Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Mul-media:
Systems
that
support
the
interac1ve
use
of
text,
audio,
s1ll
images,
video,
and
graphics.
Each
of
these
elements
must
be
converted
in
some
way
from
analog
form
to
digital
form
before
they
can
be
used
in
a
computer
applica1on.
Thus,
the
dis1nc1on
of
mul1media
is
the
convergence
of
previously
diverse
systems.
• www.tamu.edu/ode/glossary.html
• Randall
Packer
and
Ken
Jordan
(2001)
suggest
five
characteris1cs
intrinsic
to
computer‐based
mul1media:
•
integra1on,
the
way
different
media
and
art
forms
are
brought
together
in
certain
works
•
interac1vity,
spectators
or
users
can
determine
the
structure
of
the
work
through
their
own
interac1ons
with
the
work
•
hypermedia,
following
the
links
•
immersion,
sensorial
overload
•
narra1vity,
forms
of
conceptual
organiza1on
(oNen
non‐linear
narra1ves)
• ‐
‘Overture’
Mul&media:
From
Wagner
To
Virtual
Reality,
New
York:
W.W.Norton
and
Company,
Ltd
(xii‐xxxi)
• ‘These
terms
offer
a
star1ng
point
for
developing
a
language
in
which
to
ar1culate
the
forms
and
processes
inherent
to
mul1media
performance.’
Rosie
Klich
UNSW
The
Theatre
of
Images
• Robert Wilson - Einstein on the beach
(1976)
• Laurie Anderson - Home of the Brave
(1984)
• The Wooster Group (1980-)
The Wooster Group
• 1980
Schechner
dissolves
Performance
Group,
the
lease
on
Performing
garage
transferred
to
LeCompte
now
ar1s1c
director
of
the
Wooster
Group
with
Willem
Dafoe,
Spalding
Gray,
Peyton
Smith,
Kate
Valk,
and
Ron
Vawter.
• As
Dafoe
later
describes
it,
the
experimental
group
aims
to
create
a
theater
disconnected
from
absolutes
of
text
and
psychology,
theater
that
speaks
to
an
age
"where
we
can
talk
on
the
phone,
look
out
the
window,
watch
TV,
and
be
typing
a
le`er
at
the
same
1me..."
LeCompte
and
the
company
use
a
collage
of
audio,
video,
and
spoken
word
to
re‐invent
well‐
known
plays…
h`p://www.pbs.org
The
HAIRY
APE
by
Eugene
O'Neill
(1995)
HOUSE/LIGHTS
based
on
Gertrude
Stein
(1999)
Key
works:
• Route
1
and
9
The
last
Act
(1981)
Video
of
Thornton
Wilder’s
Our
Town
(1938)
and
blackface
performance
• "This
performance
was
sponsored
by
the
Kitchen
and
was
the
first
piece
I
did
in
a
real
theater.
It
ran
for
several
days
and
I
remember
feeling
guilty
that
it
was
more
or
less
the
same
every
night
because
I
was
so
used
to
changing
things
around
for
every
performance.”
1980s
• O
SUPERMAN
reached
#2
on
the
Bri1sh
pop
charts;
signed
with
Warner
Brothers
Records
(Inspired
by
Massenet’s
O
Souverain
,
one
of
the
arias
in
Le
Cid
)
and
lyrics
like:
• So
hold
me
Mom,
in
your
long
arms.../in
your
automa1c
arms.../your
electronic
arms.../your
petrochemical
arms/
your
military
arms/
in
your
electronic
arms...
• Recorded
BIG
SCIENCE
• 1983
UNITED
STATES
performed
in
its
eight
hour
version
at
the
Brooklyn
Academy
of
Music
• 1984
Met
Peter
Gabriel
and
wrote
and
performed
THIS
IS
THE
PICTURE
for
"Good
Morning
Mr.
Orwell"
live
video
broadcast
organized
by
Nam
June
Paik
• 1985
Shot
HOME
OF
THE
BRAVE
produced
by
Paula
Mazir
and
filmed
by
John
Lindley
1990s
and
aNer
• Anderson
wrote
the
soundtrack
to
Spalding
Gray’s
solo
performances
Swimming
to
Cambodia
1986
and
Monster
in
a
Box
1991
• 1992
STORIES
FROM
THE
NERVE
BIBLE,
the
performance,
was
premiered
at
Exp
o'92
in
Seville
• 1999
SONGS
AND
STORIES
FROM
MOBY
DICK
(BAM)
• 2004
NASA
ar1st
in
residence
THE
END
OF
THE
MOON
Cyberne1c
performance
• Laurie
Anderson’s
construc1on
of
the
body...
a
cyberne1c
body
rather
than
a
natural
one,
an
interface
with
technology
eg;
the
mic’d
body
played
as
percussion,
the
vocoder
altering
voice
produc1on
producing
the
intona1on
of
a
male,
the
pas1che
of
‘male’
cross
dressing.
Robert Wilson / Bernice Johnson Reagon
The Temptation of St Anthony
Sadlers Wells London 2003
Einstein on the beach 1976/84
• the
repeat
performance
of
Einstein
on
the
beach
took
place
at
the
Brooklyn
Academy
of
Music
in
December
1984.
This
piece
was
constructed
according
to
Wilson’s
sketchbook
images
which
divided
the
space
according
to
painterly
principles
of
portraiture,
s1ll
life
and
landscape.
• ‘The
entr’actes
(known
as
“Knee
Plays,”
because
they
served
as
joints
between
the
acts)
were
performed
in
front
of
the
stage
curtain
in
a
very
shallow,
close
up
space
that
he
(Wilson)
thought
of
in
terms
of
portraiture.
The
sets
for
the
scenes
showing
a
train,
a
building,
a
courtroom,
and
a
prison
cell
gave
these
objects
the
intermediate
depth
of
field
common
in
s1ll‐life
composi1on.
And
finally
the
sets
that
provided
maximum
space
for
dance
groups
‐
the
open
field
and
the
massive
spaceship
interior
‐
had
the
depth
of
landscape.’
(Trevor
Fairbrother,
‘Robert
Wilson
a
chronological
essay’
Robert
Wilson’s
Vision
p120
• The
cri1c,
Robert
Brustein,
argued
that
‘the
visual
effects
are
the
most
dazzling
and
original
aspects
of
the
work:
Wilson
is
essen1ally
a
painter
who
paints
in
mo1on.’
(qtd.
in
Fairbrother
op.
cit.
p120)
• By
the
1me
Einstein
was
first
shown
in
1976
Wilson
had
already
acquired
an
interna1onal
reputa1on
as
an
imagist
for
the
theatre.
His
first
major
interna1onal
success
was
with
a
7
hour
piece
en1tled
Deafman
Glance
which
contained
no
dialogue
and
no
linear
narra1ve,
just
a
series
of
live
images.
The
piece
was
inspired
by
the
drawings
of
a
deaf‐mute
black
child,
Raymond
Andrews
whom
Wilson
had
adopted
aNer
seeing
him
being
harrassed
by
a
policeman
in
New
Jersey
in
1969.
Wilson
encouraged
the
child
to
express
himself
in
drawings
and
invited
the
child
to
teach
Wilson’s
theatre
company
his
pre‐verbal
language
of
gestures
and
sounds.
The
result
was
Deafman
Glance
which
Wilson
describes
as
a
‘silent
opera’
aNer
Cage.
• A
play
consis1ng
only
of
gestures
and
images
based
on
the
drawings
of
a
child
with
no
other
language
is
probably
the
most
extreme
form
of
a
theatre
of
the
image
Wilson
at
this
1me
was
opposed
to
the
no1on
of
a
literary
theatre:
• ‘people
are
just
beginning
to
return
again
to
discerning
visual
significances
as
a
primary
mode
‐
or
method
‐
of
communica1ng
in
a
context
where
more
than
one
form
or
‘level’
exists.
In
that
sense
of
overlays
of
visual
correspondences...
See,
we’re
not
par1cularly
interested
in
literary
ideas,
because
having
a
focus
that
encompasses
in
a
panoramic
visual
glance
all
the
hidden
slices
ongoing
that
appear
in
clear
awareness
as
encoded
fragments
seems
to
indicate
theatre
has
so
much
more
to
do
than
be
concerned
with
words
in
a
dried
out,
flat,
one‐dimensional
literary
structure.
I
mean
the
Modern
World
has
forced
us
to
outgrow
that
mode
of
seeing.’
(‘Speech
Introducing
Freud’
Twenð
Century
Theatre.
A
Sourcebook
p60)
Reviewing
Auslander:
• Live
V
Mediated
performance
is
a
‘compe11ve
opposi1on
at
the
level
of
cultural
economy’
not
at
the
level
of
intrinsic
or
ontological
differences.
• Auslander’s
view
is
that
Live
&
Mediated
are
mutually
dependent
for
reasons
that
are
both
historical
and
experien1al:
• historical
(the
theatricality
of
tv,
tv
as
a
‘live
medium’
;
ubiquitous
use
of
media
in
live
performance
such
as
dance)
• experien1al
(going
live,
in1macy
and
immediacy,
interac1vity,
‘mul1ple
camera
set
up
enables
tv
to
re
create
the
perceptual
con1nuity
of
theatre’,
p19
cinema1c
vocab
of
spectators,
laughing
on
cue,
stadium
concerts
and
sports
events)
What
does
he
mean
by
the
term
‘remedia1on’?
• In
Jay
David
Bolter
and
Richard
Grusin’s
work
Remedia&on:
Understanding
New
Media
(MIT
Press,
Cambridge,
1998)
they
define
this
idea
as
‘the
representa1on
of
one
medium
in
another’
and
‘the
formal
logic
by
which
new
media
refashion
prior
media
forms’...
• ‘Each
act
of
media1on
depends
on
other
acts
of
media1on.
Media
are
con1nually
commen1ng
on,
reproducing,
and
replacing
each
other,
and
this
process
is
integral
to
media.
Media
need
each
other
in
order
to
func1on
as
media
at
all.’
• Similar
to
repurposing
(Hollywood).
Newman’s
sugges1on
that
adapta1on
is
the
essen1al
postmoderm
form
is
related
to
this.
(11)
I
s1ll
don’t
get
it…
• If
we
understand
a
performance
work,
however
vital
or
improvisatory,
as
a
work
within
a
representa1onal
frame,
then
it
can
be
defined
in
terms
of
media,
as
an
event
which
is
mediated
by
the
ar1s1c
or
ins1tu1onal
context
in
which
it
occurs.
• Therefore
it
follows
that
the
documenta1on
of
such
a
work
in
a
photographic
or
video
format,
and
which
is
cons1tuted
as
a
work
in
itself,
can
be
seen
as
a
remedia1on
of
that
work.
the
‘economy
of
repe11on’
• Media1sed
culture
involves
what
A`ali
calls
the
‘economy
of
repe11on’
the
mass
produc1on
of
art
and
media
objects
images
and
sounds.
(p10)
A`ali
says
‘What
irony:
people
originally
intended
to
use
the
record
to
preserve
the
performance,
and
today
the
performance
is
only
successful
as
a
simulacrum
of
the
record.’
(qtd
p12)
• Live
performance
must
recreate
the
media1sed
version
of
it:
music
video,
stand
up
comedy
the
in1macy
effect
• This
is
the
significance
of
Walter
Benjamin’s
art
work
essay
(1936)
for
Auslander’s
argument,
the
media’s
shaping
of
‘the
sensory
norm’:
the
produc1on
of
a
desire
for
proximity,
the
in1macy
effect…
suggests
another
set
of
terms
for
the
interconnec1on
between
live
and
mediated
performance
forms.
• Due
to
our
familiarity
with
televisual
images
‘we
see
them
as
proximate’
no
ma`er
how
far
we
are
away
from
them
in
physical
terms,
even
in
the
last
row
of
a
Madonna
concert.
(p14)
• Some
of
the
advantages
of
mixing
media
(p15)
are
the
produc1on
of
conscious
and
unconscious
worlds,
objec1ve
events
and
internal
subjec1ve
mo1ves
can
co‐exist
in
the
mise
en
scene.
Ques1ons
on
Auslander
Reading:
• 1.
What
does
non‐matrixed
representa1on
mean?
Give
an
example.
23
• 2.
Which
concept
from
Baudrillard
‘best
describes
the
current
rela1onship
between
live
and
mediated’
and
why?
28
• 3.
What
is
Peggy
Phelan’s
posi1on?
(28)
The
Live
V
Mediated
debate
• Live
V
Mediated
performance
is
a
‘compe11ve
opposi1on
at
the
level
of
cultural
economy’
not
at
the
level
of
intrinsic
or
ontological
differences.
Dumb Type ‘OR’ and ‘S/N’
• ‘seeks
to
explore
ever
new
dimensions
of
human
system
interac1on.’
• virtual
mul1media
dance
theatre
collec1ve
• formed
in
Kyoto
Japan
in
1984
by
Teiji
Furuhashi
then
a
student
at
Kyoto
Uni
of
Fine
Arts.
Furuhashi
1960‐95
• In
1990
their
piece
PH
toured
9
countries
and
took
as
its
theme
the
global
infobahn
• This
piece
features
precision
choreography
on
a
tennis
court
like
gridded
stage
over
which
an
enormous
electronic
boom
(actually
a
metal
scanner)
sweeps
back
and
forth
projec1ng
texts
and
images
onto
the
floor
PH:
One
such
text
is
the
phrase
‘New
world
order’
which
morphs
into
‘new
world
border’
S/N
• a
later
piece
S/N
(1992‐98)
concerns
the
interac1on
between
medical
technologies
and
the
body:
• SIGNAL
/
NOISE
• SOUTH
/
NORTH
• SOCIETY
/
NATURE
• SIGN
/
NAME
• STATE
/
NATION
• SYSTEM
/
NETWORK
• SENSE
/
NONSENSE
• SCIENCE
/
NECROMANCY
• SAMPLE
/
NARRATIVE
In
Scene
5
a
projected
text
declares:
• I dream . . . my gender will disappear.
• I dream . . . my na1onality will disappear.
• I dream . . . my blood will disappear.
• I dream . . . my rights will disappear.
• I
dream
.
.
.
my
worth
will
disappear.
• I
dream
.
.
.
my
common
sense
will
disappear.
• I dream . . . my race will disappear.
• I dream . . . my property will disappear.
• I dream . . . my style will disappear.
• I dream . . . my fear will disappear.
• I dream . . . my duty will disappear.
• I dream . . . my authority will disappear.
• I
dream
.
.
.
my
power
will
disappear.
Related
work:
Lovers
1994
• Installa1on
version
of
S/N
• collabora1on
between
Furuhashi
and
Tokyo’s
Canon
Artlab
• projec1ons
onto
walls
and
floor
of
space
• Computer‐controlled,
five‐
channel
video/sound
installa1on
with
five
video
projectors,
eight‐channel
sound
system,
and
slide
projectors.
OR
1994
• Explaining the issue around the border of life and
death. And how technology is involved in to distinct
this border now. Idea came up from my experiences
in the hospital when my mother (cancer) died in
August, and my brother (traffic accident), my lover
(AIDS) in the past. How much the science can
control this border. How much our mind can control
this border. This is the border which all the humans
have to confront some day. teiji furuhashi. oct 1995
OR
installa1on
• Images of
death, looked
at from
various view
points, be it
religious,
philosophical,
medical,
cultural or
emotional…
Kyupi
Kyupi
‐
Audio
visual
performance
unit
founded
in
1996
• While maintaining a base
of activities in Kyoto, their
audiovisual works and
performances have been
shown at museums in
Paris, New York and
London
• ‘videoworks suited to
private spaces and live
works at public venues,
directly stimulating the
senses via diverse
platforms transcending
media barriers’
Influences
• kawaii culture (hello
Kitty etc)
• Manga graphic novel
culture - mainstream in
japan
• Cyberculture with the
emphasis on WAP and
mobile phone
technologies (internet –
enabled mobiles)
BLAST
THEORY
• (1991‐
present)
• Ma`
Adams,
Ju
Row
Farr
and
Nick
Tandavanitj
based
in
London
Company
statement
• Blast theory ‘explores interactivity and the
relationship between real and virtual space with
a particular focus on the social and political
aspects of technology. It confronts a media
saturated world in which popular culture rules,
using video, computers, performance,
installation, mobile and online technologies to
ask questions about the ideologies present in
the information that envelops us.’
• Since
2000,
Blast
Theory
has
been
exploring
the
convergence
of
online
and
mobile
technologies
in
collabora1on
with
the
Mixed
Reality
Lab,
University
of
Novngham
• Recent
Projects
include
the
award‐winning
Can
You
See
Me
Now?,
Uncle
Roy
All
Around
You
and
I
Like
Frank
‐
the
world's
first
mixed
reality
game
for
3G
phones.
Staging
media
Kidnap
1998
• In 1998 Blast Theory launched a lottery in which
the winners had the chance to be kidnapped.
Ten finalists around England and Wales were
chosen at random and put under surveillance.
Two winners were then snatched in broad
daylight and taken to a secret location where
they were held for 48 hours.
• http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/kidnap/regform.htm
Kidnap
• The two winners were Debra
Burgess, a 27 year old
Australian working as a temp
and Russell Ward, a 19 year
old from Southend working
in a 24 hour convenience
store.The whole process
was broadcast live onto the
internet. Online visitors were
able to control the video
camera inside the safehouse
and communicate live with
the kidnappers.
Desert
Rain
2000
• ‘A game, an installation and a performance placing participants
in a collaborative virtual environment and sending them on a
mission into a virtual world. In a world where Gulf War images
echo Hollywood images, where Norman Schwarzkopf blurs into
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Desert Rain looks for the feint line
between the real and the fictional.’
Desert
Rain
• You have 30
minutes to find the
target, complete the
mission, and get to
the final room,
where others may
have a very different
idea of what actually
happened out there.
New media performance in
Australia
• Performance
Space
(1980‐present)
• Denis
Beaubois;
‘In
the
Event
of
Amnesia
the
City
will
Recall’
(1998
New
York)
• The
KingPins:
Técha Noble b.1977, Emma
Price b.1975, Katie Price b.1978,
Anglelica Mesiti b.1976