Body and Movement Visualisations in New Media Dance

摘要

The primacy of vision in perception and the critique of disembodiment have been central issues in new media theory and remain troublesome in digital culture discussions. These concerns matter to performance artists and they partially explain why digital technologies are scarcely used to make and show new compositions outside the theatre venue. However, some new media dance artworks exist, which are good examples that counterweigh associations of the digital with the artificial, and fears that the body evaporates in the information network and screen surfaces of virtual reality. Combining Frank Popper's concept of techno-aesthetics with principles of dance analysis, this paper discusses three different projects where body and movement visualizations depend on the technologies and ideas involved to make the artworks. Popper argues that virtual art humanizes computer technologies with its emphasis on interactivity and multisensorial features, reflecting a new philosophical understanding of the virtual. I propose extending his framework, which is aimed at the plastic arts, to analyse works where dance has a principal position. This will highlight how the artists draw on the technique by assimilating the medium, and the artworks humanize technology hence drawing on the philosophical debate.