Course Description


What does it mean to perform through/with/in digital media? How can artists harness new media and available technology for performance work? Further, how do we perform the daily use of technology? To investigate these questions we will begin by examining avant-garde practices in theater and literature during the 50s, 60s and 70s together with media art of the 80s and 90s. We will then trace these foundations within contemporary approaches to performance work. While pursuing the practice, history, and theory of performing in and through media, students develop a final project that responds to class themes. An emphasis on concept ensures that students of all technical levels are welcome to engage in theater workshops, class writing exercises, and technical labs Short curated readings will augment our creative practice and fall within broad categories: theoretical texts in performance and media, scripts, interventions in online communities, screenings of installation and performance documentation, video art, games, digital literature, sound recordings, project pamphlets, and reviews. To inspire our work in emerging genres we will consider a variety of artists that perform with media beyond the confines of a computer screen including : The Wooster Group, Alan Sondheim, Laurie Anderson, Judd Morrissey & Mark Jeffery, Nico Muhly, Lynn Hershman, Brian Eno, Janet Cardiff, and George Higgs.


Sunday, January 9, 2011

Week 2: Embodiment/Class and Assignment for 1/11/11

quick administrative work before critique.
  • pass around attendance sign-up sheet.
  • reminder about assignments + attendance.
quirky internet favorite: the worst music video ever. remake 1 remake 2 remake 3

Warm-up 20-30 min.
spread out throughout the room equidistant from your neighbors.
  1. Stage 1: hone your center of focus:Listen to the sounds inside the room, then sounds outside the room, then sounds next to or near you, then focus on the sounds you make or inside you. These sounds show your CIRCLE OF ATTENTION, whether it is focused or distanced.
  2. Stage 2: Keep your center of focus on yourself but also extend gently outward to your neighbor. Without a leader, as a collective walk around the room with a spatial awareness slowly at first and then crescendo. Decrescendo together. Stop.
  3. Stage 3: Move again. This time experience the difference of being led by different body parts. Without exaggerating this movement: imagine that the weight and pull of different body parts are directing your center of gravity, as if a invisible string was joining the to pull you forward.
Critique for performing the Avatar assignment.
pass out performance suggestions.

Assignment due 1/11/11!
Monday-Tuesday Resources.

View resources and read texts below. We will spend a bit of time in class on "inputting" the values/notions we are able to get from these materials. Bring a comment/critique/question with you to class and be prepared to engage in a short discussion. Before Wednesday, email me with the feedback you prepared for class.

Quickly view the following resources and choose two to read in-depth. Specify the articles in the email you send before Wednesday:

Edit: choose two minimum from the below section as stated above.

Review the following artists/sources
-out of theme but essential group to know about BLAST THEORY
Could this be considered a dance performance?
Laurie Anderson's Home of the Brave
Telematic Collaborative Dance
Mortal Engine by Chunky Move
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/729789/projector_performance_art/
Posted by sgorman at 11:27 PM

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