“Yet despite this growing focus on the lived, experiential body there is still a distinct lack of attention given to the central role of movement in perception and cognition, in our agency to act in the world and our experience of it [Merleau-Ponty 1962; Sheets- Johnstone 1999]. The emphasis on understanding the felt experience of moving and keeping it alive within a human-centered design process that shifts back and forth between the multiple perspectives of mover, observer, and machine is an effort to provide a balance to the extensive amount of existing research from a technology-centric perspective (e.g., computer vision and motion analysis)” (Loke and Robertson 2013:2).
For the Orbital Resonance Workshop and Performance, an attuned focus on the body was crucial. In addition to the importance of sound to our work, movement was the initiator and impetus for the conceptual, technological, and physical manifestation. One of the main research goals was to create a digital, computational performance that can promote transdisciplinary, horizontal collaborative approaches between dance performance studies and technological design in non-conventional spaces. |
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Both Westby and Chandolias have a key interest in dance performance and technology, stemming from their backgrounds. Westby has studied dance since a child, receiving her training at Interlochen, The Ailey School, a BA degree in Dance and Communication Arts at Marymount Manhattan College in NYC, and a MA degree in Contemporary Performance Making at Brunel University in London, England. She has utilized technology in corporate environments in her employment history and in collaborative art projects in interactive installations, films, and sound projects. Chandolias received training in contemporary and ballet techniques from the State School of Dance in Thessaloniki, Greece. Through his personal training, he began to understand the potentials of the human body and how it can create meaningful expressions collectively or individually in an artistic and/or conceptual setting. His educational background consists of a Bachelor and Masters degree in the field of Electrical and Computer Engineering with specialization in Electronics and Computer Engineering. In addition, he has worked as an interactive media artist and developer with an interest in designing responsive environments. Both our backgrounds supported and motivated us to undergo such a project. During the process of Orbital Resonance, one of the important elements in having the residency at Concordia’s Blackbox was to have enough space to experiment with the potentials of dance movement enhanced by technological apparatuses. We dove into multiple exercises and improvisations informed by a cross-fertilization of different kinaesethic methodologies. We cross-fertilized the following techniques: |
In addition, we created our own exercises and improvisations based on conceptual frameworks in the form of text to inform movement studies. We created the text by automatic writing about our umbrella themes of breathe, heartbeat, muscle, speed, and spatial relationships. In random combinations of the text, we created movement studies based on the conglomerate of words with specific directives of movement qualities, positions, and body parts. At the end of each study, we would write down and discuss our observations in terms of the relationships that were created, of the ease or tension felt in certain movements, of our use of space and time, and of what was communicated most productively in relation to our overall intention. The improvisations and studies fostered the collaborative, non-authoritative positions we wanted to maintain. In addition, all of the methodologies tested out in the process organized the creation of the performance event to a public audience.
The images below show some of the technologies used in the process and performance event. Movements were mapped in various ways to extract and output different information. One option is to use camera tracking and motion analysis software to create an x,y position for the body in space, as well as track and extract qualitative movement data information. Another option is to use micro-controllers and sensors on the body to detect detailed micro-movements. The first image is a screenshot of the open source Core Vision Community's platform. It takes a video input stream and can conduct background subtraction, movement analysis, orientation and identification of moving bodies in the space with no sensors attached. The second image demonstrates our module in Max/MSP that allows the user to map and define active areas in the space. The quantity of movement in a certain area defines the various parameters. The third image is a screenshot of our VVVV patch, creating a x,y position for the bodies in space and assigning a projected light to them. The fourth image is of our Max/MSP patch that calculates proximity between the participants in the space. Finally, the fifth image is a screenshot of our module created for the xOSC wireless board to extract the information from the built-in sensors. |