27,212 research outputs found
Artistic value and spectatorsâ emotions in dance performances
Our experiences of art are framed by the context and the rules that apply to it. Not only the theatre where performing arts are enjoyed, but also art museums displaying paintings, sculptures, installations and other artistic objects, dictate the distance to the pieces and the type of sensory perception permitted to the visitors. How art is presented to us reflects traditional established settings that determine the conditions of our appreciation and that have become part of each artâs ontology. Moreover, what we are allowed to do in those public contexts, when confronted with art works, reflects the artistic value attached to them. But, in some cases, there seems to be a tension between the borders erected by categories of artistic value and the affective reactions by the perceivers. In this paper I will discuss contexts (original, transplanted and mediated) and perceptual conventions for dance art, and how these define spectatorsâ roles and impact on their emotional responses to dance performances. In particular, I will focus on negative reactions to dance art to argue that the use of moving human bodies presents specific affective challenges to audiences
The performance of pain: the consequences for the performing body and its portrayal of mental health
In 2001 the performance artist Kira OâReilly wrote an article for A-N magazine1 that reflected on the institutional anxieties provoked by âWet Cupâ a performance that includes the cutting and suctioning of her flesh through âcuppingâ to draw blood. The art institution, despite inviting OâReilly to perform the work, demonstrated their fears at showing âriskyâ work through a process which aimed to sanction the âhealthâ of the artwork and subsequently its reflections on the artist herself. They asked OâReilly to respond to various health and safety demands to account for her mental state and bodily health to prove that she was âsafeâ to perform2. In asking her to conform to their demands they were making both internal and public assurances that the work was art and not the product of catharsis or breakdown. The institutional unease that OâReilly could be acting out a psychiatric or psychological disorder through âWet Cupâ demonstrated the sense of mistrust the performing body can instill.
Kira OâReillyâs experience follows a tradition within performance art that inflicts physical pain or suffering. In situating the physical or psychological transgressive within easy and âliveâ grasp this type of practice presents the performing body as a confrontation to be negotiated. Indeed, when an artist chooses to cut or open their body or remove it from social interaction, their motives are scrutinized for deviance, distress and sanity. Are they mad, eccentric or just responding to questions that ask what it is to be observed and physical creative objects? This paper will analyse the consequences of making performance from physical acts of pain and how this can be understood as sane regarding institutional and public risk. It will reflect on the trauma, stigma and perceptive danger involved with making performance work that includes cutting, or isolating the body from more regular, everyday activity. The paper will reflect on the consequences for the artist, and perceptions of their health both in, and beyond the gallery. The year long works by Tehching Hsieh and the exploration of physical and mental limits through performance by Marina AbramoviÄ with be examined along with OâReilly
Empowering audiences to measure quality
This paper addresses four indicators of the audience experience in the performing arts: knowledge, risk, authenticity and collective engagement, and argues that these provide a measure of the audience\u27s experience of the quality of a performance. Qualitative interviews with four performing arts companiesdemonstrated a range of strategies for gathering audience feedback. In particular, the paper addresses systems for gathering "deep feedback" by audiences, and argues that these are a means of collecting information about the quality of the audience experience. "Deep feedback" is a critical mechanism by which performing arts organisations can engage in audience development and audiences are empowered to measure quality.<br /
Review: Interject, Disrupt, Vanish
Review of the performance: Interject, Disrupt, Vanish
Choreography, controversy and child sex abuse: Theoretical reflections on a cultural criminological analysis of dance in a pop music video
This article was inspired by the controversy over claims of âpedophilia!!!!â undertones and the âtriggeringâ of memories of childhood sexual abuse in some viewers by the dance performance featured in the music video for Siaâs âElastic Heartâ (2015). The case is presented for acknowledging the hidden and/or overlooked presence of dance in social scientific theory and cultural studies and how these can enhance and advance cultural criminological research. Examples of how these insights have been used within other disciplinary frameworks to analyse and address child sex crime and sexual trauma are provided, and the argument is made that popular cultural texts such as dance in pop music videos should be regarded as significant in analysing and tracing public perceptions and epistemologies of crimes such as child sex abuse
Time as a strand of the dance medium
Time and space are at the core of our aesthetic experiences of dance performances, yet dance has been frequently categorised as a space-based art. In this paper I revise the choreological perspective developed by Preston-Dunlop and SĂĄnchez-Colberg that conceives dance as an embodied performative art articulated in a multistranded medium (performer, movement, sound, space). I argue that time should be allowed a distinct place in the choreological discourse since its presence is key to the expressivity of a dance piece. I conceptualise the meaning of the time strand and expose how different substrands emerge, connect with others and become expressive in dance performances. My investigation considers in particular the aesthetics of time in live performances in the theatre compared to dances created for the camera, focusing specifically on instances of contemporary transpositions from one context to the other
Theatre Noise Conference
Three days of Performances, Installations, Residencies, Round Table Discussions, Presentations and Workshops
More than an academic conference, Theatre Noise is a diverse collection of events exploring the sound of theatre from performance to the spaces inbetween.
Featuring keynote presentations, artists in residence, electroacoustic, percussive and digital performances, industry workshops and installations, Theatre Noise is an immersive journey into sound
Generative theatre of totality
Generative art can be used for creating complex multisensory and multimedia experiences within predetermined aesthetic parameters, characteristic of the performing arts and remarkably suitable to address Moholy-Nagy's Theatre of Totality vision. In generative artworks the artist will usually take on the role of an experience framework designer, and the system evolves freely within that framework and its defined aesthetic boundaries. Most generative art impacts visual arts, music and literature, but there does not seem to be any relevant work exploring the cross-medium potential, and one could confidently state that most generative art outcomes are abstract and visual, or audio. It is the goal of this article to propose a model for the creation of generative performances within the Theatre of Totality's scope, derived from stochastic Lindenmayer systems, where mapping techniques are proposed to address the seven variables addressed by Moholy-Nagy: light, space, plane, form, motion, sound and man ("man" is replaced in this article with "human", except where quoting from the author), with all the inherent complexities
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