The Sound of Movement Wearables: Performing UKIYO

Abstract

Chor eographic principles of composition are largely directed at the creation of movement and the temporal organization of moving bodies in space. Some choreographers (e.g. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui) think of this process as "temporary drawings" [1]; others (e.g. William Forsythe) work with complexity theories in mind and develop spatial methodologies for bodily extensions into environments that negotiate the intervals between presence (states of being) and transmutable movement in multiple ways. In tanztheater, the dancers' presence resonates with darker undertones-emotional turmoils acted out through obsessively repeated gestures and acute physical/psychic self-revelation (see the work of Pina Bausch) [2]. In comparison, Japanese butoh dance contains its metaphysics in movement that slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, lives and breathes an interior world, the body metamorphosing between spirit, flesh and matter, animal and human forms, ineffable shapes.Choreography always writes the presence of bodies in the theater in particular ways, but in contemporary digital or mixed-reality performance, such writing is now considered to be taking place in processual biogrammatic events or assemblages articulated through performative interfaces or "transductions," as Sher Doruff calls them [3]. The performing bodies perform with or through media, with accessories and within compositional matrices-programmed environments-that can affect multiple sensory perceptions. What we propose in this essay are questions that primarily concern sound wearability and transformability of sound and sounding bodies in choreography, shifting attention to the design processes of creating particularized audiophonic, amplificatory and kinaesonic costumes to be worn by dancers, actors and musicians. Design processes take over core dramaturgical propositions, but as movement and sound propositions they also constitute new aesthetic challenges for perceptual experiences in interactive and immersive installations.We ask, firstly, how the functions and aesthetics of body-worn technologies enhance the bodies' engagement with the environment as transmitters, receivers and enablers of sensory information; and, secondly, how one can develop new design processes in the context of different cultural dance vocabularies through 20th-and 21st-century technology and its impact on aural perception-and thus how wearability can enhance listeners' performance of the audible or performativity of sound. The WearabiliTy of Sound: audible inTimacieSIntimate wearables (garments or accessories) challenge performers and audiences alike when the focus of a work's aesthetic design is directed at creating particular sound characters that subtly redefine the idea of the "instrument" as well as dance's temporal drawings-especially the latter's gestural, narrative and erotic characteristics. The "instrument" here is both an object (a musical device created for the purpose of making musical sounds) and a body. The performers engage their instrument and invite the audience to observe, ...

Wireless Body-worn Sound System for Dance and Music Performance

“…An important aspect of the project presented here was the impact that the wearable sound system had on audiences and performers during rehearsals and presentations. In line with reactions to previous performance projects developed using wireless sound systems, feedback from presentations with the body-worn system showed that sound wearable devices are very effective tools to establish a direct and close connection with audiences (Powell 2007; Birringer and Danjoux 2013: 232–4). Further studies with wearable sound devices should consider ways of assessing this impact in different kinds of performance scenarios by employing a suitable evaluation method such as tests with trained panels (Bech and Zacharov 2006: 112–17), context-methods surveys such as the ones proposed by Wilson and Harrison (Wilson and Harrison 2010b: 250) or perceptual studies exploring spatial features of electroacoustic music performance in concert halls (Lynch and Sazdov 2011; Sazdov 2011: 22–7).…”

Foundations in Sound Design for Interactive Media

“…For a comprehensive delineation the design-inmotion method, see Danjoux 2017. Other publications on choreosonic wearables and kinetic atmospheres include Birringer 2013Birringer , 2017bBirringer and Danjoux 2009a, 2009bDanjoux 2014. 4 Earlier in the 1960s, and concerning the notion of media as extensions to the communication condition of the present body, sociologist Erving Goffman had discussed (analog) technologies such as microphones and other mechanical devices as "boosting devices"-to amplify and augment the naked senses (Goffman 1963, p. 14).…”

Challenges for Creating and Staging Interactive Costumes for the Theatre Stage

“…But in our literature overview we did not find any projects that integrate interactive costumes. This is different in performance arts, where computational systems often relate to the performer's body [1,4,16,28]. The majority attaches technologies to the performer and generates audio feedback from movement [4].…”

“…There are dozens of examples but many are technical demos [6,19], proofs of principle [3], or fashion prototypes [15] and art pieces [4,28]. Beyond these, the potential of computational clothing for specific applications still needs to be demonstrated; in particular we need to ensure that it can integrate into existing practices and infrastructures.…”