Dear friends

this is our next stimulating Club event, DON'T MISS IT!
::
*
NEW THURSDAY CLUB on 8 MARCH with SUE BROADHURST*

Supported by the Goldsmiths DIGITAL STUDIOS and the Goldsmiths GRADUATE 
SCHOOL

6pm until 8pm, Lecture Theatre at Ben Pimlott Building (Ground Floor, 
right), Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, SE14 6NW

FREE, ALL ARE WELCOME


*DIGITAL PRACTICES*

Performance and technology in all its divergent forms is an emergent 
area of performance practice which reflects a certain being in the world 
- a Zeitgeist; in short, it provides a reflection of our contemporary 
world at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In a relatively 
short period of time there has been an explosion of new technologies 
that have infiltrated all areas of life and irrevocably altered our 
lives. Consequences of this technological permeation are both 
ontological and epistemological, and not without problems as we see our 
world change from day to day.

Exemplary digital practices are Blue Bloodshot Flowers (2001), featuring 
an avatar called Jeremiah, Merce Cunningham’s Biped (2000) with its 
virtual dancers, and Stelarc’s “obsolete body”; in film, the digital 
innovation and creativity of The Matrix trilogy (1999-2003) and the Star 
Wars prequels (1999-2005); in sound and new media interactive practices, 
the digitally manipulated sound of Optik, the “intermedia” of 
Palindrome, and the “electronic disturbance” of Troika Ranch; and in 
Bioart, the “recombinant theater” of Critical Arts Ensemble, and the 
“phenotypical reprogramming” and “functional portraits” of Marta de Menezes.

In my opinion the quintessential features within much of this 
performance demand a new mode of analysis which foregrounds the inherent 
tensions between the physical and virtual. These practices, in different 
ways, emphasize the body and technology in performance and they explode 
the margins between the physical and virtual and what is seen as 
dominant traditional art practices and innovative technical 
experimentation. Therefore, my main premise is the exploration and 
investigation into the physical/virtual interface so prevalent within 
the digital.

As a development of my previous theorization on liminality I believe 
that aesthetic theorization is central to this analysis. However, other 
approaches are also valid, particularly, those offered by recent 
research into cognitive neuroscience, particularly in relation to the 
emergent field of “neuro-esthetics” where the primary objective is to 
provide “an understanding of the biological basis of aesthetic 
experience” (Zeki 1999).


SUE BROADHURST is a writer and performance practitioner, Reader in Drama 
and Technology, and the Head of Drama Studies in the School of Arts, 
Brunel University, West London. She is author of Liminal Acts: A 
Critical Overview of Contemporary Performance and Theory, London: 
Cassell/New York: Continuum, 1999, Digital Practices: Aesthetic and 
Neuroesthetic Approaches to Performance and Technology (forthcoming, 
2007), Performance and Technology: Practices of Virtual Embodiment and 
Interactivity (Palgrave MacMillan, 2006) together with various articles 
including ‘Interaction, Reaction and Performance: The Jeremiah Project’, 
The Drama Review, MIT Press 48, (4): 47-57. Sue is currently working on 
a series of collaborative practice based research projects entitled, 
“Intelligence, Interaction, Reaction and Performance,” which involve 
introducing various interactive digital technologies into live 
performance including, artificial intelligence, 3D film, modeling and 
animation, and motion tracking. She is also editor of the Body, Space & 
Technology on-line journal <http://www.brunel.ac.uk/bst/>.
-- 

...and the last Thursday Club of this term will be on

22 MARCH with IGLOO

International and award winning artists igloo create intermedia 
artworks, led by Ruth Gibson & Bruno Martelli.

‘In the mid-sixties, Fluxus artists began using the term 'intermedia' to 
describe work that was ....composed of multiple media. The term 
highlights the intersection of artistic genres and has gradually 
emphasized performative work and projects that employ new technologies.’ 
[Marisa Olson - Rhizome.org]

igloo projects are created with teams of highly skilled practitioners 
drawn primarily from performance, music, design, architecture, costume, 
computer science and technology backgrounds. Their work combines film, 
video, motion capture technology, music and performance with digital 
technology. The work is developed in a variety of formats and made for 
distribution across a range of platforms, including gallery 
installation, internet sites, large and small scale performance and Cd Rom.
Visit www.igloo.org.uk/
-- 


THE THURSDAY CLUB is an open forum discussion group for anyone 
interested in the theories and practices of cross-disciplinarity, 
interactivity, technologies and philosophies of the state-of-the-art in 
today’s (and tomorrow’s) cultural landscape(s).

For more information check http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/gds/events.php or 
email maria x at [log in to unmask]
To find Goldsmiths check http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/find-us/

-- 
Maria Chatzichristodoulou [aka maria x] PhD Art and Computational 
Technologies Goldsmiths Digital Studios www.cybertheater.org

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