Video/animation Archive

Questions and Answers

1. Just because you can; should you?
2. Just because you did; do we have to see it?
3. Is a cyborg performance character an extension – physically or psychologically or behaviorally- of the human person who puts the information into the computer? Or does the computer re-order or change the programmer’s intent? To what extent is the final cyborg performance character the human programmer’s creation?
4. Where there any “ah-ha” moments during the workshop when media or cyber-media made apparent experiences of time/space/place/new vs. mediated existence for you? Describe.
5. When considering the interface between a cyber-human performer and the computer that process information, what are some performing situations in which you might choose one to control the other? Why would you want to do this? How much control?
6. What are the three most interesting possibilities for you when you consider the creative process in virtual environments?
7. What are the artistic, intellectual, visceral and emotional issues that can be addressed using computerized/animated, interactive and virtual technologies?
8. How do we create structures for performances that open up unfamiliar technologies to the audience/viewers? Is this important, and if so, why?
9. Describe your experience of working with the Dance Forms, Poser and 3D MAX in the context of creating virtual performers and environments for stage performance. How was you creative process informed by your experience in the mediated stage environment?
10. Where is the choreography located in multimedia and multi-site performance works? Is it in the creation and invocation of animations and media objects? In the movement of the performers within a space? Or in the interactions and coordinated effort of people acting together thousands of miles apart?
11. Provide a simple and clear explanation of how the Very Nervous System works, "differencing" and the concept of triggers.
12. Describe your experience in working with the MAX/MSP interface in real time in co-operation with the other artists in the space - as you change those tiny parameters on the screen - what are you looking for? Is it an intuitive process for you?
13. What is MAX/MSP and what is softVNS - and how and why are we using these two technologies here in this workshop?
14. What are some of the fundamental differences and/ or similarities between the experience of those who are on the stage and those who are behind the computers?
15. What do you expect the audience to feel, get, understand, read or interpret from an event where triggers are setting off random elements in the program?
16. Describe how working with animation software has informed your movement invention and choreography, and how do your movement and choreographic preferences inform your animation work?
17. Write about the gap or lack of one you feel might exist between the dancers/choreographers, media or technical artists and some of the reasons for this.
18. Write about a few of the compositional strategies you are using either as a choreographer or as a media/ technical artist. Are there differences between analog and digital strategies?
19. What do you imagine would make an interesting viewing experience for the web audience?
20. What can you say you have learned after the 10 full working days of the workshop?
21. Where do you see the issues of content and form evolving within the context of the workshop – specifically ideas of media as mirror/constructing self, the concept of the cyborg, issues of remote presence, and the use of navigable structures/invisible space?
22. As far back as the early 1960s, Joseph Svoboda and Merce Cunningham experimented with (respectively) live remote television streams in performance as well as triggering environments. What makes this work we are doing today new or not? Is there a particular set of aesthetics and / or compositional strategies that might be unique to this sort of artwork? Do you think this type of artwork or creative experience will become more common in the future and why?
23. It is clear that there was a limited amount we could accomplish in two the weeks that we were together. What are the areas you think would be useful to explore further and why?
24. Describe some aspect of your experience dancing in a mediated space.

 Images

Brainstorming for Project 1

Brainstorming for Project 1