norman on Wed, 29 Jul 1998 15:10:50 +0100 |
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Syndicate: demo-performance |
Dear Syndicate, info concerning a public presentation of our workshop, about to start up at the International Puppetry Institute. If anybody's in the Karlsruhe vicinity on August 15th, it would be good to see you - but please note that the Medientheater has a rather limited capacity, so it would be wise to book. Please note also that the Institute for Music and Acoustics is programming a workshop presentation that same evening, moreover the final evening for Perry Hoberman's Unexpected Obstacles exhibition, a "night café" discussion being programmed with Perry. In short, this could/ should be a lively moment at the ZKM. We'll certainly do our utmost to make it unforgettable. Best wishes to all of you who are currently embarking on insane estival activities; it's nice to know there are others riding out the Ship of Fools. SJN REAL GESTURES, VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS Public demonstration/ performance, ZKM Medientheater, 15th August Booking for tickets opens on August 1 at the ZKM infodesk. Limited number of spectators, tickets priced 10 DM. Telephone number : 0049 - 721 - 8100 1200 This demonstration-performance presents the results of a two-week workshop held under the joint aegis of the ZKM Institute of Visual Media, as part of its extended performance research for the European i3 eRENA project, and the Institut International de la Marionnette (IIM) in Charleville-Mézières, France, as part of its regular professional training programme. The workshop aims to implicate corporeal and gestural art in the animation of real-time digital image configurations; various kinds of computer generated environments will be invested with puppeteering and gestural skills often lacking in the computer graphics world. The workshop's technology-free, bare boards phase at the IIM is focused on body-object relations, using simple geometric objects made of an array of materials with clearly different physical characteristics and behaviours. The objects will be used as puppets in the execution of a number of action sequences, to allow their handlers to grasp the specific dynamic implications of the various figures and materials, and to "interpret" these qualities to dramatic effect.We shall investigate the notion of "interface" in its simplest forms as manifest in puppetry, i.e. as the mechanisms used to animate and "bring alive" a puppet (e.g. strings and rods). During the second week, working at the ZKM with a repertory of computer-generated "doubles" of the geometric figures, scenarios developed with the physical objects will be subjected to a range of technically distinct configurations, using various kinds of trackers and software. The physical objects will be brought to the ZKM to enable comparison of the performance qualities of the digitised real figures with those of their computer-derived counterparts, and exploration of the "mappability" of physical object behaviour to computer generated bodies. Different computer settings will be used (static and dynamic, abstract or integrating figurative elements), and effects of these environmental changes on the scenarios will be exploited for their dramatic implications. Our workshop seeks to explore the mixed boundaries between physical and digital objects and spaces, and our final evening will be a public showing of "work in progress", rather than the staging of a polished performance. We intend to make our "live research results" creative, playful, and communicative â?? even though they are largely unpredictable ! PARTICIPANTS Ariane Andereggen Swiss actress; performance/ installation and video artist Cyril Bourgois French puppeteer, National School of Puppetry, Charleville-Mézières Carlo Caloro Italian puppeteer (string, glove, shadow); leather mask maker, commedia dell'arte actor Susan Kozel Irish dancer, choreographer, philosopher; creator of several telematic performance experiments Britta Lenk German puppeteer (string, glove, shadow and paper) Reina Perdomo Venezuelan interactive multimedia designer, dancer and choreographer Ramon Rivero Mexican-New Zealand puppeteer, 3D character and special effects animator Iwan Peter Scheer Belgian 3D animator, motion capture and games specialist, mime Gisèle Vienne Austrian puppeteer, National School of Puppetry, Charleville-Mézières Kirk Woolford American artist, programmer and designer Workshop director Sally Jane Norman Institut für Bildmedien, ZKM [http://www.zkm.de] Institut International de la Marionnette, Charleville-Mézières [http://www.ardennes.com/asso/iim] eRENA [http://nada.kth.se/erena/]