[-empyre-] Virtual Embodiment: week 3

[Simon Biggs]

Welcome to the third week of the July discussion on  –empyre–  soft-skinned space:

Moderated by Sue Hawksley (UK/AUS) and Simon Biggs (AUS/UK) with invited discussants Susan Kozel (SE), Johannes Birringer (UK), Samantha Gorman (USA), Sophia Lycouris (UK), Tamara Ashley (UK), Garth Paine (USA), Hellen Sky (AUS), Daniel Tercio (PT), Sally Jane Norman (NZ/FR) and Sarah Whatley (UK).

The month's discussion engages issues concerning 'virtual embodiment'. This theme is open to interpretation - suggesting concepts and practices that are situated in the physical, the computational, the imaginative, the metaphysical or all of these spaces, depending on context. Facebook's acquisition of Oculus, developers of the Rift virtual reality headset, promises to make a new virtual experiential space popularly available. This raises questions about the impact of the virtual when it converges with popular social media. As shared VR experiences becomes pervasive how might social conventions shift and notions of selfhood and collective evolve? What might a collective virtual experience contribute to notions of extended or distributed mind, agency or identity? Does virtual embodiment depend on, augment or replace bodily practices? What will the quotidian affects be?

Thanks to the second week of our discussion's invited discussants Samantha Gorman and Sophia Lycouris, as well as those who contributed to the discussion. During the second week of discussion the focus has been upon the body in space and whether the virtual constitutes a new kind of space or represents as different mode of engagement with the spaces we already inhabit. The terms 'virtual' and 'immersion' were questioned within this context and the principle of energy flows identified as a way to appreciate how we interact in representational spaces. Theatrical space and language were explored and the pressure to adopt a photo-realistic approach to visualisation questioned. We hope these themes will continue to be unpacked as the discussion develops further.

For the third week of discussion around 'virtual embodiment' we welcome Garth Paine, Hellen Sky and Tamara Ashley:

Garth Paine is the Associate Director of the School of Arts Media and Engineering and Digital Culture program at Arizona State University where he is also Professor of Digital Sound and Interactive Media. He is particularly fascinated with sound as an exhibitable object. This passion has led to several interactive responsive environments where the inhabitant generates the sonic landscape through their presence and behaviour. It has also led to several music scores for dance works, generated through realtime video tracking and/or bio-sensing of the dancers. His work has been shown throughout Australia, Europe, Japan, USA, South America, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Dr Paine is internationally regarded as an innovator in the field of interactivity in experimental music and media arts. His URL is http://www.activatedspace.com

Hellen Sky is an Australian digital choreographer/performer/director/writer. Her projects bridge dance, performance and installation at times extended through new technologies and data generated by the moving body as a fluid interface between micro-movements, media, virtual-electronic and physical architectures, words and objects. As co-founder of new media performance company Company in Space (1992-2004) and as Hellen Sky and Collaborators she has presented work across Australia and internationally.

Tamara Ashley is the Artistic Director of dancedigital.  To this role she brings a strong background in conceptual thinking and experimental performance practice in dance improvisation, somatics, live arts and new media.  ​Through the organisation, she supports and nurtures artists working with dance and new technologies, seeks to develop conversations with practitioners across disciplines and engages in research to develop thinking, tools and products for the dance sector.  As a researcher, Tamara has focused upon the application of qualitative research paradigms to creative and practical research. Tamara has undertaken studies that explore dance improvisation and somatics in environmental and digital performance, with publications in the Choreographic Practices Journal; Theatre, Dance and Performance and Training; Contact Quarterly and has published book chapters on choreography, site-sensitive performance and improvisation.  A committed educator, she lectures on practice as research in the PhD programme at the University of Limerick and is a Senior Lecturer in Dance at the University of Bedfordshire. 


Simon Biggs
simon at littlepig.org.uk  |  @_simonbiggs_ 
http://www.littlepig.org.uk  |  http://amazon.com/author/simonbiggs

simon.biggs at unisa.edu.au  |  Professor of Art, University of South Australia
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?name=simon.biggs

s.biggs at ed.ac.uk  |  Honorary Professor, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/edinburgh-college-art/school-of-art/staff/staff?person_id=182&cw_xml=profile.php

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