effects are created in response to the hand

movements of performers wearing motion sensors on their wrists.

Fig. 6

“Liquid Dream”: Motion sensors on wrist create ripple effects.

Although these liquid effects are computer-generated images rather than actual water, the

fluid nature of water, even in its virtual form, makes it difficult to ascertain whether the

movements of the performer are the source of successive ripples. Thus, while the

connection between body gesture and visual image may initially appear coherent, it

becomes increasingly ambiguous. “Liquid Dream”, together with other scenes outlined

here from Test-patches, are several amid an accumulative assemblage of thirteen scenes.

These were shaped and developed collaboratively between dancers, choreographers, visual

artists and programmers, through the sketching out of different concepts based around a

51

visual design, a mood, a body movement or an interactive idea, all unified through the

black and white aesthetic.

3.1.4 Colour and texture: Patchwork in Motion In the next iteration, Patchwork in Motion, I engaged the metaphor of patchwork to further

generate a range of performer-media experiences. While patchwork, or quilting, implies a

piece-meal construction of repeating elements, each element need not be homogeneous

but can be of varying size, shape, colour or texture. Hence, colour and texture played a

vital role for extending possibilities for variation and variegation.

While high contrast visual effects were achieved through light and shadow in Test-

patches, the aim in Patchwork in Motion was to create contrast through an emphasis on

visual textures, including organically derived or inspired textures. Texture, as applied

here, refers to the way visual images can be used in combination, for example, through

multi-layering or montage of visual elements in a single scene, or temporally through

juxtapositions of visual images from one scene to the next. Although not consisting of

actual physical materials, these images, as virtual textures, could evoke a sense of tactility.

For the original “Living Lens” fragment (see DVD under Patchwork in Motion movie

files), I opted to recycle previous material through digitising slides I had made many years

ago using oil paints and natural fibres (Fig. 7) as a way to imbue the projected imagery

with an organic, painterly quality.

52

Fig. 7

Digitally scanned slide containing plant fibres and painted textures.

Simulation of the lens effect was initially created in After Effects software (Fig. 8) as a

pre-recorded image. After trials with the pre-recorded lenses using various textures in the

studio, Takahisa Sasaki subsequently programmed the lens effect as a real time object in

the imaging system XV3 (Fig. 9).

I initially coined the term “body-as-texturiser”, as a means to explore the way projected

visual textures can appear to intensify or be modified by performer movement by way of

interactive devices. Here I revisited the scene “Liquid Dream” (Fig. 10; see DVD under

Patchwork in Motion movie files), where watery ripple effects correspond to performers’

hand movements via motion sensors.

Fig. 8 Simulated lens effect in After Effects

software.

Fig. 9 Performers with projected lens effect using

XV3 imaging system.

53

Fig. 10

“Liquid Dream ver.02”. Motion sensors on wrist create ripple effects and red brushstroke effect.

In this scene, a further visual layer was developed where the two performers had the

option of a nebulous red brushstroke effect through expansive, circular movements of their

hands. Thus, in contrast to the initial version of “Liquid Dream”, where correspondence

between the visual media and performers’ gestures was left ambiguous, the relationship in

the later version became more tangibly coherent.

In “Signal” (Fig. 11; see DVD under Patchwork in Motion movie files), on the other

hand, a performer wears a sensor on the back that generates a linear cubic structure that

expands, contracts and rotates with his breathing and upper body movements. In this

scene, a notable influence in terms of performer-stage spatial relationships derives from

the theatre of the Bauhaus, specifically Oskar Schlemmer’s notion of an abstract stage

space consisting of an imaginary network of lines in both ‘mathematical’ cubical space

(Fig. 12) and ‘organic’ circular space (1996, pp.23-24).

54

Fig. 11

“Signal”: The projected cubic structure expands, contracts and rotates via motion sensor

worn on the performer’s back.

Fig. 12

Oskar Schlemmer’s human figure and ‘invisible’ linear spatial delineations.

55

Whilst Schlemmer experimented with representations of lines and spatial volumes through

geometric costumes and body extensions in theatrical performances such as the Triadic

Ballet (1922), in “Signal” the projected grid-like structure immersed the performer in an

illusory cubic space, which via the motion sensor, became a virtual spatial extension of his

movement. In a further scene, entitled “Relief” (see DVD under Patchwork in Motion

movie files), a different means was used to extend the performer’s movement. Here, a

camera tracking system captured the performer’s silhouette, enabling the projection of

multiple reflections of his body transmitted with a degree of time delay. This created a

bas-relief effect as an overlay of visual impressions on the projection surface. The

examples given here illustrate how a performer can interactively shape the visual layers,

thereby becoming a living “texturiser”, inhabiting and affecting the visual environment.

3.2 Focusing on a microcosm: Living Lens

3.2.1 Towards a fluid continuum: from “living filmstrip” to “living painting” The extraction of Living Lens from Patchwork in Motion, as the creative title and focus of

the research area in the creative development phase of this study, is a means to explore the

idea of worlds within worlds. This contrasts to the previous method of generating diversity

through the creation of larger structures from a series of smaller ones. In Living Lens,

temporal ordering shifts from the earlier patchwork approach of juxtaposed fragments, to a

more fluid, layered continuum. With the aim of evoking a three-dimensional living

painting, the work incorporates photographic and hand-painted textures, computer-

modelled imagery and a textured palette of sounds. The performers in this setting are

perceived as “inhabitants” endowing the visual and sonic installation with kinesthetic,

sculptural qualities. At times camouflaged as transparent entities against the projected

visual surface, they are also revealed as distinct physical presences. Identification with

organic life processes becomes the commonality linking body, visuals and sound, in terms

of microscopic forms and sensations, the forces of growth and decay, and in the

transformation of one movement, visual image or sonic phase to the next.

56

3.2.2 Developing criteria for analysis and further creative development For initial creation of the scene “Living Lens” performed as part of Patchwork in Motion,

I gathered a catalogue of images and photographs that encapsulated the symbolic

metaphor of magnification and the paradox of seen and unseen perspectives. The notion of

lens brings the inner or micro world to the external, or macro, world and at the same time,

it is a window showing worlds within worlds. Apart from my initial handmade slides, the

image that best epitomised the effect I wanted to achieve was of a spider in amber (Fig.

13) which, as a fossilised life form, represents suspension and stillness in time, while also

evoking for me, a world within a world. An additional image was that of a chrysalis (Fig.

14) representing transformation, in-between realms, and the paradox of seen and unseen.

These images were catalysts for directly exploring body movement, visual and sonic

possibilities, yet they also became the basis for a conceptual language from which to distil

possible criteria for assessing and developing the work.

Fig. 13

Spider in amber

57

Fig. 14

Chrysalis

From the initial fragment of “Living Lens”, I extracted various criteria for artistic analysis.

These included the idea of inner and outer worlds as the seen and unseen, and the theme of

transformation in the cycle of nature in terms of birth, growth and decay. Analysis of

video documentation revealed that the cyclical notion of life was reflected in the curved

and spiral movements of the two dancers and the two circular lens objects projected onto

the screens, while qualities of glow and luminance were present in the visual imagery and

stage lighting. However, I observed that for further development of “Living Lens”, I

needed to address the following: the idea of decay or rupture in the cycle of nature, the

notion of transformation and transition in terms of body, visuals and sound, and the notion

of seen and unseen. Furthermore, I wished to explore the idea of worlds within worlds,

with projection surfaces beyond the frame of the planar screens used in Patchwork in

Motion.

58

3.3 Living Lens: creative development

3.3.1 Context of Accented Body Project With Living Lens now the title of the work and no longer a fragment, I will henceforth

refer to it in italicised form. Living Lens is situated within the Accented Body project, an

interdisciplinary, site-specific performative event conceived and directed by my

supervisor, Associate Professor Cheryl Stock, as a collaboration involving international

and local artists. The initial creative development of artists in residence took place from

the end of November to mid December 2005, with a live showing held on December 17.

The second development took place from June to July 2006, with performances held on

July 15-17 as part of the 2006 Brisbane Festival. The placing of Living Lens within the

context of a larger body guaranteed that the research did not occur in isolation. The project

was thus set within a community of practice, surrounded by peers working differently in

similar areas, thereby ensuring opportunities for relevant dialogue and feedback.

Furthermore, the context of Accented Body provided access to a level of human, financial

and technical resources normally difficult to organise or obtain in independent arts

practice.

3.3.2 Collaborative team

The project team for the initial Australia-based creative development of Living Lens

comprised familiar and new participants. My role in this process was chiefly as creative

director, as well as contributing to visual source material through organic, hand-painted

and photographic textures. Familiar participants include Tetsutoshi Tabata, in the role of

visual media coordinator, and Takahisa Sasaki, as media programmer of the imaging

system XV3. New participants included Elise May, Ko-Pei Lin and Richard Causer,

contemporary dance artists with emerging choreographic practices. Choreographic ability

was an important requirement for participating in the collaboration, for as my own

background is in experimental theatre and somatic body movement processes, it was

essential to work with dancers that could introduce their own choreographic devices to the

shaping of movement material. In order to bring in sound artists as part of an

59

interdisciplinary team, I sought the advice of Greg Jenkins, lecturer in the Music and

Sound discipline of the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of

Technology (QUT). At his suggestion, I sent out a brief calling for sound creators

interested in a collaboration involving body movement, visual and sound media. The two

respondents to the brief were Luke Lickfold, a student in Communication Design

exploring computer filtering processes, and Matt de Boer, an acoustic musician. Thus,

with initial collaborative participants finalised, it became possible to continue the

exploration of body movement, visual and sonic media.

3.3.3 Towards an immersive installation Patchwork in Motion involved short investigations of diverse relationships between visual

media and the performing body in a sequencing of non-linear juxtapositions. A stage set

comprising three planar screens and seated audience with a fixed viewing position allowed

for highly visible presentations of the performing body and visual projections. For the next

iteration of my research, I was seeking a more fluid sequencing and an exploration of

worlds within worlds. I felt that a solution to this was a shift away from the planar screen

configuration and seated audience, to an installation environment with the viewer posited

as an ambulatory presence with a shifting point of view.

My initial idea for Living Lens was for an immersive environment with continuous

streams of projections occurring on the walls and floor surfaces of the venue, rather than

projected onto multiple rectilinear screens. This idea approached the notion of immersive

space as a 360-degree field of vision, as stated by Grau in the Contextual Review chapter

(see p.35). However, as this proved technically impossible due to projection angles and

distance factors, I proposed an ovoid screen object, a configuration comprising two

concave arcs enclosing an inner space with openings at each end. This design conceptually

represented both the circular shape of a lens and the cycles of life, while the egg shape

symbolically reflected the nurturing structure of a cocoon or chrysalis. However, this

design also proved technically difficult in terms of positioning the video projectors. Matt

de Boer, a musician who is also an installation artist, proposed opening the two arcs of the

60

ovoid, setting them length to length in a line consisting of concave and convex arcs.

Tetsutoshi Tabata, the visual media coordinator, calculated the projector distances and

angles required for a continuous stream of imagery using three projectors: two projecting

onto the surface of one side of the screen object, the third projecting onto the other. By

tweaking the arcs, he found that a smoother undulating configuration could work

technically. I found this solution also echoed the wave-like, serpentine forms found in

nature (Fig. 15). For a complete schematic of the screen object, please see Fig.16.

Fig. 15

Creative development, November 2005: Elise May (left) and Ko-Pei Lin working in the The Loft, QUT, with plan (in progress) of proposed screen projected in the background.

61

Fig.16

Floor plan of S-curve projection screen with calculation of projectors angles.

(Marked in green: 3 x horizontal and 2 x down projections.) Designed by Tetsutoshi Tabata.

62

3.3.4 Component “lenses”: body, visuals, sound

Body “lens”: Butoh and Image induction Butoh plays with time; it also plays with perspective, if we, humans, learn to see things from the perspective of an animal, an insect, or even inanimate objects. The road everyday is alive…we should value everything. Tatsumi Hijikata, co-founder of butoh (Viala and Masson-Sekine, 1988, p.65)

An important method in my practice is the use of visual images and poetic fragments to

evoke or inspire movement. As a performance artist based in Japan in the early 1990s for

the study of the dance-theatre form butoh, my practice in the area of body movement has

largely been informed by the use of visual imagery. Tatsumi Hijikata, co-founder of

butoh, created his own system of butoh-fu (commonly translated in English as “dance

notation”), which involved the use of visual sources as the inspiration for movement.

Working from an inner sensing, there is a watching and listening of the “inner eye” or

mirror. The body is a receptacle or vessel, a deep resource of gathered gestures,

movements and entities imagined to be “sleeping” inside the subconscious, for example,

memories of the muscles and cells; childhood memories; memories of the womb; spirits of

the living and dead; natural phenomena; primordial and non-human vegetable, animal or

mineral states.

To access this resource or inner well, images are induced through a kind of poetry. Word

streams and disjointed particles of words, often from nature, provide the inspiration rather

than the form for movement. A performer does not just imagine or try to express

something, but rather seeks to excavate a quality, image or state deep inside the body as a

receptacle of time. Through training in this way, a performer may become aware of a

deeper physiological and psychological sense. At times, in this kind of training, one feels

in control, at other times it is a struggle, whilst at other moments, one submits or abandons

oneself to what arises or is aroused, not through mimicry, but by allowing these entities

and qualities to become manifest. Tatsumi Hijikata would describe this process through

poetic metaphors, for example, as a person descending by means of a ladder into the well

of his/her own body in order to ‘drink’ its water (Hijikata, 2000b, p.51). One learns

63

through practice to objectify the body and in this way, it becomes possible to manipulate

the body to “transform” into various entities, states or characters. Excerpts of Hijikata’s

butoh-fu, which I have adapted from the transcriptions of his student Yukio Waguri’s CD-

Rom entitled Butoh Kaden (Waguri, 1998), include the idea of nerves extending from the

body, flower petals curling up from the hip or the skin as the deeply fissured bark of a tree

filled with crawling insects. These excerpts of the butoh-fu are given in Appendix 4.

As a movement-based artist, my approach has been influenced and inspired by the

philosophical aspects of butoh, yet the attempt here is neither to make presumptions

about Hijikata’s choreographic processes nor to emulate any of the distinctive forms

established by himself or his students. Rather, his words have been used as way to induce

or evoke movement. While I was interested in using images adapted from Hijikata, I was

also seeking an Australian context in which to explore this image-based approach and

hence selected excerpts from the three-part poem entitled Flesh, by Judith Wright. What I

find particularly evocative in her imagery is the identification of the bodily, sensory world

with stages of plant growth and decay, for example, the hand as something wild which

pivots and withers on the stalk of the wrist, or the head as an unfolding bud shaped of

flesh and blood (Wright, 1974, pp.145-146). There are undercurrents of tension in her

image-making that I find similar to Hijikata’s butoh-fu, where the correspondence of the

body to natural processes is not only one of harmonious unfurling expansion, but also a

curving, twisting contraction to an inner, perhaps more psychological state. Inspired by

butoh, my view of the poetic includes distortion and rupture; aspects of which I thought

could be explored through Wright’s poem. Excerpts of this poem are given in Appendix 5.

The preliminary workshop with performers Elise May, Ko-Pei Lin and Richard Causer,

involved the use of poetic text fragments and visual images to provide the inspiration for

exploring movement. Graphic images included the spider encased in amber and chrysalis

mentioned earlier, while the initial poetic texts were the excerpts from Wright’s poem.

The first task was to create a two to three minute exploration, or “microdance”, based on

the images or poetic text. For Ko-Pei, it was the image of the spider in amber that was the

64

initial catalyst for her exploration, with an additional photograph of unfurling fern fronds

that subsequently inspired tendril-like qualities. For Richard, the excerpt from “The Hand”

section of Wright’s poem led to an exploratory focus on the spinal area with arms moving

independently to the rest of the body, while detailed movements of the back and scapula

area created a contoured, body “landscape” or topography. For Elise, it was the

combination of a line from “The Face” section of Wright’s poem referring to the notion of

life stinging deeply, and her daily life situation of moving house and packing things into

boxes, that developed into an exploration of multiple faces meandering in and out of the

spaces or “compartments” created by different shapes of her body. These examples were

early explorations in movement workshops, where the performers improvised movement

material in response to the images provided by my directives. Excerpts of the workshop

exercises used in the initial creative development are given in Appendices 6 to 8.

Texture and Space As an expansion of the notion of body-as-texturiser, I was interested in ways to heighten

awareness of space and texture. This, I felt, was a useful way to deal with the research

concern of shifting the dominance of the projected visual media, for in an immersive

environment, performers could easily be overshadowed by the visuals. Engaging with

external space involved the idea of sculpting space with the body as well as texturing

space with qualities of temperature, density or fluidity. In the sense of Hijikata’s interior

well, or “inner landscape” of the body, work centered around the idea of moving

materials, such as sand, water, oil or honey, through different parts of the body. Here, I

found the notion of ‘graining’ by American modern dancer/choreographer, Alwin

Nikolais, an effective method to experience the flow of textures through the body. This

method was of particular interest as Nikolais himself was an early pioneer of multimedia

performance who explored physical space and dance movement through projected images,

lighting, sound collages, costume and set design. In the principle of graining, the body is

conceived as filled with imaginary particles of varying density, the dancer thus projecting

these particles towards a point or part of the body, or further extending the stream

outwards into external space (Nikolais and Louis, 2005, p.13). The intent here was for a

65

heightened awareness of the subtleties of movement, as well as the extension of the body

to further sensuous dimensions created by the visual and sonic textures.

Visual “lens” In contrast to the earlier works where performers appeared in front of rectangular screens,

the projection surface with its curvilinear configuration becomes an environment for the

performers to inhabit (Fig. 17).

Fig. 17

Creative development, December 2005: screen object installed in a curvilinear configuration.

Visual images are programmed to move continuously across the double-sided surface and

in this way the screen becomes a kind of a “living” body. An installed sculptural object, it

is animated through the kinetic motion and movement of the visuals and performers.

Through multiple overlaying of images, layers can be added and removed as membranes,

or “skins”, concealing or revealing innermost depths. In terms of the performer

interactively influencing these layers, Tetsutoshi Tabata, Takahisa Sasaki and I developed

66

two applications for use with the motion sensors. The first was a variation of the

brushstroke effect previously developed in Patchwork in Motion. When the performer,

Ko-Pei Lin, twirled her wrist in expansive curves, a white brushstroke effect became a

ribbon-like visualisation of the graining method, while simultaneously erasing a line

through the coloured layer of the visual imagery. In the second instance, a particle effect

was programmed to respond to the breathing and upper body movements of the performer,

Elise May. Here, the particles created tiny holes in the surface layer, revealing the

“innards” or underlying texture. These two examples reflect the body-as-texturiser

approach, the graphic representations of body movement occurring as alterations in visual

texture. However, a clear cause and effect relationship between performer and visual

media may be difficult to discern. Of relevance here is Palindrome Inter-media

Performance Group’s notion of ‘gestural coherence’, described as ‘the perceptual

coherence between sound and the movement that generates it’ (Rovan et al., 2001).

Although gestural and sonic coherence is being specified, the notion equally applies to

coherence between body movement and visual media.

Sound “lens” In discussions with computer sound artist Luke Lickfold, and acoustic musician Matt de

Boer, it was agreed that Matt would take the role of generating live source sounds using

readymade instruments, such as pan pipes, clarinet, tambourine and drums, as well as

using devised instruments and amplified breathing. Luke, on the other hand, would be

responsible for the real-time filtering of these sounds using custom-made re-sampling

processes. What I was seeking sonically, was a layering of foreground and background

textures that unfold in phases representing a life cycle of birth, transformation and decay.

Here I was inspired by composer, Toru Takemitsu, in the notion of inhaling and exhaling,

ascending and descending waves of sound, rather than a structured ‘piling up bricks of

sound to erect edifices of varying styles’ (Takemitsu et al., 1995, p.17). In terms of micro-

and macro- magnification, a small sound could have large intensity and vice versa.

Enlargement of a sonic detail could arise not only by means of amplification, but also

through revealing hidden structures within the texture, for example, fine grains of sound

67

that expand and contract, appear and recede. These could be little snippets of sound, like

the rustle of leaves or the tinkling of water, perhaps against a continuous, more universal

sonic texture reminiscent of sand. Along with a dreamlike ambience, I was also seeking a

kind of unsettled quality, with unexpected shifts as ruptures in the continuity. A further

potential outcome was that sonic textures could at times become responsive to performer

movement via the motion sensors. However, it was understood that time constraints meant

that Luke Lickfold and Matt de Boer would only be able work together several times

before commencement of the creative development period. Thus, it was ambitious to

assume that any customising of the filtering processes or trialing of interactive sonic

outcomes could be achieved in the lead up time.

3.3.5 Integrating components: tentative structure based on sleep cycles

After brainstorming around the idea of life cycles and notions of waning, waxing, birth

and decay, Matt de Boer suggested the idea of sleep cycles as a kind of working template.

To this end, I devised a plan based on different phases marking out higher and lower

frequencies and periods of REM (rapid eye movement), a format that conceptually echoed

the undulations of the screen object. The approach was not an exploration or study of

brain waves per se, but rather, a way to lay down a kind of substrata from which to

address the research concern of a compositional structure to integrate body movement,

visuals and sound. Discussion of the sleep phases with the performers, focused on

perceptions of increased breathing and heart rates, periods of muscular twitching, and

bursts of vivid dreaming. For a diagram of the initial sleep cycle structure see Fig. 18.

Once the screen object was installed in the venue, the performers began to spatially map

their movement material as a pathway through the various phases of the sleep cycles (Fig.

19).

68

Fig. 18

Living Lens creative development: dream/sleep cycle structure.

Fig. 19

Elise May’s spatial mapping of sleep cycles to screen object.

69

The sleep cycle template thus became a general score from which to integrate visuals,

body movement and sound. Regarding sound, Luke and Matt improvised material in a

largely experimental and serendipitous manner as the performers and I worked on

movement material in the space. During this time, visual material from a large palette of

textures was tested and modified, which, together with Tetsutoshi Tabata, I conceptually

matched to the various stages of the sleep cycle (see DVD for samples of these textures

under the section “Stills and Textures”.) However, due to time constraints and outcome of

a public showing, it became necessary to shape the experiments into a specific format.

Consequently, there was very little time to trial possible interactive links between

performer movement and the sound and imaging system. For video documentation of

Living Lens presented at the public showing, see DVD under the section “Movies”,

with a link from “Living Lens” to “Creative Development”.

3.4 Feedback

3.4.1 Peer Feedback Following the creative development public showing (December 17, 2005 at The Loft,

QUT), peer feedback included responses from my associate supervisor, Richard Vella,

Adjunct Professor in the Music and Sound discipline of the Creative Industries Faculty,

QUT; Greg Jenkins, lecturer in Music and Sound; and fellow PhD candidate Luke

Jaaniste. In personal communication (December 20, 2005) Richard Vella suggested that

the movement qualities, or gestures of the performers, were somehow unrelated to the

aesthetics of the work in terms of the installation object and the projected visual imagery.

Luke Jaaniste, on the other hand (personal communication, January 15, 2006), stated that

the performers themselves seemed arbitrary components of the installation. It may be,

however, that these comments reflect a musical and/or visual arts milieu rather than a

movement-based performance background. Nevertheless, such comments trigger

consideration of how the performing body is deemed an essential element of the

installation environment.

70

Further feedback from Greg Jenkins (personal communication, January 10, 2005) noted an

overall homogeneous feel to the installation. Although this particular observation was

mainly directed towards the sonic environment, I find it applied equally to the relationship

between all elements of body, visuals and sound. If the prevailing mood or composition is

considered uniform, then it can be assumed that interest − from the perspective of all

creative participants as well as that of the viewers − soon wanes.

3.4.2 Participant feedback Following feedback on the sonic area, a post-production discussion (January 21, 2006)

with Living Lens sound designer, Luke Lickfold, elicited that sonic homogeneity occurred

because sounds generated by acoustic and percussive instruments played live in an

improvised manner, were manipulated in real time through computer filtering processes,

hence producing a constantly tweaked, rambling quality. For his part, Luke said that

having a constant input of live sounds made it difficult to generate any distinctive or

abrupt periods of change through the computer filtering process. Although there was a

general structure to follow in terms of the sleep cycle template, the different sections

tended to blend into one another. However, he personally felt that given the limited time,

the sonic results were interesting and generally successful as soundscape material. As Matt

de Boer would not be available for the second stage of development, Luke and I decided

that in working to a sound brief, a more standard method of sound pre-composition could

be combined with live processing. This would have the added advantage of giving the

performers something more structured with which to rehearse. Visual media director,

Tetsutoshi Tabata (personal communication, December 20, 2005) felt there was a need to

develop a stronger relation between the performers and the visual imagery, with a clearer

matching of visual images to the specific moods or phases. Media programmer, Takahisa

Sasaki (e-mail correspondence, February 4, 2006) suggested that interactively, a stronger

relation could occur, for example, through the development of a wave-effect algorithm,

where visual images are raised or contoured in response to performer movement.

71

From the perspective of body movement, all three performers found the process quite

different to their previous experiences of performance making. Ko-Pei Lin (unstructured

interview, March 10, 2006) found that although she could evolve her movement

possibilities, it was difficult to delineate a pathway through the piece, an experience that

entailed negotiating several layers: her character inspired by the spider in amber image,

the visual imagery and the sleep cycle structure. She found that one or other of the layers

would somehow block the progression of her pathway. In working with the motion sensor

she felt that an actual link between her body and visual images created a challenging sense

of ‘being both in control and controlled’. Specifically, she felt that the brushstroke effect

created a tangible extension of her body movement via the motion sensor, yet, as the

location of the brushstroke on the screen often seemed unpredictable, she experienced a

dimension to the relationship beyond her control. This, however, she found to be a point

of interest rather than a problem. For Elise May (unstructured interview, March 8, 2006)

the performer’s role in using the motion sensors was unclear. Specifically, she felt that as,

a performer, the issue of a) choreographing movement to engender particular effects, or b)

of improvising movements to see what effects emerge, had not been resolved through this

iteration of the study. In addition, a problem she found in working from an exploratory

image-based approach, was whether it becomes a question of which performance style to

adopt, or alternatively, a complete ‘stripping away’ of styles to explore movement inspired

from more intuitive bodily reactions. Nevertheless, she felt that working in this way

…opened up a whole new world of possibility in terms of finding innovative ways to develop movement and imagery in performance and has had a profound effect on my own creative process. (Accented Body feedback report, March 2006)

For Richard Causer, on the other hand, the dilemma as a performer accustomed to

developing concrete phrases of movement as an outcome of any exploratory work, was the

undertaking of exercises that often did not lead to any specifically structured movement

material. However, he found that he was eventually

…able to fuse what I learnt into my own style of movement. I found a way of moving that I have never experienced before on my own body, discovering that my body can actually do much more than I thought. (Accented Body feedback report, March 2006)

72

From the comments given here, it can be construed that although there was a degree of

pressure and frustration in terms of the performers’ usual approaches to performance

making, it was also an important learning curve contributing further strands to their

performance technique and choreographic practice.

3.4.3 Personal observations

The shift away from the performers’ usual body vocabularies – largely informed by

contemporary dance training – perhaps entailed entering into a different cognitive

dimension that disengaged them from their encoded techniques. This, along with only a

small number of pre-structured movement phrases, meant that their performance became

largely dependent upon improvisation to fill any gaps in their pathways. The sleep cycle

structure served as a useful guide in the initial exploration, yet this, together with the

blended nature of the sound, may have contributed to the prevailing dreamy, almost

trance-like quality of the performers’ movements.

The serpentine screen object dissecting the venue meant that there was no clear distinction

between front or back views. However, viewers to the installation tended to huddle in the

corners of the venue and so did not take on an ambulatory role. A further dilemma for the

audience was the placing of the technical sound and visual team on one side of the screen,

in a sense framing the installation as a staged theatre rather than installation mode. The

slits in the screen enabled partial viewings of performers who slipped through and around

the object. In this way, even if a viewer remained stationary, s/he could see the

performers’ actions when they passed within close proximity, or glimpses of action taking

place on the other side of the screen. Thus, in response to proposed criteria for “seen” and

“unseen” outlined earlier in this chapter, there was a definite sense of revealed and

concealed dimensions in viewing the installation. The responsibility, however, was on the

viewers themselves to make the decision to move around the installation. In slightly

altering the size and configuration of the screen object and positioning the visual and

sound teams on either side of the screen, it could be possible to create an environment

73

more conducive to viewers immersing themselves in the space rather than remaining on

the periphery.

3.5 Further strategies towards an integration of distinctive entities The first stage of the creative development period established a kind of substrata from

which to elicit further action-possibilities. Specifically, the aim for the next stage is to set

up ways in which to develop more distinctive qualities to the components of performing

bodies, visual images and sound. In addressing the issue of homogeneity, a newly

emergent criterion is to enhance contrast through a more structured scenario as an overlay

to the sleep cycle template. This potentially enables deeper connections between the

performing bodies and the visual imagery, as well as providing a guideline for developing

a specific array of sounds that can be manipulated live in the installation. As such, for the

next development phase I have marked out several areas discussed at length in the

following chapter. These are briefly outlined under the following headings.

3.5.1 “Idiosyncratic” movement: specific work areas To offset the feedback on the creative development as being too monodynamic, I decided

to explore distinctive qualities of the individual performers through a focus on

idiosyncratic movement. This was achieved by setting up specific areas of work for each

performer. Steinman (1986, p.14) refers to ‘idiosyncratic’ movement where ‘each body

speaks its own native language’ in order to ‘find one’s own movement sources within

oneself’. She suggests a dancer should ‘work from inside to recover’ his/her ‘own body’s

native language’. For Ko-Pei Lin, the specific work area is further development on the

spider in amber character through a focus on tactility and torsion to enhance her

movement with more finely sculpted detail. For Elise May, it is the notion of body as

“seismograph”. Here, the body is an antenna, a sensitive instrument that detects and

registers vibrations, the dance thus becoming a kind of channeling, or “seismogram”. For

Richard Causer, it is further work on the notion of body topography with a focus on

developing simultaneous or sequential dynamics in different parts of the body. For new

member, I-Pin Lin, also a contemporary dancer, it is the notion of body as “metaball”:

74

from small, enclosed shapes, the body extends outwards, “grows” a movement and then

morphs from one movement to the next.

3.5.2 Defining and refining movement clusters As a result of performer feedback, I looked into additional ways of entering into

movement explorations. From the movement material that emerged through the creative

development, the task was to select particular movements or sequences and refine them.

To this end, I drew upon Adshead’s notion of clusters to formulate an approach for

developing and arranging movement sequences (Fig.20)

Fig. 20

Cluster as a mode of temporal sequencing.

75

I regard these clusters as being porous: malleable in that they can be linked in multiple

ways and allow for moments of “unknown”, permeable in that other movements can be

embedded within them. The noted butoh critic, Nario Goda, indicates the potential for

movements to evolve when he claims Tatsumi Hijikata attempted to make the body ‘an

incarnation of time and space…by fragmenting motion into articulated movements that

expressed precisely the temporary forms of each moment, and then entrusting the dance to

the accumulation of those momentary changes in time and space’ (Goda, 1989, pp.86-87).

In this way, the notion of cluster becomes a means to structure an accumulation of

sensory, bodily experiences into distinctive yet adaptable sequences of movement.

3.5.3 Setting up indicators of change: worlds within worlds From the creative development I identified the need to break up the continuous undulating

stream of visual imagery and sonic textures to create distinctive moods in which the

performers develop movement material. With this aim, the notion of “worlds within

worlds” becomes a further overlay to the sleep cycle structure. Moreover, this notion

echoes the sense of “living lens” encapsulated by the initial images of the spider in amber

and the chrysalis described earlier in Chapter 3. The idea of “worlds within worlds” is also

partly influenced by Yukio Waguri, student of Tatsumi Hijikata, who categorised the

butoh-fu terms into seven interrelated worlds (Waguri, 1998). While there may be some

similarity to Waguri’s naming of the worlds, in my case they become components of a

structural device to integrate body, movement and sound, rather than areas in which to

categorise specific movement images. The eight worlds are: World of Chrysalis; World of

Forest/Cave; World of Water/Ice; World of Wall/Skin; World of Neurology Ward; World

of Animal; World of Vortex; World of Cosmos/Nebula (see Fig. 21).

76

Fig. 21

Living Lens: second stage plan for setting up clearer instigators of change in the cycle.

The installation environment, conceived as “inhabited space” with performers as

“inhabitants”, implies qualities of intimacy, familiarity, comfort and attraction. However, I

am also interested in shifting moods, in creating tension through contrast. In the next stage

of development, I seek an unsettled quality, or rupture, as a clear indicator of change in the

fluid continuum.

77

3.6 Summary Exploring interdependencies between performing bodies, visual and sonic media, work

shifted through the creative development from the earlier approach that generated a range

of performer-media relationships through juxtaposed modular segments. This particular

stage aimed for a more fluid sequencing where focus moves from the frame of a staged

setting to an immersive installation mode. The segment Living Lens is selected as both a

microcosm of artistic practice and a means to determine and evaluate criteria within one

specific area. Organic life processes become the commonality linking the elements of

body, visual images and sound, with contrast occurring through transitions and layering of

textures. However, as a means to generate more distinctive aspects of performative, visual

and sonic elements in the fluid continuum, the next stage of Living Lens will explore the

structure of “worlds within worlds”, described in detail in the following chapter.

78

CHAPTER 4 - The “Living Painting": Worlds within Worlds

The prime instance is not that of parts vanishing into the whole and thereby losing their identity but rather the state of affairs in which each part displays its double nature, its being in and by itself and that within the whole. (Arnheim, 1989, p.338)

4.1 Generating contrast in the fluid continuum

The notion of “worlds within worlds” further addresses the research concern of a

structural device (see p.76) to integrate performing bodies, visuals and sound. It is an

overlay to the sleep cycle template and a means to generate diversity and contrast in the

fluid continuum. In this way, further dimensions are added to a contoured landscape of

“peaks” and “valleys” (Fig. 22).

Fig. 22

Integrative structure visualised as a contoured landscape.

Shaped through a scenario of eight realms (outlined on p.75), the live performance is an

enactment of a voyage through these worlds. In setting up these realms, imagery of

nocturnal forest depths, the vault-like chamber of a cave or the disturbed ambiance of a

79

neurology ward, become poetic indicators of place: potential spaces to inhabit as well as

positions marking a temporal pathway.

It is interesting to note that while the initial creative development entailed a shift away

from the earlier patchwork approach to a more seamless continuity, current action,

addressing the criticism of homogeneity, invokes characteristics of the collage principle:

in this case, the use of contrasting images or worlds towards the overall theme of Living

Lens. Here, however, contrast occurs through fluid transitions rather than juxtapositions of

discrete pieces of the patchwork structure. Organic metaphors provide a basis for

exploring microscopic forms and sensations, the forces of growth and decay, and

transformations of one body movement, visual image or sonic phase to the next. While

primarily reflecting the temporal continuity of organic life cycles, transitions also occur as

ruptures in the continuum. These ruptures occur through visual and auditory atmospheric

effects reminiscent of disturbances in the natural world, or by sonically or visually

evoking architectural metaphors of boundaries and enclosure, such as walls and rooms.

Integrating the component lenses of body, visuals and sound through the wider “worlds

within worlds” context of the living painting, the notion of poetic felt space (described on

pg. 27) refers to the connective tissue binding the various realms and entities. Although

imaginary, I nevertheless perceive this as a palpable and malleable substance. Whilst the

worlds within worlds scenario works as an integrative structure, the aim is to generate

relationships with the potential to evolve, rather than creating a synchronous score or

converging entities into a unified body. Thus, in order to explore interdependencies

between sonic, visual and bodily entities, it is necessary to consider them as independent

identities within a larger whole. The following diagram (Fig. 23) shows the system plan of

the final performance. (For documentation of the final presentation, see DVD section

“Movies” with link from “Living Lens” to “Final Performance”.)

80

Fig. 23

System plan for final performance of Living Lens.

4.2 Developing distinctive bodies

4.2.1 The Serpentine Line

In relation to all four performers – Elise May, Ko-Pei Lin, Richard Causer and I-Pin Lin –

it was necessary to develop the body as a three-dimensional figure that could be viewed

from several angles in the installation space. In order to show various aspects of the body

simultaneously, I was interested in exploring twisting, coiling movements of the body.

This involved, for example, rotation of the upper body in opposite direction to the lower

body, or spherical movements drawing inwards, or opening outwards, from the central

axis of the body. Here, the S-curve line known as figura serpentina (also called figura

serpentinata), found in the work of Michelangelo, Mannerist art, or the various styles of

Art Nouveau, afforded a practical means for addressing this issue, particularly as it also

81

reflected the sinuous configuration of the projection screen. The use of the serpentine

figure in Living Lens, however, is not to portray an ideal of beauty as being twisted or

contorted, nor does it represent the body in bondage. Rather, the curving line evokes the

workings of nature, for example, the unfurling of a frond (Fig. 24) or the twisted features

of a weathered tree branch.

Fig. 24

An approach to figura serpentina: the image of unfurling fern fronds inspired the idea of the body twisting around itself in Living Lens.

In this way, attention can be drawn to fine details of the body in motion, such as the

contraction and expansion of sinews and muscles. Within the general serpentine approach

to bodyline, the performers were each given specific work areas. This allocation served a

dual function: as a means to elicit or enhance the movement material of each performer,

and given time restraints, a way to encompass the different facets of body movement I was

keen to explore.

82

4.2.2 Notion of idiosyncratic body

To create an installation work where the performing body comprises one element of the

whole, I was interested in exploring a sculptural sense of the body, in a dynamic rather

than static sense. Through a sculptural sensibility, the performer-inhabitants could create a

three-dimensional volume of space viewed from various angles. However, in developing

this sculpted notion of movement material, I did not wish to proceed from any specific

inventory of movements derived from the various styles in which the performers had

previously trained, for example, ballet, contemporary techniques or Chinese traditional

dance. Working from text-based and visual images, the concern here is how performers

produce movement from an exploratory inner sensing. Steinman (1986, p.14) refers to

‘idiosyncratic’ movement, where ‘each body speaks its own native language’ in order to

‘find one’s own movement sources within oneself’. Hence, the intent is not to deny

previous dance encodings but to access specific characteristics and experiences of the

individual performers. Margolis (1981) describes ‘idiosyncratic energies and habits’ as the

‘autographic’ of the individual body. The performer, influenced by training in a single

method or in various movement styles:

does not work simply with positions and movements, but with the naturally expressive use of positions and movements generated (not altogether consciously) by that person’s use of his own body through the accumulated grooming of a continuous life, and, imposed on, and altering, this natural and acquired expressiveness, individuated through an exclusively privileged experience within a single body. (Margolis, 1981, p.421)

In this project, there is no perceived dichotomy between ‘naturally expressive’ movements

and specific dance techniques. Rather, the idea is to explore idiosyncratic qualities of

movement ‘by exposing the hidden potential of the style, or by distinctively determining

“free areas” of the style’ (Sirridge and Armelagos, 1983, p.304). It is significant that all

four performers involved in the project are young choreographers starting out in their own

practice, and hence in the early stages of developing an individuated movement style. The

image-based approach is therefore explored in interaction with the performers’ own life

experiences and dance training – as a means to perhaps tease apart the layers of

‘accumulated grooming’ and therein discover new approaches to movement. I realise,

83

however, that there is an inherent paradox in seeking both a notion of the idiosyncratic

body and the releasing of accumulated habits and encodings. For the performer pursuing

her/his individual or idiosyncratic body, there is the definite risk of actually falling into

habitual movement patterns. Whilst this risk is acknowledged, the intention here, however,

is for performers to develop heightened awareness of various sensations within the body.

The image-based, metaphorical approach is seen as an important key to directly

experiencing movement sensations in the effort to ‘release a habit’s hold on movement, to

“allow” rather than “to make” the movement happen’ (Fraleigh, 2004b, p.169).

Accordingly, I have set up several parameters as a means to facilitate the specific

characteristics of the individual performers.

4.2.3 Parameters for exploring idiosyncratic movement

Body as “seismograph”

In regards to my own experience as a performer with several years training in butoh and

also the martial art, aikido, an ongoing interest is the idea of the body as a sensitive

resonator receiving and transmitting energies in connection with the exterior world.

Helping to catalyse this concern is a statement by Berghaus (2005) that artists in the early

twentieth century explored the performing body not only in terms of conveying narrative,

dramatic or intellectual concepts, but also as

…scenic elements with a visceral quality in their own right. Modernist directors discovered the actor’s physical means of expression and combined these with other scenic elements such as sound, lighting, costumes, stage sets, etc. For example, the Expressionists employed the body as a seismograph for psychic states and created extremely stylized, physically heightened renderings of mental processes that went far beyond conventional acting. (p.132)

The notion of seismograph holds particular appeal in terms of the body as an antenna

detecting and registering tiny vibrations, with movements of the body as a kind of

seismogram in space. The intention here, however, is not to attain a ‘psychic state’ as

such, nor is it a perception of body movement as the specific ‘rendering of mental

processes’. Rather, the metaphor of seismograph is seen as a baseline to develop a

84

heightened physical and mental awareness, with the body itself perceived as the source for

generating movement.

The body as seismograph was the allocated area of the performer, Elise May, who

explored this notion as the underlying characteristic of her movement material. A

workshop (Brisbane, February, 2006) that I undertook with butoh dancer, Yumiko

Yoshioka, provided practical exercises for experiencing a similar approach to the body,

several examples of which I subsequently shared with the Living Lens performers. Termed

‘Body Resonance’, Yoshioka describes her method as an interaction between the interior

of the body and the external environment, where the ‘world, including our body and soul,

consists of vibrational waves that create constant resonances like echoes. When we tune

our body to a certain frequency, we consequently get a resonance, and according to the

frequency, we get different resonances’ (Fraleigh and Nakamura, 2006, p.120). Through

one particular exercise Yoshioka calls ‘Fractals of Figure Eight’, a performer “tunes” in to

particular frequencies by firstly initiating momentum with a pulsation and then

subsequently allowing this impetus to move the body. This is a highly focused exercise

beginning with large alternating circles of the thoracic and pelvic girdles that gradually

decrease in size towards the central core of the body. This develops into a series of

accelerated yet increasingly miniscule oscillations, the body thus becoming a vibrating

tuning instrument, receiving and emanating waves of energy.

The idea of the resonating body became a specific focal point in a section of Living Lens

called “World of Neurology Ward”. This is a domain I adapted from the ‘Seven Worlds of

Butoh-fu’ by Yukio Waguri (1998) mentioned in the previous chapter. Here, the body is

described as a ‘gigantic kingdom of nerves’ with multiple references to the overlapping

and tracing of nerves throughout the body. There are allusions, for example, to the nerve-

like drawings and inkblots of the poet and artist, Henri Michaux, including a reference to

the flow of ink as a metaphor for outlining nerves through the body:

Michaux’s ink bottle crashes into your right forehead. The bottle cracks and ink spills into the inside parts of your body. Your nerves trace the spilled ink inside your body:

85

From the right temple through the right cheek and to the twitching side of the mouth and to the neck. The ink is now through your neck and out on your back. It then re-enters your back and comes out of your chest which then goes up your neck again. The nerve tracing the ink coming up your neck is suddenly severed. The nerves then become like roots pulled out of dirt. (Waguri, 1998)

These words provided one of the directives for Elise May’s explorations, the imagery of

flowing ink eliciting a fine, almost imperceptible tracing of movement through the body.

However, it was noted both by Elise and myself, that the collision in the imagery of the

first line, and sudden severing and uprooting of nerves in the last lines, created an

intriguing sense of shock or rupture. Hijikata (2000e) sheds light on such contradictory or

contrasting images, implying that while words may serve as ‘intermediaries’ to access

inner realms of the body, they can also be useful ‘obstacles’ that help prevent the

performer from falling into a superficial or trance-like exploration. In this way,

contradictory or paradoxical images alert the performer to the seductive potential of

words, and may also prevent her/his bodily responses from becoming merely reflexive or

habitual. Thus, in focusing on the body as a sensitive network of nerves, Hijikata seems to

point to the need for disruption, jolting the performer from inner modes of sensing to an

awareness of the body impacted by the external environment.

In creating the different worlds of Living Lens, “World of Neurology Ward” itself was

conceived as a rupture or jolt, contrasting to the fluid, overlapping transitions of the

previous sections. In response to Elise May’s feedback following the creative

development regarding the nature of her interaction with the motion sensor, it was decided

that she would work from an intuitive bodily response to the butoh-fu imagery,

improvising movements to discover what effects would emerge. (For documentation, see

DVD section “Movies” with link from “Living Lens” to “Final Performance”; from

start of movie, click fast forward button to 8’20”.) In this section, Elise wears the sensor in

a pocket on her upper back. Spasmodic movements of the spinal area between the

scapulae are mapped to three visual projection layers. Two of these layers represent the

idea of neural activity. One layer consists of a white pulse representing a synaptic signal,

86

the image flickering according to speed of movement. The second layer is a cube textured

with branching “nerve” fibres that expands or contracts with horizontal and vertical

movements of the performer. A third layer, representing the idea of seismogram, is an

oscillating waveform that fluctuates in response to horizontal movements. The relation

between body movement and the visual images is complex and so perhaps not easily

perceptible. The intention, however, was for an overall disturbed atmosphere where jerky

spasms of the body create almost subliminal alterations in the different textural layers of

the visual projections (Figs. 25-27) further accentuated by rhythmic and pulsating sound

effects.

Fig. 25

World of Neurology Ward. Motion sensor worn by Elise May (centre) is mapped to white pulse and spinning network of fibres.

87

Fig. 26 Movement of Elise May at centre is mapped to a fluctuating wave effect.

Fig. 27 Movement of Elise May (centre) is mapped to white wave effect.

88

Tactility and torsion

The focus on the body as a system of nerves was also the approach taken in developing the

existing movement material of the performer, Ko-Pei Lin. Here, the aim was to augment

material she had already created as the “Spider in Amber” character in the initial creative

development through a focus on kinesthetic and sculptural detail and texture. Ko-Pei’s

lithe build, together with her highly articulate hands and fingers as a result of her Chinese

dance training, meant she was very receptive to the focus on finely sculpted body

movements.

The notion of torsion, in this case, links to the notion of the serpentine figure with an

emphasis on minuscule twists and tensions in the neck, limbs, digits and joints. Tactility,

on the other hand, refers to the sense of touch, not only in terms of making actual contact

with a surface or the body of another performer, but also in the sense of invisible

connections between the body and the surrounding space. Here again, Waguri’s

transcriptions of Hijikata’s butoh-fu provided useful directives to explore the idea of

poetic felt space, with the extension and retraction of nerves as a means to facilitate both

tensions and counter-tensions in the body, as well as a heightened awareness of external

space. With this aim, I adapted excerpts from various sections of Waguri’s butoh-fu:

Your fingers are pinching small flower petals. The antennae stretching out of your fingertips infinitely trace the grains of wood on a door in front of you… You feel the very tip of the faraway nerves, You crack tiny whips on your fingertips… The nerves then withdraw into the body. (Waguri, 1998)

The imagery of nerves extending outwards from the fingertips to trace grains of wood,

provides a means for imagining invisible lines connecting the body to various points in the

surrounding space, while the imagery of pinching flower petals and the cracking of tiny

whips elicits finely-detailed, tensile movements of the fingers. An evocative mode for

sensing a connection to the projected imagery, the highly tactile tips of the fingers, are

perceived as antennae extending from the body to trace fine details of the images in

“World of Forest/Cave” (Fig. 28).

89

Fig. 28

World of Forest/Cave. Ko-Pei Lin (left), with “antenna-like” fingertips, moves through multi-layered images of lace-like skeleton leaves.

The idea of nerves extending and retracting through the body relates to the ‘graining’

method of Alwin Nikolais (Nikolais and Louis, 2005) mentioned in the previous chapter.

In this approach, the idea is to direct imaginary particles within the body towards a

particular focus point. This can either be from one part of the body to another, for

example, from the hip to the hand, or stream outwards from the body to points beyond.

The idea of streaming is also useful in terms of varying the density of particles, for

example, from compressed to dispersed, as a way to alter the quality of the direction flow.

These two notions – extension of nerves and particle flows – subsequently became a basis

for realising a more tangible relationship between body movement and visual images via

the motion sensor. In the section “World of Vortex”, Ko-Pei Lin wears the sensor on her

90

wrist, with an off-on option provided by rings worn on the index and middle fingers (Fig.

29).

Fig. 29

Ko-Pei Lin wearing motion sensor on wrist with on-off option rings.

When the two rings come into contact, Ko-Pei has control of two effects: a ripple effect,

and a white brushstroke effect that cuts a ribbon-like line through the watery blue visuals.

Both effects correspond to horizontal, vertical and rotating gestures of the wrist (Figs. 30

& 31). (For documentation, see DVD section “Movies” with link from “Living Lens” to

“Final Performance”; from start of movie, click fast forward button to 12’20”.)

91

Fig. 30

World of Vortex. Ko-Pei Lin with motion sensor ripple effect.

Fig. 31

Ko-Pei Lin with white brushstroke effect.

92

“Topography” of the body

The initial poetic inspiration for devising movement material with the performer, Richard

Causer, was an excerpt entitled “The Hand”, from Judith Wright’s poem, Flesh (Appendix

5). What emerged from explorations based on this text was the idea that the arms have

their own life, moving independently to the rest of the body. With the arms thus explored

in opposition to both the body and to each other, Richard’s torso took on interesting

contoured features that I came to regard as a kind of topography of the body. A geological

term, topography refers to the description, measurement and classification of the features

of a particular terrain. Thus, whilst the notion of topography is here meant in terms of the

body as a shifting “terrain”, it does not refer to any configuring or mapping of the body in

the scientific sense. An image serving to catalyse a topographic notion of the body is the

sculpture by Polish artist, Magdalena Abakanowicz, of a shell-like formation of the back

area of a headless torso (Fig. 32).

Fig. 32

‘Back’ by Magdalena Abakanowicz, 1976. The fissured, contoured surface contributed to the notion of ‘topography’ of the body.

93

The idea was to develop a deeper awareness of the spinal area of the body, for example,

on detailed movements of the scapular regions and muscles of the back. In this way,

bodily features were explored as a shifting topography or landscape, for example, craggy

contours that arise through various manipulations of the scapulae. Directives adapted from

Waguri’s butoh-fu included the idea of maintaining the body at different inclinations and

angles (Fig. 33), for example, using the image of a tree growing upright through the spine,

or a shrub with strong lateral tendency growing sideways from the chest. Imagery was also

used to stimulate small, microscopic movements, for example, the idea of the skin of the

back as the fissured bark of a tree filled with crawling insects:

A branch of a tree becomes a very straight nerve inside your body and grows out of it… A second branch grows at a different angle from inside your body and out of your chest. Showing the two branches at the same time means showing separate inclinations… The person becomes like barks of trees. Your back is full of insects. (Waguri, 1998)

Fig. 33

World of Chrysalis. Richard Causer: movement as “topography” of the body.

94

Exploration of the arms moving independently, together with the imagery of simultaneous

inclinations of the body, sparked an interest in the idea of ‘simultaneous dynamics’

(Humphrey, 1959) as a means to further develop topographic bodily features. In relation to

body movement, dynamics applies to motion such as momentum, force and energy, and

the interrelationships among the elements of space, time, weight and flow. The challenge

for Richard was to focus on different dynamics in the body simultaneously. Here, Laban’s

efforts and flow continuums (see Appendix 3) became a useful means to explore

variations of movement qualities in different parts of the body, for example, from short to

sustained, from bound to released and so forth. While such exercises may be useful for

generating diverse movement qualities, it is important to consider not only the external

features of the body, but the interconnection with the body’s invisible interior or its “sub-

terrain”. As Magdalena Abakanowicz states in regard to her sculpture:

The inside has the same importance as the outer shell. Each time shaped as a consequence of the interior, or exterior as a consequence of the inside. Only together do they form a whole. (Abakanowicz and Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, 1982, p.102)

Hence, it becomes possible to consider the idea of topographic body as the

interrelationship between the body’s exterior surface and its interior realms. This can be

understood in the literal, physical or visceral sense, yet also in a metaphorical sense of the

body perceived as a permeable container of ideas, experiences and memories. In this way,

the ‘idiosyncratic’ body - here Richard Causer and his specific dance training and life

experience - becomes an individual, dynamic topography unfolding in time.

Mutable forms: the body as “metaball”

For new participant, I-Pin Lin, it was my initial observation of a series of movement

sequences she created on the suggested theme of wind that drew me to viewing her

flexible, compact body as a kind of “metaball”. A computer graphics term for the

modelling of 3D objects, I was attracted to the clay-like transformations of simple ovoid

objects that appear to grow protuberances and develop into more complex forms. This

computer animation object thus reflects the

95

…ideas for curvaceous and organic forms that designers wanted to explore. It did so in the flexible, algorithm-based modeling programs originally designed for the special effects and animation industry, which encouraged dynamic curves and shape-shifting forms. (Holt et al., 2005, p.50)

In this way, the metaball object (Fig. 34) mirrors characteristics of the biomorphic process

of growth, change and development. An attribute of the metaball I find particularly

effective in relation to the performing body in space, is that objects have an attractive or

repulsive force attached: the attractive force impels the object to stretch outwards, while

the negative force creates an inner curvature or depression in the surface of the object.

Fig. 34

A simple example of expansion or growth in a metaball object

In terms of I-Pin Lin as a living human body, the metaball was a useful metaphor for the

growth and development of body movement, with expansion outwards and retraction

inwards as a means to work through various cycles of movement sequences. The notion of

attractive and negative forces thus provided a means for thinking how the performer might

react to invisible influences within the body itself and surrounding space, or to visible

presences, such as the projected imagery and other bodies in the installation space.

When conceiving the transforming human body through visual metaphors, I find a

connection between the fluid form of the computer graphics metaball and the

configurations of Henri Michaux’s inkblots (Fig. 35), which he states are

96

…all emerging from the human shape, perhaps missing legs or arms or torso, but nevertheless human by the inner dynamism – twisted, exploded – which I submit (or feel submitted) to torquings and stretchings, to expansions in every direction. (Michaux, 2000, p.34)

Fig. 35

Fluid forms: Henri Michaux, Untitled (Mouvements), 1950.

Michaux attributes the movement patterns of his anthropomorphic inkblots to an ‘inner

dynamism’, an observation that reflects the way movements and gestures of the human

performer outwardly express internal, invisible impulses. Nevertheless, it is also useful to

think of any ‘torquings and stretchings’ – in this case, of the human body - as reactions to

an external dynamic space. Here, the phenomenon of wind as studied by I-Pin Lin in her

preliminary movement studies, is one example of an imaginary external force acting upon

the body. With the mutable, changeable body thus conceived as responsive to both interior

97

and exterior impulses, I-Pin explored a series of movement cycles, each evolving from and

returning to the initial ovoid shape (Fig. 36).

Fig. 36

World of Chrysalis. I-Pin Lin: the body as ‘metaball’; movement “grows” from an initial ovoid shape and stretches outwards.

Whilst a mutable approach to body movement potentially generates a series of variable

movement sequences, there may, however, be a tendency towards amorphous rather than

well-defined or clear-cut postures of the body. In this way,

…bodily control goes the way of imagistic morphology, the metaphysics of becoming through metamorphosis, not arriving, but always in process of integration and dissolution. (Fraleigh, 2004b, p.29)

Fraleigh’s comment is particularly relevant to the idea of a dynamic sculptural sensibility

expressed earlier in this chapter. Accordingly, a sculptural perception of the body as

metaball may be understood as a cyclic process of emergence, development and decay,

rather than an arrival or termination at any final, definite form. Thus, the concept of

98

mutability further points to a potential structuring principle in conceiving and ordering of

movement sequences. Here, the notion of cluster is applied to both the temporal ordering

and permeable nature of individual units of movement. As adaptable parts within a whole,

they have the capacity to be linked in various ways or be embedded within other

movements.

4.3 Furthering the notion of clusters

4.3.1 Clusters as adaptable movement sequences

I arrived at the notion of cluster in the search for an alternative to the compositional

approach of phrase. In studio workshop with the performers, I worked either one-to-one

on their specific focus areas, or in task-based group sessions to develop possible material

for the different worlds of Living Lens. It was in the latter that I encouraged the idea of

creating movement clusters as contrasted to phrases, that is, each session did not

necessarily build on movement elicited in the preceding workshop. Rather, the performers

created brief clusters of movements in the vein of microdances, as mentioned in the

previous chapter. These were based on various poetic text fragments or through

explorations on the aforementioned focus areas.

The difference between the terms phrase and cluster was not merely perceived at a

semantic level, however, for there was an important practical reason. As the visual team

was at this time still in Japan, the performers and I initially worked on body movement

alone, with the gradual introduction of sound textures by Brisbane-based sound designer,

Luke Lickfold. Without the co-presence of all elements, it was neither feasible nor

desirable to create fully developed sequences of body movement. Hence, these clusters

became tentative, adaptable movement sketches that were later shaped at the venue in

relation to visuals and sound. It should be pointed out that my use of cluster in relation to

body movement differs to that of Adshead, who, writing from the perspective of dance

analysis, refers to clusters as groupings of various movement elements, for example,

spatial and dynamic qualities, the specific characteristics of different dance styles, and so

forth. In my use of the term, I was not forming any particular analysis of movement, nor

99

did I wish to classify elements within a particular movement sequence per se. Rather, it

was seen as a structuring device to which the performers applied their own choreographic

strategy, namely, each performer created three to four short sequences on a given working

area, which they then shared collectively through numbering and ordering into adaptable

configurations. While this connotation may be somewhat at variance to Adshead’s, when

she subsequently refers to the components of staging the dance (Adshead, 1988, p.21), it

becomes possible to extend the notion of cluster to visual and aural elements.

4.3.2 Image clusters: the “digital collage”

As mentioned in the two previous chapters, the visual source material for the XV3 image

processing system used in Living Lens comprises an image bank of still images: digitally

scanned hand-painted textures and slides containing plant fibres, as well as photographic

images of plant, insect and mineral textures. These images are animated through

algorithm-based effects or used to render surface textures onto 3D graphics objects. This

process of manipulation produces a ‘mixed image’ (Spielmann, 1999, p.134), in this case,

the transformation of static painting and photographic modes into dynamic computer-

enhanced imagery. Spielmann notes, however, that as images are processed in digital or

binary format, there is no actual transformation of one visual mode to another but rather

the simulation of transformation. She further points out that the complex layering of

images in digital processing produces a ‘spatial density’ or ‘cluster’ (p.139). In Living

Lens, for example, layered clusters of formerly discrete images appear to seamlessly

emerge and recede, giving the illusion of three-dimensionality on the projection surface.

Spielmann’s notion of image clusters thus enables an aesthetic consideration of the visual

imagery beyond descriptions of tools and effects. Specifically, her insights into the spatio-

temporal dimensions of digital images in motion through the principles of collage and

montage facilitate an understanding of the visual elements in Living Lens. As she states,

the collage - an approach emerging from painting and fine arts - is used spatially as a way

to break up the structure of a surface or to represent concepts of fragmentation and

simultaneity (p.138). Spatial organisation of the collage in terms of moving digital images,

100

however, occurs through high density or layering. Montage, as derived from cinematic

principles on the other hand, links fragmented elements both spatially and laterally within

a space-time continuum (p.139). Accordingly, it seems that in Living Lens, both the spatial

density of the collage and the connecting function of montage are displayed:

High density collage results from the insertion of many, many layers and comprises the components of montage in such ways that the two directional functions of the moving image – namely, to represent time and space – are transformed into another form of the image that expresses a spatially organized structure, such as collage clusters…The digital collage not only inherits the spatial structure of painterly collage, but it also encompasses the filmic montage. (Spielmann, 1999, p.139-140)

Thus, in seeking contrast within a fluid continuum – an aim stated at the outset to this

chapter - the pictorial structure of the Living Lens visual environment is here understood

as a type of ‘digital collage’ (Figs. 37 & 38).

Fig. 37

Digital collage: World of Cosmos/Nebula. Layers include moving spherical lens objects, organic plant fibres, hand-painted and photographic textures.

101

Fig. 38

Word of Forest/Cave, fluid transition to ice floes in World of Water/Ice. Elise May (left) and I-Pin Lin.

As a digital collage, distinctive aspects of selected images in Living Lens emerge through

the interplay of layers and transitions rather than as discrete spatial or linear combinations.

Through floating, fluid oscillations between surface textures and spatial depths, the

projected imagery seems to breathe, an illusion further amplified by the actual flow of air

through the screen panels. The resultant form is thus conceived as a luminous living

painting: clusters of digitally enhanced photographic and painterly colours and textures are

combined with a range of computer-generated objects and effects, creating an immersive

membrane-like structure for the performers to inhabit.

102

4.3.3 Sonic clusters: the spatial-acoustic “palette”

The idea of creating a soundscape of “breathing” sound textures was also the approach

used in the initial creative development of Living Lens. Here, streams of ascending and

descending waves of sound produced a rambling continuity that contributed to the overall

homogeneous mood of the installation. Although I found this approach evoked a

contemplative, almost ethereal atmosphere, I was seeking to highlight more distinctive

qualities and tensions in the different worlds of Living Lens.

Whilst the approach of living painting implies a predominantly visual mode, it is also

perceived in the spatial-acoustic sense of a tangible, ‘auditory geography’ (Rodaway,

1994). To this end, I devised a set of tasks that Luke Lickfold developed as a palette of

adaptable sonic clusters. Although visual and spatial metaphors were used to inspire these

sounds, they were not applied in a directly representational or synchronous sense. Rather,

the idea was to ambiguously or abstractly suggest various spaces and realms, for example,

a deep forest, the vault-like interior of a cave, the high-pressure depths under ice floes, or

inner realms of the body evoked through pulses or spasmodic “firings” of neurons in the

brain. (For sound samples of the different “worlds”, see DVD section “Sound Palette”.)

In this way, The Loft, as a venue with a high ceiling, was seen as a kind of resonating

chamber or sensorium, with diverse possibilities for the spatialisation of sound.

To further address ways of generating contrasting sounds in the installation, I suggested

that Luke set up both obvious and subtle indicators of change; for example, through an

abrupt change such as a plunge, or through gradual change, such as a murmur to a clangor.

It was also possible to indicate change as a presentiment or omen, for example, through

the sub-rumblings of low-frequency sounds. Here I was interested to discover that the use

of low-frequency sound also creates an illusion of proximity (Schafer, 1994), with the

potential for a more encompassing immersive sound quality:

…the longer wavelengths of low-frequency sounds have more carrying power…and as they are less influenced by diffraction, they are able to proceed around obstacles and fill space more completely. Localization of the sound source is more difficult with low-

103

frequency sounds, and music stressing such sounds is both darker in quality and more directionless in space. Instead of facing the sound source, the listener is immersed in it. (p.116)

Schafer here points to the potential for immersive, low frequency sounds to be used in

combination with more localised, directional sound sources. In Living Lens, this was

achieved by the separation - and therefore the localised spatialisation - of sound through

the quadraphonic speaker system. In the “World of Vortex”, for example, the effect of a

whirling mass was produced through the panning of sounds specifically created on the

vortex theme, creating the illusion of a force pulling into the center of the installation.

Interested in developing other directional aspects of sound, I visited the Japan-based

research laboratory of my ongoing collaborator, Dr. Junji Watanabe, a PRESTO

researcher at Japan Science and Technology Agency. Together with his assistant,

Tomohiro Yoshida, he introduced their current research-in-progress entitled ‘Moving

Ultrasonic Speaker’7 to the Living Lens installation (Fig. 39).

Fig. 39

Dr. Junji Watanabe preparing the ultrasonic speaker in a moving light housing.

7 MUS (Moving Ultrasonic Speaker) integrates an ultrasonic speaker (Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Co. Ltd., Japan: MSP-10MA) and moving light system (VisionLight Corporation Korea: MOVING PAR 201). MUS is being developed under the PRESTO Japan Science and Technology Agency residency program, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan. Living Lens was the pilot project for this device.

104

These speakers emit high-frequency sound in a focused beam, creating a kind of

ventriloquist effect: when the beam reflects off a particular surface, it sounds as though it

has originated from that position. (For sound samples used with the ultrasonic speakers,

see DVD section “Sound Palette” under “Ultrasonic Speaker Sound”.) The specific

innovation developed through the Living Lens collaboration was firstly, to install the

speakers in computerised moving light housings to enable control of beam direction; and

secondly, to trace the direction of a performer’s movement in space or the direction of a

visual image across the projection surface, via camera-tracking. Whilst this has ongoing

potential, what could be effectively achieved in this iteration was the combination of

sound sources and body movement. For example, in the section “World of Animal”, low

frequency sounds generated by the quadraphonic speakers produced a general drone,

against which high frequency synthesised sounds emitted by the moving speakers created

an eerie swooping effect. As the performers Richard Causer and I-Pin Lin leaped

vertically or across the space at alternate moments in time, the sound beams created the

illusion of low-flying bats moving in several directions through the space. (For

documentation, see DVD section “Movies” with link from “Living Lens” to “Final

Performance”; from start of movie, click fast forward button to 10’32”.)

To make further use of the spatial qualities afforded by the venue, I made the decision to

recycle the original soundtrack created for the first “Living Lens” fragment as part of

Patchwork in Motion. With vocals by Kim Hosugi and polyphonic arrangement by

Mitsuru Kotaki, this piece was inspired by the haunting, hypnotic effect of traditional

Bulgarian female chorale. An image that evoked the spatial qualities of polyphonic

singing was a photograph of the domed fresco of San Vitale, a Byzantine basilica in

Ravenna, Italy (see Fig. 40). In this way, the soundtrack became a means to generate

ambient resonances in the The Loft, reminiscent of a choir ‘heard in the cathedral, where

the singers’ voices waft through the space, filling it like incense’ (Schafer, 2001, p.61).

This sensation was enhanced by transmitting processed strands of the vocals into the upper

regions of The Loft via the ultrasonic speakers.

105

Fig. 40

The interior of San Vitale: the domed ceiling and painted lens-like fresco inspired the decision to recycle the original Living Lens soundtrack.

Thus, in contrast to earlier dark, dense sensations of forests, vaults, and inner realms, there

was a distinct release of tension in the final section, “World of Cosmos/Nebula”. Here, the

performers moved in fluid interaction with the gliding lens objects and richly textured,

emotive chorale. As the performers depart and the voices dissipate, there is a gradual

return to the opening sound and initial visual imagery of “World of Chrysalis”. In this

way, the closing of one cycle of “worlds within worlds” occurs through the inferred

emergence of a further cycle of transformations. (For documentation, see DVD section

“Movies” with link from “Living Lens” to “Final Performance”; from start of movie, click

fast forward button to 12’22”.)

106

4.3.4 Shaping clusters as relationships between body, visuals and sound

The shaping of the “worlds within worlds” scenario through the various clusters of body

movement, visuals and sound, took place on site with all creative participants during the

two-week period prior to the public presentation. Here, it was a matter of participants

inhabiting the space and refining the different elements, yet without feeling constrained by

what had already been created. In a number of instances, including “World of Neurology

Ward”, “World of Animal”, “World of Vortex” and “World of Cosmos/Nebula”, the

intention was to generate correlations between visual images and body movement via the

motion sensors, or between the ultrasonic sound beams and a performer’s movement

pathway. In these cases, technological devices facilitated the direct mapping of movement

to visuals, or between audio and movement.

In other sections, however, relationships were not directly connected or entirely

synchronous. Many sounds, for example, occurred as audible tensions or invisible

presences, with interpretation left ambiguous. In “World of Forest/Cave”, the sound

evokes various kinds of pressure-induced creaking, such as the rasping of trees in a forest

or the slow splintering of ice floes. The visual images, on the other hand, comprise

multiple layers of skeletonised leaf textures, emerging and receding on the projection

surface. Whilst hinting at organic forest life, the branching structure of the leaf veins could

equally evoke ligaments or nerves within the human body. Accordingly, there is an

inferred connection between the performer, Ko-Pei Lin, and the visual imagery through

the idea of nerves extending from her fingertips. With the scenario of worlds used as a

guiding template, shaping of the clusters emerged through open, reciprocal analogies

between the various elements.

This development occurred through dialogue between the participants, as well as by

observing and listening to what was emerging collectively in the space. As Luke Lickfold

states in relation to sound, his particular method was to

…find a goal, an emotional or conceptual destination inspired by the dance or visuals in any particular scene, and then use whatever sounds, processing and spatialisation to

107

achieve this goal… most of the time there was an evolving, organic background layer to the sound, with elements forming and dissolving in the foreground as punctuation, often synchronised with significant moments in the movement and visuals. (E-mail correspondence, October 20, 2006)

As Luke states here, development also involved finding points of connection, for example,

to signal an abrupt change at the start of “World of Neurology Ward”, a precise timing cue

synchronised visual image, lighting and sound to body movement. As the audio and visual

desks were located on opposite sides of the screen, headsets and camera monitoring were

crucial to communication and visibility. The process for the performers, on the other hand,

involved puzzling out the temporal and spatial sequencing of movement clusters on either

side of the screen, finding gaps that enabled new movements and transitions to emerge.

Hence, connections between body, visuals and sound were primarily malleable and

porous: while the qualities of each inflected one other, this did not always occur through

direct synchronisation.

4.4 Feedback

4.4.1 Participant Feedback

In post-production discussion with the performers (September 4, 2006) several interesting

points emerged. In regard to the cluster approach, Ko-Pei Lin, Richard Causer and I-Pin

Lin initially found it both frustrating and fearful to create sequences of movement without

being sure how they would eventually slot together; particularly as their own dance

composition method involved a more stable progression of consecutive phrases. In

retrospect, however, I-Pin found that her explorations based on the metaball body

connected to the cluster approach, specifically in the way this allowed for multiple

linkages and diverse transition possibilities. She further stated that my method of

integrating transitions between different sections of the “Worlds” provided an interesting

alternative to the tendency for demarcation through blackouts, noting that this approach

has helped her own emerging choreographic practice. Elise May, on the other hand, found

the clusters provided a little “pouch” of movements that together with her focal area of

108

body as seismogram, provided an underlying reservoir of movement material and energies

she could draw upon during the performance.

In using images and language as a basis for movement explorations, Elise May found that

she started composing her own butoh-fu as a means to understand the different sensations

in the body. Ko-Pei Lin, however, found that repeatedly working on imagery through the

focus on tactility and torsion, created certain residues or ‘body memories’ that were later

reactivated in the live performance. Richard Causer, on the other hand, found that working

through imagery with emphasis on the topography of the body, facilitated a deeper

sensitivity and vulnerability of the head and spinal areas. He noted that spastic, painful-

looking ‘grotesqueries’ of movement not normally associated with being human, induced

various emotional qualities that he wanted to convey to the viewers through his body. In

addition, he found that in order to ‘stand out’ from the visual projections, he became a

kind of conduit ‘pulling’ the projected visual textures into three-dimensional space, the

tensions provided by the different sounds serving to activate or heighten sensations and

emotions through the body.

With regard to the visuals, Tetsutoshi Tabata (e-mail correspondence, September 20)

made an intriguing observation: whilst greater detail and density may have facilitated a

deeper involvement of the viewer in the visual environment, this very complexity may

have obscured the relationship between performers and the images via the sensor devices.

In respect to the latter, Ko-Pei Lin found a coherent relationship between her wrist

movement and the painterly brushstroke effect, which she felt influenced the quality of her

movement. Elise May, on the other hand, was not sure whether to improvise freely with

visual effects responding to her movements in an ad hoc manner, or whether to develop a

specific set of choreographed movements to generate predetermined visual

representations. Here Elise May points to possible future directions of the work, outlined

in the following chapter.

Regarding the interactive properties of the moving speaker devices, Junji Watanabe (e-

mail correspondence, October 15) suggested the projected sound beams contributed to an

109

overall enlivening effect rather than a specifically integrated relationship with performer

movement or visual images, speculating that viewer attention may have been attracted to

the dynamic presence of the sound beams. Luke Lickfold, for his part, found the moving

speakers created a unique ability to ‘throw’ sound, a capacity warranting further

experimentation to explore spatialisation possibilities in conjunction with surround sound

systems. In addition, he felt that given extra time and resources, an extended improvisation

process could enable further discovery of how different elements interact, whilst allowing

for more variable configurations in Living Lens.

4.4.2 Peer feedback

Feedback from peers was elicited through an e-mail questionnaire devised by Cheryl

Stock, director of the Accented Body project (Brisbane Festival, July 15-17, 2006) in

which Living Lens comprised one of six site teams. Accordingly, several of the responses

given here refer in general to Accented Body, while others refer specifically to Living

Lens. Apart from Mary Ann Hunter, a reviewer for RealTime magazine, names of people I

cite here have been withheld for confidentiality reasons.

It appears that when using interactive technologies in live performance, many viewers

expect to be able to recognise the relationship. Feedback on the technological aspects of

Accented Body from a viewer described as a National Executive Arts Officer (August 21,

2006) stated that although these aspects were ‘intriguing and beautiful’, this person ‘was

not always sure of their relationship to what I was seeing in the ‘real’ bodies’. This

sentiment was echoed by a person described as a Senior Arts Officer, who stated that the

…subtlety of many of the connections made it difficult or even impossible for the audience to read, thus depriving the audience of the enjoyment of discovering many of the connections or understanding the nature of the interactivity. (Name withheld, August 3, 2006)

These comments reflect the importance for some viewers to “get” any interactive elements

of an artwork, for example, how a performer’s movements are mapped to sound and/or

visual representations; how sounds are mapped to visual elements and vice versa; or, in

110

the case of a distributed performance or installation, how communication is exchanged

between different sites. If these relationships are not readily perceptible, feelings of

dissatisfaction or frustration may ensue. The question thus arises for artists and others

developing interactive technologies, as to whether issues of complexity or ‘subtlety’,

rather than transparency or coherence, are of central interest in a work. Yet the ‘nature of

the interactivity’ referred to by the Senior Arts Officer, need not only be understood in

terms of technological relationships, but also as mutual influences and interactions

between people and the specific creative environment. This idea reflects Kaiser’s notion of

‘shared sensibility’ (outlined on p.38) in reference to work developed collaboratively. On

this point, it is interesting to note the comment of one viewer, described as a Legal

Professional/Musician, who expresses the experience of the Living Lens installation in

terms of ‘the constantly interacting elements of the dance studio

(sound/lighting/dance/props) playing both sides of the room simultaneously’ (name

withheld, August 18, 2006). From this person’s perspective, therefore, the perceived

nature of the interaction was the involvement of all elements rather than of the

technological aspects per se. Nevertheless, for artists working with digital media, the need

for perceptually plausible connections between the dancer and the virtual components

remains a crucial issue that both Kaiser and Troika Ranch have highlighted in relation to

their work (please see p.39 and p.42 respectively). On this point it is interesting to note the

response of RealTime reviewer Mary Anne Hunter that Living Lens

…had the alternate effect of vortexing the mind to an indoor fixed screen which overwhelmed the bodies of the dancers whose attached motion sensors were directing the projected forms. (2006, p.10)

The feeling here is that all performers were directing the visual elements via the sensors,

with the subsequent effects engulfing both viewers and performers. The fact only two of

the dancers used the motion sensors intermittently seemed unclear, an indication that

relationships were perceptually incoherent. In addition, Hunter’s comments reflect the

sensations she felt as she moved through the installation: the visual projections quite

powerfully captured her attention, yet in so doing they also took predominance over the

performers.

111

4.4.3 Personal Observations As one of the purported aims of this study was to shift the perceived dominance of visual

elements in motion, it is clear that the work Living Lens only partially succeeded in

addressing this imbalance. The large screen object that formed the central locus of

mediation was a compelling theatrical device that apparently claimed the greater share of

attention focus. Yet it would seem that a call for interdependencies between performing

bodies, visuals and sound implies an equal weighting. From this particular study, however,

it emerged that this was not the case. Rather what occurred was an installation

environment where the main perceptual domain was a visual one, enhanced by kinesthetic

and sonic strands. Apart from kinesthetic properties of the body, performers also added

dynamic sculptural qualities to the piece, and in this light can be seen as further

contributing to the visual dimension. In regards to sonic weighting, I find Junji

Watanabe’s comment (p.108) on the overall enlivening effect of the moving speaker

devices, to be an apt description of the soundscape in its entirety; the use of spatial and

directional sound in Living Lens served to actualise the notion of worlds within worlds

through shifts in texture, mood and tempo.

These changes in moods facilitated variety and contrast in the piece, and in this way, the

second iteration of Living Lens did succeed in breaking through the perceived

homogeneity of the first creative development. However, as the aim was also for an

integrated relationship among the elements, a focus on distinctive qualities of the dancers

meant that whilst at times they appeared to merge with the visual environment, at others

moments they appeared distinctly at counterpoint to the projection screen. Here, the

emphasis on the distorted aspects of movement inspired by butoh may have contributed to

a ruptured sense of space where the quality of interconnection was not always fluid. Seen

in this light, it becomes evident that the desire for rupture or breaks in the flow of the

continuum, to some extent also countered the aims for a more integrative structure. The

perception of performers as inhabitants of the installation space, moreover, infers a

seamless, sheltered relationship. In this respect too, the work only partially fulfilled its

aim, for if temporal sequencing is to involve aspects of rupture, a more unsettled and

uncanny sense of space is implied.

112

4.5 Summary

In the final iteration of Living Lens, the “worlds within worlds” scenario was a means to

facilitate contrast in a predominantly fluid continuum and to focus on both distinctive and

integrative aspects of bodily, visual and sonic elements. In terms of the body, this occurred

through designating individual work areas to each of the performers, as well as through

the creation of adaptable movement clusters. The notion of cluster was further extended to

include visual and aural elements, specifically through image clusters as a digital collage,

and sonic clusters as a palette of spatialised sounds. Whilst at times the use of

technological devices enhanced connections, interdependencies occurred primarily as a

result of the elements inflecting one another, rather than through the direct integration or

synchronisation of performing bodies, visual images and sound. Thus, whilst the analogy

of “living painting” facilitated a poetic felt space of sensuous textures, the pictorial nature

of the focus resulted in the visual dimension remaining predominant in the work.

113

CHAPTER 5: FURTHER DISTILLATION

…What the twittering-tree could be attributed to was the zone of indiscernibility – the affectivity and quivering – that passed between, indeed twittered between both trees and birds, which as such belonged to neither yet made both become musical being…The real subject was the coming about of this becoming, it was the performance of the process of composition. (Lomax, 2005, p.22)

5.1 Contributions to the field Living Lens is both a title to the work and a means for positioning the researcher as a

participant-observer, directing and articulating the encounter. In this way, the study itself

was a lens, augmenting my perspective as a practitioner through a focused and filtered

view that attempted to get closer to the lived experience of the creative act. Distillations of

this process occurred throughout the various phases of this exegesis, and, as asserted in the

Research Design chapter (see p.22), it is the translation of these experiences that I believe

constitutes a knowledge claim in its own right. To further clarify this process of

distillation, the study contributes to the area of existing practice and field of practice-led

research under the following headings.

5.1.2 Conceptual and performative contributions

Interdependencies as mutual influences

As pointed out in the last chapter, I believe the study made partial progress towards its

aims for achieving a more balanced relationship of elements in an integrative

compositional structure, the digital media serving to enhance tangible connections

between aural, visual and kinesthetic senses. Whilst visual elements remained the

prevailing feature in the final performance, the study on the whole highlighted the nature

of interdependencies between the collaborative participants themselves as well as between

the participants and the technological systems; relationships that were indeed subject to

mutual influence. The study also considered the specific nature and affective qualities of

each, facilitated by a compositional structure that, whilst not fully succeeding in

114

integrating the components in the live performance, did nevertheless establish a shared

and integrative basis for collaboration.

Context of living painting

In addition to providing a further basis for a collaborative framework, the concept of

living painting was an effective means for contextualising the performance within this

exegesis. On a formal level, Living Lens displayed painterly characteristics through the

varied oscillating textures on the screen surface, whilst the double-sided curvilinear screen

installed in the centre of the space provided an in-the-round performance environment.

Consequently, the work moved beyond a conception of the moving image as a scenic

backdrop, an approach typified by more conventional fourth-wall theatrical approaches.

The undulating configuration of the screen reflected the idea of “stream” through which

the various worlds unfolded, hence the work successfully achieved a sculptural and

flowing sense of space that allowed interaction to occur between the performers, screen

and audience. The approach also integrated principles of living painting into a dance

context, the segmented screen allowing the performers to slip through and around the

“painting” environment. The performers’ close proximity to the screen, for example,

created bas-relief effects where projected visual textures became part of their bodies and

vice versa. When positioned at a distance to the screen, however, their bodies took on

tactile dimensions through sculptural and kinesthetic details that were further enhanced by

lighting. As an immersive performance installation, I believe this study contributes to the

chronological lineage of living painting contexts, adapting and extending this genre into a

contemporary and interactive arts setting.

Adaptable kinetic pathways Within the field of contemporary dance and choreographic practice, the use of butoh-

inspired poetic imagery offered a valuable contribution in terms of breaking habitual

kinetic pathways, allowing new approaches to the discovery and development of

movement material. Here too, there was a shared sensibility to the collaborative encounter,

115

where the image-based approach of butoh-fu, with its particular focus on minute

movements and sensations in the body, was explored in tandem with task-based

manipulation methods and structural approaches of contemporary dance-making. The

feedback of the dancers themselves in response to both stages of the development (given

on pp.71-72 and pp.107-108) highlights the effect the work has had on their own creative

processes in terms of adding further strands to their dance and choreographic practices. In

addition to generating new ways of creating movement, the cluster approach contributed

further compositional strategies. In contrast to fixed linear sequences, the idea of creating

“pockets” of adaptable movement material provide a useful resource for dancers,

particularly in works that are of a more improvisational nature.

Poetic felt space

In the shared effort to develop a compositional structure involving performing bodies,

moving images and sound, the notion of poetic felt space provided a useful means of

conceptualising this relationship. Distilled through the creative and reflective process, it

also facilitated the performative process in a practical sense. The focus on sensory

qualities including texture, colour, vibrations and radiating energies, created an ambience

of layered and porous physical and virtual “skins”: the skins of the projected visual

textures on the screen, the auditory membranes of sounds and the physical skins of the

performers’ bodies as conduits of their own bodily sensations. I find, however, that the

interconnection of these permeable skins in the installation space points to a ‘zone of

indiscernibility’ (Lomax, 2005) that cannot be completely captured or articulated. Thus,

while I consider that a focus of this study has been towards a tangibility of immersive

space, alertness to the non-tangible dimension or in-between space is as important to an

understanding of the interconnections between people and elements in a mediated

performance environment.

116

5.1.3 Technological innovations

In terms of tangible outcomes, the study resulted in the development of technological

instruments, namely, the XV3 imaging system and the Moving Ultrasonic Speaker system.

The technological approach, sliding towards the parameters of Design or Applied

Research, involved predetermined as well as emergent objectives; for example, in terms of

XV3, the creation of specific algorithms, 3D objects and textures with the capacity to

become responsive to performers’ movements and gestures. In case of the Moving

Ultrasonic Speaker (MUS) system, Living Lens provided a pilot project to solve particular

issues, specifically direction control through the modification of moving light housings,

and the location of performers’ spatial positioning through camera tracking. Thus new

visual and sound possibilities emerged through applications of the imaging and sonic

instruments, specifically developed in response to the needs of practice.

5.1.4 Contributions to methodology

Personalised position: the practitioner voice

As practice-led, performative research, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of

the way creative practitioners make sense of things, for example, in the borrowing of

theoretical concepts and/or the coining of new ones as tentative or more firmly positioned

markers to expand artistic ideas and articulate the encounter with the work. Here, the

study in its entirety, including performance outcomes and exegetical component, makes a

strong case for presenting a personalised position within a contemporary arts context.

Whilst an approach that acts from a premise of intuitive felt experience may not follow

current modes of thinking on performance making in terms of a social or political critique

or a questioning of issues such as identity or gender, it does, however, provide a solid in-

depth view of the inner workings of collaborative creative practice. In this way, the study

contributes to current literature of the field from the experiential domain of the practitioner

voice.

117

The metaphor of lens

In understanding the nature of an interdisciplinary collaboration, the metaphor of lens in

its function of interpretive device and organising principle, offers a practical means that

could be adopted, adapted or applied tangentially by other creative practitioners. The

detailing of different focal aspects of the study resulted in an experimental laboratory-like

atmosphere, adding a further dimension to the notion of immersive space as a shared,

focused activity with all participants contributing to the process of research and creation.

In this way, the particular lenses adopted as focusing mechanisms on the performing body,

visual images and sonic elements could have wider or transferable application beyond the

specifics of the project itself. Consequently, the final iteration of the project has led to the

identification of the following action-possibilities and areas for further research.

5.2 Future directions

5.2.1 Technological focal areas The study elicits further possible focal areas in terms of technologically assisted

interdependencies. With regard to sonic dimensions, Dr Junji Watanabe (e-mail

correspondence October 15, 2006), points to the possibility of developing the Moving

Ultrasonic Speaker (MUS) system as a way to reflect sound from a performer’s body as a

form of “voice”. He suggests that if a performer wears a small microphone, vibrations or

frequencies directed to the microphone from the speaker may enhance the illusion that

sounds are emanating from the performer. Actual vocal possibilities could also be

explored as the MUS sound could be combined with a performer’s own voice, potentially

generating new polyphonic structures.

In terms of more tactile sensory connections between the performer and visual media,

further development of the XV3 imaging system could involve the added feature of a

“texture generator”. Here, for example, the brushstroke effect (mentioned previously in

Chapters 3 and 4) could include a capacity for various textures to be painted onto the

surfaces or “skins” of 3D objects in response to performer movement. Further study could

118

more deeply address the concern of dancer/choreographer Elise May, namely, when

working with interactive devices whether to a) choreograph movement to engender

particular effects, or b) improvise movement to see what effects emerge. In such a

scenario, the performer is not simply the control component of the interactive environment

but is also subject to its influence. Two focal areas could address these concerns. Firstly,

the issue of control: at what point the dancer’s movement or positioning becomes

subservient to the effects of the media or vice versa. Secondly, the issue of perceptual

coherence: how relationships between the dancer and the audio-visual media become

perceptible or plausible to the viewer. The setting up of clear parameters for mutual

influence, with possibilities for the performer to affect the media environment and vice

versa, thus locates the performing body in new kinds of spatial and time-based generative

or “living” landscapes.

5.2.2 Adaptable clusters

The non-linear spatio-temporal approach of clustering was a useful compositional strategy

that emerged through this study. The adaptable nature of clustering has potential for

further exploration and adaptations. A future installation approach, open to variability,

might consider what would govern change. For example, whether change is motivated

internally from within the collaborative structure, or whether it occurs in response to

external stimuli, such as audience positioning and movement pathways. Opening up more

varied performative and viewing dimensions could involve a multi-chambered enclosure

that further reiterates the idea of “worlds within worlds” as separate yet connected

clusters. There is potential here to explore a more overlapping and rhizomatic immersive

experience as a web of interconnected spaces that could be entered from different points.

Alternatively, the installation could shift from an enclosed space to the more exposed

situation of public space, open to random presences of passers-by. In this way too, there is

potential for spontaneous, unexpected moments to emerge.

119

5.2.1 Embodied visualisation processes

In terms of adaptable and variable approaches to creating movement material, further

investigation of embodied visualisation processes could examine other methods that use

poetic texts and pictorial images as a means of finding movement sources from within the

body or to break habitual movement pathways. A possible study might examine the

differences and connections of butoh-inspired approaches to somatic movement methods

(such as those related to or derived from Ideokinesis, Skinner Releasing or Authentic

Movement) that also employ image-based approaches. Alternatively, future work could

further investigate the way dancers and performers incorporate these image-based

methods, beyond workshop training to applications in live performance. Here embodied

perceptual practices (Riley, 2004) could examine working methods for a multilayered

approach drawing upon memories, bodily sensations and feelings, in interaction with other

performers and digital interactive media. Adapting the methods that emerged through this

particular study can thus be refined to create a range of possible tools for choreographic

development and movement pathways.

5.3 Summary Working from the premise of an experiential and emergent framework, Living Lens

focused attention on the interconnection of performers, moving images and sound, where

the development of compositional templates contributed to a shared basis for

collaboration. Whilst the final live performance only partially resolved its aims for shifting

visual dominance and fluidly integrating the elements, the study produced tangible

contributions by way of technological devices and performance methodologies, while also

contributing to the lineage of painterly practices within a contemporary arts setting. In

making a strong case for the personalised perspective of the practitioner voice, direct

insights were also gained into the nature of collaborative practice within the context of

mediated performance environments.

120

REFERENCES Abakanowicz, M., and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. 1982. Magdalena Abakanowicz:

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, New York: Abbeville Press. Adshead, J. 1988. Describing the components of the dance. In Dance Analysis: Theory and

Practice, ed. J. Adshead. 21-40. London: Dance Books Ltd. Ani, M. 1994. Yurugu: An African-centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and

Behavior, Trenton: African World Press, Inc. Annunziato, M., I. Tirelli and P. Pierucci. 2002. Sensitive Painting.

http://www.plancton.com/papers/senspaint.pdf (accessed June 15, 2006). Arnheim, R. 1972. Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye, Berkeley:

University of California Press. Auslander, P. 1999. Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture, London: Routledge. Bachelard, G., and M. Jolas. 1994. The Poetics of Space, Boston: Beacon Press. Berghaus, G. 2005. Avant-garde Performance: Live Events and Electronic Technologies,

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Birringer, J. 2003. Dance and Interactivity. Dance Research Journal, 35: 88-111. Birringer, J. H. 1998. Media & Performance: Along the Border, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins

University Press. Bohm, D. 1994. Thought as a System, London: Routledge. Broadhurst, S. 2007. Digital Practices: Aesthetic and Neuroesthetic Approaches to Performance

and Technology. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Bunning, C. 1994. Action research: an emerging paradigm. In The Tertiary Education Institute,

ed. O. Zuber-Skerrit. Brisbane: The University of Queensland. Causey, M. 1999. The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of

Technology. Theatre Journal, 51: 383-394. Company in Space. 1999. Escape Velocity. [New media performance] Company in Space. 2002. The Light Room. [New media performance installation] Concise Oxford English Dictionary. 2004. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Coniglio, M. 1989. MidiDancer. [Wireless motion sensing system] Copeland, R. 2004. Merce Cunningham: The Modernizing of Modern Dance. New York and

London: Routledge. Crary, J. 1999. Suspensions of Perception: Attention, Spectacle, and Modern Culture. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Cubitt, S. 1998. Digital Aesthetics, London: Sage Publications. Cunningham, M., Ashkar, S. and Kaiser, P. 1999. Biped. [Dance and technology] Dinkla, S. 2002. Towards a Rhetoric and Didactics of Digital Dance. In Dance and Technology:

Moving Towards Media Productions, eds. S. Dinkla and M. Leeker. 14-28. Berlin: Alexander Verlag.

dumb type. 1997. pH. [Multimedia performance] dumb type. 1997. OR. [Multimedia performance] Dunlop-Preston, V. 1980. A Handbook for Dance in Education, London: Longman. Fraleigh, S., and T. Nakamura. 2006. Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo, New York: Routledge. Fraleigh, S. H. 2004. Dancing Identity: Metaphysics in Motion, Pittsburgh: University of

Pittsburgh Press.

121

Freed, H. 1974. Art Herstory. [Video art] Gendlin, E. 1997. Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning: A Philosophical Approach to the

Subjective, Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Gendlin, E. 2000. Thinking Beyond Patterns: Body, Language, and Situations. University of

Chicago. http://www.focusing.org/tbp.html (accessed May 9, 2006).

Gilbert and George. 1969. Under the Arches. [Performance art] Goda, N. 1989. On Ankoku Buto. In Ankoku Buto: The Pre-modern Influences on the Dance of

Utter Darkness, ed. S. B. Klein. 79-88. Ithaca: Cornell University East Asia Program. Grau, O. 2003. Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion, Cambridge Mass.: The MIT Press. Greenaway, P., Sainsbury, P., Kasander, K. and The British Film Institute. A Zed and Two

Noughts. 1985. USA: WinStar TV and Video. [Videorecording: DVD] Haseman, B. 2006. A Manifesto for Performative Research. Media International Australia

Incorporating Culture and Policy, Practice-led Research, 118:98-106. Hijikata, T. 2000b. Plucking off the Darkness of the Flesh. The Drama Review, 44: 49-55. Hijikata, T. 2000e. Fragments of Glass: A Conversation between Hijikata Tatsumi and Suzuki

Tadashi. The Drama Review, 44: 62-70. Holt, S., and M. H. Skov. 2005. Blobjects & Beyond: The New Fluidity in Design, San Francisco:

Chronicle Books. Humphrey, D. 1959. The Art of Making Dances, New York: Grove Press, Inc. Hunter, M. A. 2006. The body transported and transformed. RealTime. October-November, 75:10. Jay, M. 1994. Downcast Eyes: The Denigration of Vision in Twentieth-Century French Thought,

Berkeley: University of California Press. Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space, Oxford: Blackwell. Linden Lab. (2003). Second Life. [Internet-based virtual world] http://secondlife.com (accessed January 25, 2007). Linfert, C. 2003. Bosch, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Lomax, Y. 2005. Sounding the Event: Escapades in Dialogue and Matters of Art, Nature and

Time. London: I.B. Tauris and Co. Ltd. Margolis, J. 1981. The Autographic Nature of the Dance. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art

Criticism, 39: 419-427. McCarthy, P. 1970-1975. Black and White Tapes. [Video performance] McKechnie, S. 2005. Dancing Memes, Minds and Designs. In Thinking in Four Dimensions, eds.

R. Grove, C. Stevens and S. McKechnie. 81-94. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Michaux, H. 2000. Emergences-resurgences, Milan and London: Skira Editore and Thames and

Hudson. Nikolais, A., and M. Louis. 2005. The Nikolais/Louis Technique: A Philosophy and Method of

Modern Dance Including the Unique Gesture, New York: Routledge. Peucker, B. 2003. Filmic Tableau Vivant: Vermeer, Intermediality, and the Real. In Rites of

Realism: Essays on Corporeal Cinema, ed. I. Margulies. 294-314. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Pps Danse. 2000. Pôles. [Multimedia dance] Richardson, L. 2000. Writing: A Method of Inquiry. In The Handbook of Qualitative Research,

Second Edition, eds. N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln, Y. S. 294-314. California: Thousand Oaks.

122

Riley, S.R. 2004. Embodied Perceptual Practices: Towards an Embrained and Embodied Model of Mind for Use in Actor Training and Rehearsal. Theatre Topics. 14 (2): 445-471. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_topics/v014/14.2riley.html (accessed September 20, 2007).

Rodaway, P. 1994. Sensuous Geographies: Body, Sense, and Place, London: Routledge. Rosenberg, T. 2000. Reservoir: Towards a Poetic Model of Research in Design.

http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/research/papers/wpades/vol11/rosenberg2.html (accessed April 13, 2004).

Rovan, J. B., R. Wechsler and F. Weiss. 2001. Seine hohle Form: Artistic Collaboration in an Interactive Dance and Music Performance Environment. Crossings: eJournal of Art and Technology.1(2). http://crossings.tcd.ie/issues/1.2/Rovan/ (accessed August 15, 2004).

Rubidge, S. and MacDonald, A. 2003. Sensuous Geographies. [Interactive installation] Sabatine, J. 1995. Movement Training for the Stage and Screen: The Organic Connection

Between Mind, Spirit, and Body, New York: Back Stage Books. Saggini, V. 2002. Mapping Human Gesture into Electronic Media: An Interview with Mark

Coniglio of Troika Ranch. Theremin Vox: Art, Technology and Gesture. http://www.thereminvox.com/article/articleprint/24/-1/3/ (accessed: November 10, 2007).

Saltz, D. Z. 2001. Live Media: Interactive Technology and Theatre. Theatre Topics, 11(2): 107-130. http://muse.uq.edu.au.gateway.library.qut.edu.au/journal/theatre_topics/v011/11.2saltz.html (accessed August 14, 2004).

Schafer, R. M. 1994. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World, Rochester: Destiny Books.

Schafer, R. M. 2001. Music and the Soundscape. In The Book of Music and Nature, eds. D. Rothenberg and M. Ulvaeus. 58-68. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.

Schlemmer, O. 1922. Triadic Ballet. [Modern dance theatre] Schlemmer, O. 1996. Man and Art Figure. In The Theater of the Bauhaus, eds. W. Gropius & A.

S. Wensinger. 17-46. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Schneemann, C. 1964. Meat Joy. [Performance art] Scrivener, S. 2000. Reflection in and on Action and Practice in Creative Production Doctoral

Projects in Art and Design: The Foundations of Practice-Based Research. Research into Practice Conference. University of Hertsfordshire. http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes1/research/papers/wpades/vol1/scrivener2.html (accessed October 6, 2006).

Shikata, Y. 2000. White-out: Dumb Type's Image Machine. ART Asia Pacific, 27: 40-45. Sirridge, M., and A. Armelagos. 1983. The Role of "Natural Expressiveness" in Explaining

Dance. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 41: 301-307. Sky, H. 2005. Choreography for the 21st Century. Dance Forum, Winter: 11-12. Sky, H. 2006, August 23 Question regarding "poetics of technology". [E-mail to Verdaasdonk, M.

(m.verdaasdonk@qut.edu.au)] Spielmann, Y. 1999. Aesthetic Features in Digital Imaging: Collage and Morph. Wide Angle,

21:131-148. Steinman, L. 1986. The Knowing Body: Elements of Contemporary Performance and Dance,

Boston: Shambhala.

123

Strati, A. 2000. Theory and Method in Organizational Studies: Paradigms and Choices, London: Sage Publications.

Takemitsu, T., Y. Kakudo and G. Glasow. 1995. Confronting Silence: Selected Writings, Berkeley: Fallen Leaf Press.

The Builders Association. 2005. Super Vision. [Multimedia performance] Troika Ranch. 2006. 16 [R]evolutions. [Dance and technology] Troika Ranch. n.d. Troika Ranch: Performance, Installation and Film. http://troikaranch.org

(accessed: October 5, 2007). Vella, R. 2005. Keeping the degree creative. RealTime Arts. August-September, 68. Verdaasdonk, M. A. (2005) Patchwork in Motion: A practice-led project investigating the shifting

relationships and processes associated with the performing body in interactive and non-interactive visual environments. Leonardo Electronic Almanac, 13(11). http://wwwmitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/LEA2004/ez.features3.htm (accessed March 14, 2006).

Viola, B., and R. Violette. 1995. Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House: Writings 1973-1994, Cambridge: The MIT Press and Anthony d'Offay Gallery.

Viola, B. 2002. Emergence. [Video installation] Waguri, Y. 1998. Butoh Kaden. Kohzensha / Justsystem.[CD-ROM] Weems, M. and Kaye, N. 2005. Super Vision Interview. Performing Presence: From the Live to

the Simulated: The Presence Project. http://presence.stanford.edu:3455/Collaboratory/831 (accessed: November 1, 2007)

Wright, J. 1974. Collected Poems 1942-1970, Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Wright, J. 1994. Collected Poems 1942-1985, Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Zimmerman, E. 2003. Play as Research. In Design Research: Methods and Perspectives, ed. B.

Laurel. 118-128. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.

124

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abakanowicz, M. and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. 1982. Magdalena Abakanowicz:

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, New York: Abbeville Press. Adshead, J. 1988. Describing the components of the dance. In Dance Analysis: Theory and

Practice, ed. J. Adshead. 21-40. London: Dance Books Ltd. Adshead, J. (1998). Dance Analysis: Theory and Practice, London: Dance Books Ltd. Alpers, S. 1989. The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century, London: Penguin

Books. Ani, M. 1994. Yurugu: An African-centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and

Behavior, Trenton: African World Press, Inc. Annunziato, M., I. Tirelli and P. Pierucci. 2002. Sensitive Painting.

http://www.plancton.com/papers/senspaint.pdf (accessed June 15, 2006). Arnheim, R. 1972. Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye, Berkeley:

University of California Press. Arnheim, R. 1989. Parables of Sun Light: Observations on Psychology, The Arts, and The Rest,

Berkeley: University of California Press. Asbestos-kan. 1987. Body on the Edge of Crisis, Tokyo: Parco Co., Ltd. Aslan, O., and B. Picon-Vallin. 2002. Butô(s): Arts du Spectacle, Tokyo: Parco Co., Ltd. Auslander, P. 1997. Ontology vs. History: Making Distinctions Between the Live and the

Mediated. Performance Studies Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, The Conference Archives. http://webcast.gatech.edu/papers/arch/Auslander.htm (accessed April 11, 2005).

Auslander, P. 1999. Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture, London: Routledge. Bachelard, G., and M. Jolas. 1994. The Poetics of Space, Boston: Beacon Press. Barbe, F. 2000. The Way of Butoh and Contemporary Choreography: Reflective Writing on

Choreographic Research, (unpublished paper). http://www.kent.ac.uk/sdfva/research/The%20Way%20of%20Butoh%20and%20Contemporary%20Choreography%20by%20Frances%20Barbe%202002.pdf (accessed April 30, 2006).

Baugh, C. 2005. Theatre, Performance and Technology: The Development of Scenography in the Twentieth Century. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Berghaus, G. 2005. Avant-garde Performance: Live Events and Electronic Technologies, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Birringer, J. 1999. Contemporary Performance/Technology. Theatre Journal, 51: 361-381. Birringer, J. 2002. Dance and Media Technologies. Performing Arts Journal, 70. Birringer, J. 2003. Dance and Interactivity. Dance Research Journal, 35: 88-111. Birringer, J. H. 1998. Media & Performance: Along the Border, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins

University Press. Bohm, D. 1994. Thought as a System, London and New York: Routledge. Bolt, B. 2004. The Exegesis and the Shock of the New. Text. 8 (1):

http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/art/text/speciss/issue3/bolt.htm (accessed: February, 25, 2006).

Brandstetter, G. 2000. Remembering the Body, Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz.

125

Broadhurst, S. 2007. Digital Practices: Aesthetic and Neuroesthetic Approaches to Performance and Technology. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bunning, C. 1994. Action research: an emerging paradigm. In The Tertiary Education Institute, ed. O. Zuber-Skerrit. Brisbane, The University of Queensland.

Capra, F. 1997. The Web of Life: A New Synthesis of Mind and Matter, London: Flamingo. Carpenter, E. and McLuhan, M. 1970. Acoustic Space. In Explorations in Communication: An

Anthology, eds. E. Carpenter and M. McLuhan. 65-70. London: Jonathan Cape. Causey, M. 1999. The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of

Technology. Theatre Journal, 51: 383-394. Clegg, S.R., C. Hardy, and W.R. Nord. 1996. Managing Organizations: Current Issues, London:

Sage Publications. Company in Space. 1999. Escape Velocity. [New media performance] Company in Space. 2002. The Light Room. [New media performance installation] Concise Oxford English Dictionary. 2004. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Coniglio, M. 1989. MidiDancer. [Wireless motion sensing system] Copeland, R. 2004. Merce Cunningham: The Modernizing of Modern Dance. New York and

London: Routledge. Crary, J. 1999. Suspensions of Perception: Attention, Spectacle, and Modern Culture, Cambridge,

Mass.: The MIT Press. Cubitt, S. 1998. Digital Aesthetics, London: Sage Publications Ltd. Cunningham, M., Ashkar, S. and Kaiser, P. 1999. Biped. [Dance and technology] Deleuze, G. Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Denzin, N. K., and Y. S. Lincoln. 1998. Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials,

Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Denzin, N. K., and Y. S. Lincoln, Y. S. 2000. The Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand

Oaks: Sage Publications. Descharnes, R., and J. F. Chabrun. 1967. Auguste Rodin, New York: Park Lane. Dinkla, S. 2002. Towards a Rhetoric and Didactics of Digital Dance. In Dance and Technology:

Moving Towards Media Productions, eds. S. Dinkla and M. Leeker. 14-28. Berlin: Alexander Verlag.

Dinka, S., and M. Leeker. 2002. Dance and Technology: Moving Towards Media Productions, Berlin: Alexander Verlag.

dumb type. 1997. pH. [Multimedia performance] dumb type. 1997. OR. [Multimedia performance] Dunlop-Preston, V. 1980. A Handbook for Dance in Education, London: Longman. Fraleigh, S., and T. Nakamura. 2006. Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo, New York: Routledge. Fraleigh, S. H. 1987. Dance and the Lived Body: A Descriptive Aesthetics, Pittsburgh: University

of Pittsburgh Press. Fraleigh, S. H. 1999. Dancing into Darkness: Butoh, Zen, and Japan, Pittsburgh:

University of Pittsburgh Press. Fraleigh, S. H. 2004. Dancing Identity: Metaphysics in Motion, Pittsburgh: University of

Pittsburgh Press. Fraleigh, S. H., and P. Hanstein. eds. 1999. Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiry,

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. Franklin, E. 1996. Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance. Champaign: Human Kinetics. Fraser, M., and M. Greco. 2005. The Body: A Reader, London and New York: Routledge.

126

Freed, H. 1974. Art Herstory. [Video art] Gamwell, L. 2004. Exploring the Invisible: Art, Science, and the Spiritual. Princeton: Princeton

University Press. Gendlin, E. 1997. Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning: A Philosophical Approach to the

Subjective, Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Gendlin, E. 2000. Thinking Beyond Patterns: Body, Language, and Situations. University of

Chicago. http://www.focusing.org/tbp.html (accessed May 9, 2006)

Gilbert and George. 1969. Under the Arches. [Performance art] Goda, N. 1989. On Ankoku Buto. In Ankoku Buto: The Pre-modern Influences on the Dance of

Utter Darkness, ed. S. B. Klein. Ithaca: Cornell University East Asia Program. Grau, O. 2003. Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion, Cambridge Mass.: The MIT Press. Gray, C., and J. Malins. 2004. Visualizing Research: A Guide to the Research Process in Art and

Design, Aldershot: Ashgate. Greenaway, P., Sainsbury, P., Kasander, K. and The British Film Institute. A Zed and Two

Noughts. 1985. USA: WinStar TV and Video. [Videorecording: DVD] Gropius, W., and A.S. Wensinger. 1996. Theater of the Bauhaus, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins

University Press. Grove, R., C. Stevens, and S. McKechnie. 2005. Thinking in Four Dimensions, Melbourne:

Melbourne University Press. Halprin, D. 2003. The Expressive Body in Life, Art, and Therapy: Working with Movement,

Metaphor, and Meaning, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Haseman, B. 2006. A Manifesto for Performative Research. Media International Australia

Incorporating Culture and Policy, Practice-led Research, 118: 98-106. Hausman, C. 1988. Metaphor and Art: Interactionism and Reference in the Verbal and Nonverbal

Arts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Heyrman, H. 2005. Art and Synesthesia: in search of the synesthetic experience. First International Conference on Art and Synesthesia. July 25-28, Universidad de Almeria, Spain.

http://www.doctorhugo.org/synesthesia/art/index.html (accessed October 10, 2006). Hijikata, T. 2000a. Inner Material. The Drama Review, 44: 36-42. Hijikata, T. 2000b. Plucking off the Darkness of the Flesh. The Drama Review, 44: 49-55. Hijikata, T. 2000c. From Being Jealous of a Dog's Vein. The Drama Review, 44: 56-59. Hijikata, T. 2000e. Fragments of Glass: A Conversation between Hijikata Tatsumi and Suzuki

Tadashi. The Drama Review, 44: 62-70. Holt, S., and M. H. Skov. 2005. Blobjects & Beyond: The New Fluidity in Design, San Francisco:

Chronicle Books. Holtzman, S. 1995. Digital Mantras: The Languages of Abstract and Virtual Worlds, Cambridge,

Mass.: The MIT Press. Hood, W., and C. Gendrich. 2003. Memories of the Future: Technology and the Body in dumb

type's memorandum. Performing Arts Journal, 25: 7-20. Humphrey, D. 1959. The Art of Making Dances, New York: Grove Press, Inc. Hunter, M. A. 2006. The body transported and transformed. RealTime. October-November, 75:10. Ihde, D. 2002. Bodies in Technology, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Jay, M. 1994. Downcast Eyes: The Denigration of Vision in Twentieth-Century French Thought,

Berkeley: University of California Press.

127

Johns, J. 1997. Three Ideas. In Painters on Painting, ed. E. Protter. 277-278. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc.

Kaiser, P. 2000. BIPED/1999: Illustrated Essay. http://www.openendedgroup.com/index.php/artworks/biped/essay/ (accessed: November 1, 2007).

Kaye, N. 2007. Multi-media: Video Installation Performance. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.

Kendall, R. 2000. Monet By Himself, Boston, New York: Little, Brown and Company. Klein, J. 2000. Real Events. Performing Arts Journal, 22: 130-133. Klein, S. B. 1988. Ankoku Buto: The Premodern and Postmodern Influences on the Dance of

Utter Darkness, Ithaca, N.Y, East Asia Program: Cornell University. Kurihara, N. 1996. The Most Remote Thing in the Universe: Critical Analysis of Hijikata

Tatsumi’s Butoh Dance. PhD thesis: New York University. Kurihara, N. 2000. Hijikata Tatsumi: The Words of Butoh. The Drama Review, 44: 12-28. Lakoff, G., and M. Turner. 1989. More than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor,

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. LaBelle, B. 2006. Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art. New York: Continuum

International Publishing Group Inc. Lampert, C. 1990. Rodin: Sculpture and Drawings, Arts Council of Great Britain. Laurel, B. 2003. Design Research: Methods and Perspectives, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space, Oxford: Blackwell. Lepecki, A. 2000. Still: On the Vibratile Microscopy of Dance. In Remembering the Body, ed. G.

Brandstetter. 334-366. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz. Lepecki, A. 2004. Of the Presence of the Body: Essays on Dance and Performance Theory,

Middletown: Wesleyan University Press. Linden Lab. 2003. Second Life. [Internet-based virtual world] http://secondlife.com (accessed January 25, 2007). Linfert, C. 2003. Bosch, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Lomax, Y. 2005. Sounding the Event: Escapades in Dialogue and Matters of Art, Nature and

Time. London: I.B. Tauris and Co. Ltd. Lovell, R. 2002. A Blueprint for Using an Interactive Performance Space. In Remembering the

Body, ed. G. Brandstetter. 88-103. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz. Margolis, J. 1981. The Autographic Nature of the Dance. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art

Criticism, 39: 419-427. Margulies, I. 2003. Rites of Realism: Essays on Corporeal Cinema, Durham: Duke University

Press. Marks, L. U. 2002. Touch: Sensuous Theory and Multisensory Media, Minneapolis: University of

Minnesota Press. Maykut, P. S., and R. Morehouse. 1994. Beginning Qualitative Research: A Philosophic and

Practical Guide, London: Falmer Press. McCarthy, P. 1970-1975. Black and White Tapes. [Video performance] McKechnie, S. 2002. Movement as Metaphor: The Construction of Meaning in the Choreographic

Art. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition. Sydney: Causal Productions.

McKechnie, S. 2005. Dancing Memes, Minds and Designs. In Thinking in Four Dimensions, eds. R. Grove, C. Stevens and S. McKechnie. 81-94. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.

128

Michaux, H. 2000. Emergences-resurgences, Milan and London: Skira Editore and Thames and Hudson.

Moser, M. A., D. MacLeod and Banff Centre for the Arts. 1996. Immersed in Technology: Art and Virtual Environments, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.

Neave, D. 2001. Meditations on Space and Time: The Performance of Japan’s Dumb Type. Art Journal, 60 (1).

http://gateway.proquest.com.gateway.library.qut.edu.au/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqd&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&genre=article&rft_dat=xri:pqd:did=000000070976970&svc_dat=xri:pqil:fmt=html&req_dat=xri:pqil:pq_clntid=14394 (accessed July 17, 2006).

Newlove, J. and Dalby, J. 2004. Laban For All. London: Nick Hern Books Nikolais, A., and M. Louis. 2005. The Nikolais/Louis Technique: A Philosophy and Method of

Modern Dance Including the Unique Gesture, New York: Routledge. Oddey, A. and Christine W. eds. 2006. The Potentials of Spaces: The Theory and Practice of

Scenography and Performance, Bristol and Portland: Intellect. Ohno, K., and Y. Ohno. 2004. Kazuo Ohno's World from Without and Within, Middletown:

Wesleyan University Press. Peucker, B. 2003. Filmic Tableau Vivant: Vermeer, Intermediality, and the Real. In Rites of

Realism: Essays on Corporeal Cinema, ed. I. Margulies. 294-314. Durham: Duke University Press.

Popper, F. 2007. From Technological to Virtual Art. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Pps Danse. 2000. Pôles. [Multimedia dance] Protter, E. 1997. Painters on Painting, Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc. Putnam, L.L, and N. Phillips, and P. Chapman. 1996. Metaphors of Communication and

Organization. In Managing Organizations: Current Issues, eds. Clegg S.R., Hardy, C., and Nord, W.R. 125-158. London: Sage Publications.

Reason, M. 2006. Documentation, Disappearance and the Representation of Live Performance. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Reynolds, D. 2007. Rhythmic Subjects: Uses of Energy in the Dances of Mary Wigman, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. Alton: Dance Books Ltd.

Richardson, L. 2000. Writing: A Method of Inquiry. In The Handbook of Qualitative Research, Second Edition, eds. N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln, Y. S. 294-314. California: Thousand Oaks.

Riley, S.R. 2004. Embodied Perceptual Practices: Towards an Embrained and Embodied Model of Mind for Use in Actor Training and Rehearsal. Theatre Topics. 14 (2): 445-471. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_topics/v014/14.2riley.html (accessed September 20, 2007).

Rodaway, P. 1994. Sensuous Geographies: Body, Sense, and Place, London: Routledge. Rose, B., and M. Abakanowicz. 1994. Magdalena Abakanowicz, New York: Harry N. Abrams,

Inc. Rosenberg, T. 2000. Reservoir: Towards a Poetic Model of Research in Design.

http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/research/papers/wpades/vol11/rosenberg2.html (accessed April 13, 2004).

Rothenberg, D., and M. Ulvaeus. eds. 2001. The Book of Music and Nature, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.

129

Rovan, J. B., R. Wechsler and F. Weiss. 2001. Seine hohle Form: Artistic Collaboration in an Interactive Dance and Music Performance Environment. Crossings: eJournal of Art and Technology.1(2). http://crossings.tcd.ie/issues/1.2/Rovan/ (accessed August 15, 2004).

Rubidge, S. 2002. Digital Technology in Choreography: Issues and Implications. Dance and Digital Technology: International Symposium, Society for Dance Research. Seoul, Korea.

Rubidge, S. and MacDonald, A. 2003. Sensuous Geographies. [Interactive installation] Rush, M. 2005. New Media in Art, London: Thames and Hudson. Sabatine, J. 1995. Movement Training for the Stage and Screen: The Organic Connection

Between Mind, Spirit, and Body, New York: Back Stage Books. Saggini, V. 2002. Mapping Human Gesture into Electronic Media: An Interview with Mark

Coniglio of Troika Ranch. Theremin Vox: Art, Technology and Gesture. http://www.thereminvox.com/article/articleprint/24/-1/3/ (accessed: November 10, 2007).

Saltz, D. Z. 2001. Live Media: Interactive Technology and Theatre. Theatre Topics, 11(2): 107-130. http://muse.uq.edu.au.gateway.library.qut.edu.au/journal/theatre_topics/v011/11.2saltz.html (accessed August 14, 2004).

Schafer, R. M. 1994. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World, Rochester: Destiny Books.

Schafer, R. M. 2001. Music and the Soundscape. In The Book of Music and Nature, eds. D. Rothenberg and M. Ulvaeus. 58-68. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.

Schama, S. 1995. Landscape and Memory, London: Fontana Press. Schlemmer, O. 1922. Triadic Ballet. [Modern dance theatre] Schlemmer, O. 1996. Man and Art Figure. In Theater of the Bauhaus, eds. W. Gropius and A.S.

Wensinger. 17-46. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Schneemann, C. 1964. Meat Joy. [Performance art] Scrivener, S. 2000. Reflection in and on Action and Practice in Creative Production Doctoral

Projects in Art and Design: The Foundations of Practice-Based Research. Research into Practice Conference. University of Hertsfordshire. http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes1/research/papers/wpades/vol1/scrivener2.html (accessed October 6, 2006).

Scrivener, S. 2002. The Art Object Does Not Embody a Form of Knowledge. Research into Practice Conference. University of Hertfordshire. http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes1/research/papers/wpades/vol2/scrivener.html (accessed October 6, 2006).

Shikata, Y. 2000. White-out: Dumb Type's Image Machine. ART Asia Pacific, 27: 40-45 Sirridge, M., and A. Armelagos. 1983. The Role of "Natural Expressiveness" in Explaining

Dance. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 41: 301-307. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00218529%28198321%2941%3A3%C301%3ATRO%22EI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7 (accessed: October 1, 2006).

Sky, H. 2005. Choreography for the 21st Century. Dance Forum, Winter: 11-12. Sky, H. 2006, August 23 Question regarding "poetics of technology". [E-mail to Verdaasdonk, M.

(m.verdaasdonk@qut.edu.au)] Smith, K.L. 1990. Dance and Imagery: The Link Between Movement and Imagination. Journal of

Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 61(2): 17-32. Solso, R. L. 1994. Cognition and the Visual Arts, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

130

Sparacino, F., G. Davenport and A. Pentland. 2000. Media in performance: Interactive spaces for dance, theater, circus, and museum exhibits. IBM Systems Journal, 39(3;4). http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/393/part1/sparacino.html (accessed February 8, 2005).

Sparacino, F., G. Davenport and A. Pentland. undated. Augmented Performance in Dance and Theater. http://ic.media.mit.edu/Publications/Conferences/Augmented/Performance/PDF/AugmentedPerformance.pdf (accessed February 4, 2004).

Spielmann, Y. 1999. Aesthetic Features in Digital Imaging: Collage and Morph. Wide Angle, 21:131-148.

Steinman, L. 1986. The Knowing Body: Elements of Contemporary Performance & Dance, Boston: Shambhala.

Strati, A. 2000. Theory and Method in Organizational Studies: Paradigms and Choices, London: Sage Publications.

Sullivan, G. c2005. Art Practice as Research: Inquiry into the Visual Arts. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Takemitsu, T., Y. Kakudo and G. Glasow. 1995. Confronting Silence: Selected Writings, Berkeley: Fallen Leaf Press.

The Builders Association. 2005. Super Vision. [Multimedia performance] Thomas, M. and F. Penz. ed. 2003. Architectures of Illusion: From Motion Pictures to Navigable

Interactive Environments, Bristol and Portland: Intellect. Thompson, S. c2002. Evolving Traditions: Artists Working in New Media. Akron: Wigged

Productions. Tofts, D. 2005. Interzone: Media Arts in Australia. Fishermans Bend: Craftsman House. Tofts, D., A. Jonson, and A. Cavallaro. 2006. Prefiguring Cyberculture: An Intellectual History,

Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Troika Ranch. 2006. 16 [R]evolutions. [Dance and technology] Troika Ranch. n.d. Troika Ranch: Performance, Installation and Film. http://troikaranch.org

(accessed: October 5, 2007). Vaughan, D. c2005. Merce Cunningham, Fifty Forward: 1995-2004: From Ocean to Ocean. New

York, Cunningham Dance Foundation. Vella, R. 2005. Keeping the degree creative. RealTime Arts. August-September, 68. Vella, R., and A. Arthurs. 2003. Sounds in Space, Sounds in Time: Projects in Listening,

Improvising and Composing, London: Boosey and Hawkes. Verdaasdonk, M. A. 2005. Patchwork in Motion: A practice-led project investigating the shifting

relationships and processes associated with the performing body in interactive and non-interactive visual environments. Leonardo Electronic Almanac, 13(11). http://wwwmitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/LEA2004/ez.features3.htm (accessed March 14, 2006).

Viala, J., and N. Masson-Sekine. 1988. Butoh: Shades of Darkness, Tokyo: Shufunotomo. Vidler, A. 2001. Warped Space: Art, Architecture, and Anxiety in Modern Culture. Cambridge

Mass.: The MIT Press. Viola, B., and R. Violette. 1995. Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House: Writings 1973-1994,

Cambridge: The MIT Press and Anthony d'Offay Gallery. Viola, B. 2002. Emergence. [Video installation] Waguri, Y. 1998. Butoh Kaden. Kohzensha / Justsystem. [CD-ROM]

131

Weems, M. and Kaye, N. 2005. Super Vision Interview. Performing Presence: From the Live to the Simulated: The Presence Project. http://presence.stanford.edu:3455/Collaboratory/831 (accessed: November 1, 2007).

Wigman, M. 1966. The Language of Dance, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press. Williams, W.C. 1974. The Embodiment of Knowledge, New York: New Directions Books. Wright, J. 1974. Collected Poems 1942-1970, Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Wright, J. 1994. Collected Poems 1942-1985, Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Wünsche, I. 2003. Biological Metaphors in 20th-Century Art and Design. YLEM: Artists Using

Science & Technology, 23: 4-10. Zimmerman, E. 2003. Play as Research. In Design Research: Methods and Perspectives, ed. B.

Laurel. 118-128. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Zuber-Skerrit, O. 1994. ed. Action research: an emerging paradigm. In The Tertiary Education

Institute, Brisbane: The University of Queensland.

132

APPENDIX 1: Credits for final performance Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk (66b/cell): visual source material, creative concept & project director Tetsutoshi Tabata (66b/cell): visual media & technical direction, DVD authoring Takahisa Sasaki (66b/cell): media programmer Tetsutoshi Tabata, Matt de Boer: screen object design Dr. Junji Watanabe, Tomofumi Yoshida: moving ultrasonic speaker devices Elise May: performer/co-choreographer Ko-Pei Lin: performer/co-choreographer Richard Causer: performer/co-choreographer I-Pin Lin: performer/co-choreographer Luke Lickfold: sound design, live sound manipulation Kim Hosugi: vocals, Living Lens original theme Mitsuru Kotaki: vocal arrangement & composition, Living Lens original theme Kirsten Fletcher: costume design Daniel Maddison: production coordinator Justin Marshman, David Murray: lighting realisation Tony Brumpton: technical sound support QUT technical production students: technical crew Polly Harrison: videography & editing

133

APPENDIX 2: Biographies of participants (final performance) Maria Adriana Verdaasdonk (Netherlands-Australia) is a theatre studies graduate who based herself in Tokyo in the 1990s to study aikido and butoh. In 1994 she co-founded performance unit 66b as a result of work combining body movement and multimedia. Performances and presentations include Test-patches at media arts festival Ars Electronica (2002) and Seoul International Dance Festival (2003), Patchwork in Motion at BankArt Yokohama (2005), as well as various stage performances and installations in Japan, New York City and Europe. Awards include the RSA Encouragement of the Arts Award for visual and performative research on the Japanese art concept of ‘ma’ (1996) and the Peter Elkin Drama Prize for the Faust II Project (1997). She is visual media contributor and artistic adviser in the ongoing development of the imaging system XV3. Tetsutoshi Tabata, (Japan) is a visual artist who initially worked in editorial graphics and game design. In 1994 he co-founded performance unit 66b, setting up cell, the visual and sound component of the group in 1995. He has presented work at Ars Electronica (2002), The Japan Virtual Reality Society, the Adelaide Festival, All Korea Sports Festival, as well as stage performances and installations in New York City, Asia and Europe. In 2006-2007, he worked with Australian contemporary choreographer, Leigh Warren, on Wanderlust, a collaborative contemporary dance and visual installation project with participants from Australia and Japan. He is currently developing a user-friendly interface for the integrated imaging system XV3. Takahisa Sasaki (Japan) graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Tokyo and studied 3D computer graphics animation at Digital Hollywood. In 2000 his real time 3D imaging software Johnny was awarded the graduation prize in the programming category. He works as an industry professional and is a member of 66b/cell where in collaboration with visual artists, performers and choreographers, he is developing an integrated system called XV3 that can be connected to sensor devices and be displayed on multiple screens. Dr. Junji Watanabe (Japan) received his PhD in Information Science and Technology from the University of Tokyo in 2005. He is currently a PRESTO researcher at Japan Science and Technology Agency in the area of cognitive science and communication devices using applied perception. He also collaborates in the area of stage design with 66b/cell. Collaborative works include Test-patches performed at Ars Electronica (2002) and the Seoul International Dance Festival (2003), Patchwork in Motion at BankArt Yokohama in 2005, and Living Lens at The Loft (QUT) in 2006. Elise May (Australia) is a graduate of Queensland University of Technology’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance). Elise’s recent work as an independent choreographer includes Elegance thy name…, Real Life Situation Failure for Critical Mass and knee deep in sunshine for QUT 2004 Dance Bytes season. In 2003 Elise joined Expressions Dance Company’s Education touring program and in 2004 performed in Chrissie Parrott’s interactive new media work Dispatch. In 2005 Elise performed in Brisbane and Canberra

134

in Clare Dyson’s Churchill’s Black Dog and in July represented Australia in the World Dance Alliance Young Asian Choreographer’s Project in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Richard Causer (Australia) is a graduate of Queensland University of Technology’s Bachelor Fine Arts (Dance) and has performed in works by Csaba Buday, Rosetta Cook, Ming-Shen Ku, Claire Marshall, Maggi Sietsma, Ricky Sim, Gavin Webber and Xiao Xiong Zhang. In 2004 Richard participated in a collaborative exchange for CORD/WDA-Asia Pacific International Festival in Taipei. Richard’s choreographic work Delirium opened the national design conference, 4um?Advertising and Design Asia Pacific, and toured to the 2005 Malaysian Dance Festival in Kuala Lumpur. Richard is currently performing with Brisbane-based Expressions Dance Company. Ko-Pei Lin (Taiwan) graduated from Queensland University of Technology with a BFA (Dance) in 1999 and a MFA (Dance) in 2002, the latter through the QUT Taiwan Dance Scholarship. In 2002 Ko-Pei performed in here/there/then/now and was voted “dancer to watch” in the Dance Australia Critics Survey 2003. She undertook secondments with Expressions Dance Company in 1999 and 2001. Ko-Pei has also performed in Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, Germany and France. During her time in Taiwan, she choreographed for the Scarecrow Contemporary Dance Company, Tsoying Senior High School and various independent projects. I-Pin Lin (Taiwan) started dancing when she was 5 years old. After graduating from Chia-Yi Girls’ High School in Taiwan, she enrolled at QUT where she completed the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (Dance) in 2005. During her time at QUT, she performed in several works by national and international choreographers including Jeffrey Tan, Keith Hawley, Csaba Buday, Shaaron Boughen, Gavin Webber, Ming-Shen Ku and Xing Liang. She also participated and performed in the 2005 Malaysian Dance Festival in Kuala Lumpur. In 2007, she completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance at QUT. Luke Lickfold (Australia) is a sound artist working across music production and performance as well as in experimental collaborations with artists of different mediums. Luke’s work includes sound design, live performance and interactive sound/multimedia systems in a number of projects including: Omon Ra (2006, Restaged Histories Project, Powerhouse); The Greater Plague (2005, Restaged Histories Project, Metro Arts); Living Lens (2005-2006, 66b/cell), ESP-Sound Through Movement, Movement Through Sound (2005, TOY, Judith Wright Centre), Escape (2005 and 20069, New Moves (2003), War of the Worlds (2003) and Graffiti (2002) for Queensland University of Technology.

135

APPENDIX 3: Flow Continuums (Laban)

136

APPENDIX 4: Excerpts of butoh-fu

Her

fing

ers

pinc

h th

e pe

tals

mad

e of

fine

ner

ves.

H

er n

erve

s cr

ack

a ti

ny w

hip

on h

er fi

nger

s…

Han

ds a

re to

uchi

ng th

e su

rfac

e of

a w

oode

n do

or in

fr

ont o

f you

. Th

e an

tenn

as s

tret

chin

g ou

t of y

our

fing

erti

ps

infi

nite

ly tr

ace

the

grai

ns o

f woo

d on

this

doo

r.

A n

euro

logy

war

d.

A m

ad w

oman

app

ears

. Th

e w

alls

and

air

of t

he r

oom

are

in

sane

. H

er b

ehav

iour

and

sen

siti

vity

hav

e be

com

e fr

ight

enin

gly

prec

ise…

fr

ight

enin

gly

beau

tifu

l…

Rea

lize

that

you

are

a g

igan

tic

king

dom

of n

erve

s…

Ner

ves

like

the

mes

cali

ne d

raw

ings

of H

enri

Mic

haux

ar

e ov

erla

id w

ith

nerv

es li

ke in

the

pain

ting

by

Edv

ard

Mun

ch.

Insi

de th

is o

verl

ay, n

erve

s st

art c

rack

ing

smal

l whi

ps th

at c

anno

t st

op…

H

e fe

els

the

very

tip

of th

e fa

raw

ay n

erve

s.

The

nerv

es a

re th

en w

ithd

raw

ing

into

the

body

…

You

are

trac

ing

the

nerv

es in

side

Mic

haux

’s in

k bo

ttle

, li

ke in

his

pai

ntin

g of

ink

dots

. Th

e fi

rst d

ance

is a

n an

alys

is o

f gra

cefu

lnes

s li

ke fi

ne je

wel

s on

the

coll

arbo

nes

of Q

ueen

Eli

zabe

th…

(M

icha

ux’s

ink

bott

le c

rash

es in

to y

our

righ

t for

ehea

d.

The

bott

le c

rack

s an

d in

k sp

ills

into

the

insi

de p

arts

of y

our

body

. Yo

ur n

erve

s tr

ace

the

spil

led

ink

insi

de y

our

body

: F

rom

the

righ

t tem

ple

thro

ugh

the

righ

t che

ek

and

to th

e tw

itch

ing

side

of t

he m

outh

and

to th

e ne

ck.

The

ink

is n

ow th

roug

h yo

ur n

eck

and

out o

n yo

ur b

ack.

It

then

re-

ente

rs y

our

back

and

com

es o

ut o

f you

r ch

est,

whi

ch th

en g

oes

up y

our

neck

aga

in.

The

nerv

e tr

acin

g th

e in

k co

min

g up

you

r ne

ck is

sud

denl

y se

vere

d.

The

nerv

es th

en b

ecom

e li

ke r

oots

pul

led

out o

f dir

t.)

A b

ranc

h of

a t

ree

beco

mes

a v

ery

stra

ight

ne

rve

insi

de y

our

body

and

gro

ws

out o

f it…

A

sec

ond

bran

ch g

row

s at

a d

iffe

rent

ang

le

from

insi

de y

our

body

and

out

of y

our

ches

t. Sh

owin

g th

e tw

o br

anch

es a

t the

sam

e ti

me

mea

ns s

how

ing

sepa

rate

incl

inat

ions

…

The

pers

on b

ecom

es li

ke b

arks

of t

rees

. Yo

ur b

ack

is fu

ll o

f ins

ects

.

Ther

e is

a fl

ower

of f

roze

n li

ght,

You

are

expr

essi

ng th

e co

ld, s

olid

sub

stan

ce o

f the

flow

er

and

at th

e sa

me

tim

e yo

u ar

e ex

pres

sing

the

flow

er a

s it

gr

ows

into

the

air.

Yo

u, th

e fl

ower

, are

wal

king

…

The

flow

er is

str

etch

ing

side

way

s be

caus

e a

peta

l has

cur

led

up fr

om b

elow

, A

nd a

noth

er h

as c

urle

d do

wn

from

abo

ve...

Th

e an

gles

of t

he c

urls

are

impo

rtan

t…

Dan

ce th

e di

men

sion

s of

flow

ers,

suc

h as

the

lotu

s fl

ower

. Yo

ur fa

ce is

cov

ered

wit

h pe

tals

. Th

e pe

tals

are

als

o cu

rlin

g ou

t fro

m w

ithi

n yo

ur b

ody…

Th

ere

are

stra

wbe

rrie

s in

you

r ey

es…

E

xcer

pts

rear

rang

ed f

rom

the

buto

h-fu

of

Tat

sum

i Hiji

kata

tr

ansc

ribe

d by

his

dis

cipl

e Y

ukio

Wag

uri.

Fr

om B

utoh

Kad

en b

y Y

ukio

Wag

uri &

Koh

zens

ha (

1998

)

137

APPENDIX 5: Excerpts of poems by Judith Wright

Put

you

r ha

nd o

ut, a

nd h

old

it st

ill, a

nd lo

ok.

Like

som

ethi

ng w

ild p

icke

d up

and

hel

d to

o lo

ng…

Th

e ha

nd is

dra

wn

from

the

flesh

by

its o

wn

uses

. P

ower

s un

chan

nelle

d, s

hape

s un

shap

ed a

wai

t it…

D

o no

t loo

k at

me,

the

hand

say

s, I

am

not

true

ex

cept

as

mea

ns. I

am

the

road

, the

bri

dge,

no

t sta

rtin

g-po

int n

or g

oal n

or tr

avel

ler.

I

am n

ot y

ou, t

he d

oer,

nor

wha

t you

do.

I

am e

xten

sion

; I

am y

our

fart

hest

edg

e.

I am

that

whi

ch s

trok

es th

e ch

ild’s

hai

r te

nder

ly-t

ende

rly-

A

nd d

rive

s th

e na

il in

to th

e ha

nd s

tret

ched

on

the

tree

. …

Look

aw

ay. D

o no

t loo

k at

me.

(F

rom

sec

tion

I. T

he H

and,

in F

lesh

, C

olle

cted

Poe

ms

1942

-197

0)

The

face

turn

s in

war

d an

d do

wn

on th

e he

ad’s

bud

; cu

rves

to it

s in

ner

wor

ld

of s

hapi

ng fl

esh

and

bloo

d…

Bir

th d

raw

s th

e st

alk

out s

trai

ght a

nd

the

face

wak

es.

Nak

ed in

a p

assi

on o

f lig

ht

its lo

ng c

ompo

sure

bre

aks.

It

wri

thes

to r

egai

n sl

eep;

bu

t life

has

stu

ng to

o de

ep…

an

d fle

sh h

as n

ow b

ecom

e

time’

s in

stru

men

t…

(Fro

m s

ectio

n II

I. T

he F

ace

in F

lesh

, C

olle

cted

Poe

ms

1942

-197

0)

She

hid

in h

er p

aint

ings

, cl

othe

d, c

loud

ed in

leav

es;

and

her

pian

o sc

atte

red

glitt

erin

g no

tes

of le

aves

in s

unlig

ht,

drum

med

with

win

ter

rain

s,

open

ed g

reen

dep

ths

like

gulli

es.

(Fro

m F

alls

Cou

ntry

, C

olle

cted

Poe

ms

1942

-198

5)

138

APPENDIX 6: Workshop excerpts: Interior & exterior space

Pai

ntin

g th

e sp

ace:

D

iffe

rent

par

ts o

f th

e bo

dy a

s pa

int

brus

hes.

Fin

gers

, toe

s, s

houl

der,

hip

s,

etc.

pai

ntin

g di

ffer

ent p

arts

of

the

spac

e.

Dif

fere

nt s

trok

es: t

hin,

wis

py, b

road

, lo

ops,

spi

rals

, cal

ligra

phy…

Spac

e as

vor

tex:

Sp

iral

ling

wat

er: t

he b

ody

at c

entr

e.

Spir

al o

rigi

nate

s at

bas

e of

bod

y an

d tr

avel

s up

war

ds

and

vice

ve

rsa.

Sp

iral

in

war

ds

to

core

. Spi

ral o

utw

ards

to e

xter

nal s

pace

. Se

nd

out

ripp

les

of

wat

er

into

su

rrou

ndin

g sp

ace.

Inte

rior

spa

ce:

“Inn

er la

ndsc

ape”

: oce

an, d

eser

t hor

izon

. C

hang

e fr

om d

eser

t spa

ce to

oce

an s

pace

. M

ovin

g di

ffer

ent m

ater

ials

thro

ugh

the

body

: Sa

nd, w

ater

, oil,

hon

ey…

Sh

ift

mat

eria

ls t

hrou

gh d

iffe

rent

par

ts o

f th

e bo

dy.

Let

mat

eria

ls f

low

out

into

ext

erna

l spa

ce.

Ext

erio

r sp

ace:

Sc

ulpt

ing

spac

e, c

arve

out

spa

ce w

ith th

e bo

dy.

Spac

e sc

ulpt

s bo

dy.

Spac

e en

fold

s bo

dy.

Spac

e pu

shes

you

in d

iffe

rent

dir

ectio

ns.

Rea

ct a

gain

st s

pace

.

‘Gra

inin

g’ (

Nik

olai

s 20

05)

Dir

ect

part

icle

s fr

om

with

in

the

body

an

d ra

diat

e to

war

ds

poin

t of

fo

cus.

In

teri

or

dire

ctio

n fl

ow:

eg.

from

th

e hi

p to

th

e ar

m/h

and.

Par

ticle

s ra

diat

e fr

om w

ithin

bod

y an

d st

ream

ou

twar

ds

from

ha

nd/f

oot/o

ther

bo

dy p

arts

to

poin

ts o

utsi

de t

he b

ody.

Cre

ate

dens

ities

of

pa

rtic

les

from

co

mpa

ct/

com

pres

sed

to lo

ose/

diff

used

. G

rain

with

dif

fere

nt b

ody

part

s le

adin

g: n

ose,

ch

est,

shou

lder

, hi

p, f

oot,

knee

, el

bow

, et

c.

Gra

in o

utw

ards

into

dee

p sp

ace.

G

rain

ver

tical

ly to

go

hori

zont

ally

, for

war

ds to

go

bac

kwar

ds, e

tc.

(Ada

pted

fro

m E

ric

Fran

klin

, 199

6)

139

APPENDIX 7: Texture: body/space

Bod

y te

xtur

e:

Surf

ace

text

ure

• C

obw

ebs

cove

ring

hal

f of

fac

e/bo

dy.

• M

ould

cov

erin

g ha

lf o

f fa

ce/n

eck,

dow

n on

e si

de o

f bo

dy.

• Fa

ce a

nd b

ody

cove

red

in c

rack

ing

whi

te c

lay.

•

Fibr

ous

root

s an

d br

anch

es c

omin

g ou

t of

your

he

ad, f

inge

rs a

nd to

es.

• T

he h

ead/

arm

s/ha

nds/

legs

/fee

t as

an

uncu

rlin

g fl

ower

bud

or

fern

tend

ril.

• Su

rfac

e of

the

bod

y as

a s

kin

scre

en p

roje

cted

w

ith v

isua

l tex

ture

s: s

kele

ton

leaf

, wat

er…

In

ner

text

ure

• In

ner

sand

mov

es th

roug

h di

ffer

ent p

arts

of

the

body

an

d st

ream

s ou

twar

ds

into

ex

tern

al

spac

e.

• Sa

nd s

trea

ms

dow

nwar

ds f

rom

und

ersi

de o

f ex

tend

ed li

mb.

•

Inne

r sp

aces

of

the

body

fill

ed w

ith h

oney

…

Ext

erna

l spa

ce a

s te

xtur

e:

Giv

e th

e ex

tern

al s

pace

lif

e. V

ary

the

dens

ity o

f th

e su

rrou

ndin

g sp

ace

from

den

se/c

ompa

ct to

loos

e/op

en.

• T

hink

of

sp

ace

as

resi

stan

t lik

e st

one,

in

crea

sing

ly le

ss r

esis

tant

like

jelly

, oil,

wat

er.

• Im

agin

e be

ing

in t

he d

epth

s of

the

oce

an:

feel

th

e pr

essu

re o

f th

e w

ater

. •

A s

pace

tha

t is

ful

l of

ele

ctri

c cu

rren

ts o

r sh

arp

need

les…

•

As

you

mov

e ac

ross

th

e sp

ace,

ch

ange

th

e te

xtur

e an

d no

tice

how

thi

s af

fect

s m

ovem

ents

an

d m

ovem

ent q

ualit

ies.

(Ada

pted

fro

m E

ric

Fran

klin

, 199

6)

140

APPENDIX 8: Energy/dynamics

Fou

r dy

nam

ics

(ada

pted

fr

om

Hum

phre

y,

1959

).

For

each

dy

nam

ic, m

ove

into

a d

iffe

rent

par

t of

the

spac

e. E

xplo

re th

is a

s a

“4-m

oon

exer

cise

” w

ith

the

wax

ing

and

wan

ing

of

each

m

ovem

ent p

hase

: •

Slow

and

sm

ooth

, lyr

ical

. •

Shar

p w

ith f

ast a

ccen

ts (

circ

ular

and

sta

ccat

o).

• A

ltern

atin

g sm

ooth

and

sha

rp.

• Si

mul

tane

ous

dyna

mic

s,

eg.

one

arm

do

es

sinu

ous

mov

emen

ts, t

he o

ther

arm

bea

ts a

rhy

thm

.

Dyn

amic

s:

From

Sa

batin

e’s

(199

5)

ener

gy

qual

ities

: E

xplo

re

com

bina

tions

an

d tr

ansf

orm

atio

ns

of

the

follo

win

g:

• Su

stai

ned

flow

, vis

cous

like

hon

ey.

• Pe

rcus

sive

, pu

lses

, sh

arp

shif

ts i

n dy

nam

ics,

re

gula

r an

d ir

regu

lar

inte

rval

s.

• V

ibra

tory

: bet

wee

n su

stai

ned

and

perc

ussi

ve.

• Su

spen

ded/

floa

ting:

han

ging

in s

pace

. •

Col

laps

ing

and

then

ris

ing

to s

uspe

nded

. •

Swin

ging

, co

llaps

ing

and

rebo

undi

ng

like

rubb

er o

r a

spri

ng.

Bre

akin

g up

the

con

tinu

ous

line:

C

ircu

lar

/ sin

uous

mov

emen

ts e

choi

ng c

ycle

s of

life

or

the

cree

ping

ten

dril

mov

emen

ts o

f pl

ants

, et

c.,

may

be

com

e m

onot

onou

s or

pre

dict

able

. It

is h

ard

to m

ake

them

loo

k sh

arp

beca

use

the

natu

re o

f th

e cu

rve

is

cont

inuo

us (

Hum

phre

y, 1

959,

p.9

8). W

e ne

ed to

bre

ak

up th

e co

ntin

uity

by

usin

g ac

cent

s:

• B

reak

up

th

e co

ntin

uous

lin

e by

st

acca

to

acce

nts

of h

ip,

quiv

erin

g of

thi

gh,

diff

eren

t fo

ot a

ngle

s.

• Sp

iral

tw

ists

/lung

es:

uppe

r an

d lo

wer

bod

y in

di

ffer

ent

dire

ctio

ns.

Rev

ersi

ng i

n an

d ou

t of

th

e sp

iral

: re

vers

e in

to

the

spir

al

to

mov

e ou

twar

ds a

nd v

ice

vers

a. F

or e

xam

ple,

rev

erse

ha

lfw

ay a

nd t

hen

rebo

und

back

int

o th

e sp

iral

to

initi

ate

a fu

ll bo

dy p

ivot

. M

icro

danc

e 3-

4 m

ins.

Im

prov

isat

ion/

Com

posi

tion

. L

et a

see

d ta

ke s

hape

. D

evis

e a

stru

ctur

e (u

sing

exp

lora

tions

ba

sed

on th

e po

etic

text

s or

oth

er e

xerc

ises

) em

anat

ing

from

a

seed

. Is

the

re s

ome

kind

of

iden

tity

emer

ging

her

e? C

an y

ou

go b

eyon

d th

e ex

plor

ator

y m

ovem

ents

to

acce

ss y

our

body

vo

cabu

lari

es?

Can

the

see

d be

a t

rans

ition

to

or b

etw

een

a pa

rtic

ular

dan

ce t

echn

ique

? T

hink

of

the

seed

com

ing

to l

ife,

its

ris

ing

pow

ers

and

ener

gy, e

xten

ding

into

ful

l blo

ssom

, and

th

en w

ither

ing

(doe

s it

lose

ene

rgy

here

or

is i

t a

diff

eren

t ki

nd o

f en

ergy

?)