Here is my personal website that shows my work from this course in relation to my interest in dance and technology.
Reflection
Through creating a website for my project proposal, I learned a lot concerning my personal art form–dance–and topics from “Writing in the Visual Arts” such as arts-based research and multimodal composing. Since I am very familiar with the art of dance having been a coach, choreographer, and dancer myself, as well as taking classes the relate to dance, I did not expect to expand my knowledge about dance. In this course, I was encouraged to look at dance from the perspective of technology, which is something that I had never put much thought into. Through looking at the relationship between dance and technology, I came to the realization that technology can be used to advance the art form while still keeping the element of live performance with real dancers. Through research, I was able to find a good amount of information about how light technology is used in dance, but for my project proposal I wanted to bring technology into the art of dance in a different way that would have the potential to get the audience more involved in the performance.
When someone goes to a dance show whether it is a ballet or a showcase of styles, they expect to be a passive audience member who simply absorbs and appreciates the choreography that they are presented with. Through my project proposal of the Dance Remote, I was hoping to show how technology can be used to make the experience of watching a dance show more interactive. When I was creating my website, I wanted to simulate this interactive experience by creating buttons on a remote that take you through the website. Although my art form is dance and my proposal is about a dance performance, I wanted my website to focus mostly on the technology of the remote since this is the element of my proposal which gets the audience involved. I feel like this proposal really forced me to think out of the box when attempting to elevate the art of dance and update the art form with technology.
Prior to this project, I had never created a website or anything like a website. I would not consider myself a tech-savvy person, so the idea of creating a website definitely took me outside of my comfort zone. Through creating the website, however, I learned a lot about the work that goes into gaining an audience for something like a dance performance. When someone wants to go to a show, they often go online to the performance’s website in order to decide whether or not they want to buy tickets. The website must be easy to navigate and appealing to the eye in order for the general audience to be interested. I spent a lot of time attempting to create a website that I would be interested in if I were looking to purchase tickets for a show–especially a show that I was unfamiliar with.
Earlier in the course, we focused on arts-based research. In the creation of my website, I wanted to present an idea that could potentially be realistic. In order to do this, I had to figure out what elements make up a dance performance and which elements should be included on my Dance Remote. There is a lot that goes into dance that the audience does not see. Through creating my website, I was forced to look at these elements and introduce them to an audience that might not be familiar with dance. As a dancer, it is easy to talk about dance with other dancers because they know the terminology. It was a challenge for me to learn how to articulate dance in a way that a general audience would understand and connect with. I also created pages that had actual dancers and choreographers from history. This was interesting for me because it helped me in my own dance research to acknowledge pioneers of the different dance styles that I included on my page. I realized that I was more familiar with some people than others, but it was really cool how creating this website expanded my knowledge of where the styles I dance come from.
Poetics
When I came up with the Dance Remote experience, I had the concepts of interactivity and audience experience in mind. Dance Remote is a way of further engaging the audience in the art of dance with the use of new and evolving technology. By allowing the audience to choose and manipulate elements of the performance, the audience is no longer passive. The audience is more engaged in the performance because they influenced the outcome. With the purchase of a ticket, each audience member has access to a Dance Remote during the scheduled performance. The Dance Remote provides audience members with the opportunity to choose the dance style, theme, music genre, and props that will be used in the performance. A polling system collects the data from the Dance Remotes of the audience members to determine the elements of the dances that will be performed. As each show contains three acts, the audience has a total of three opportunities to see their selections be performed live on stage by our talented cast. The Dance Remote gives the audience access to countless combinations and possibilities, guaranteeing that each performance will be unique and an experience to remember.
In the creation of this website, my goal was to create a site that was geared towards the audience just like the Dance Remote experience would be. On the home page, the viewer is confronted with a video mash-up of different dancers and styles of dance that all fit with one song. This is meant to show a potential customer of the event that a performance can still be great even as the elements of performance are changed and manipulated. There is a button on the video that takes the viewer to the description of the Dance Remote, but there is also the option to click the about button at the top of the page to learn more about what this experience is suppose to be. The about page also has a link to the remote page because this page is the most important on the site.
On the remote page than can be reached through the home page and the about page, there is further description about what the remote is and a picture of a remote with buttons that link to pages related to the choices available on the Dance Remote as a way of simulating the experience of using the remote to control the dance performance. The buttons on the remote link to a style page, theme page, music page, and prop page which all provide available options and descriptions for those audience members who may not be as familiar with dance. This dance experience and website is meant to be easy to navigate and be comprehensible for all potential audience members, not just those who are knowledgeable about dance.
Since the site is set up as a simulation of the experience, there is a page titled “Cast” which lists choreographers and dancers, as well as the creator just as a program would have at a live performance. He dancers and choreographers on my current site are all famous pioneers of dance to simulate the prestige of the projected cast that would be involved in this live performance experience. The last page is a ticket/contact page that would allow for people to experience Dance Remote for real after they are hooked from the simulation on the website. I also made a note that audiences for each performance are small which creates more demand for tickets as well as allows for each audience member to have a stronger vote in the performances.
While there are many pages to go through, the site is designed to be easy to navigate for even the least tech-savvy individuals and simulate the experience of Dance Remote to get the viewer engaged in the idea and give them the desire to experience it in person. It is also slightly repetitive to highlight key points and create a clear picture of an abstract idea.
Dance Remote
As a way to update the art of dance and create an interactive audience experience, I came up with the concept of the Dance Remote. This is a remote which is given to audiences at a live performance that allows them to manipulate the performance they are about to see. For more information, follow link to the site below:
Notes for Project 3
1. Key term/concept from reading(s) in class
-Audience experience specifically in live performance related to space, interactivity, technology
2. Example of contemporary art in network-digital media ecology — from your observation, research/classes, curation site
– http://vimeo.com/88320973
3. Fundamental category of your art field/praxis most interested to update (promising, generative, etc. for innovation?)
-dance performance
-use technology to create a different audience experience
-create a 3D audience experience
e.g. author/creator, medium, process, audience, delivery/display, material, genre/form, reception/critique (others?)
4. Title of (or term from) recent publication (“book”) “about” art in new media ecology
-interactivity in performance
-audience experience
Blue Man Group Proposal
After reviewing the Blue Man Group performance in downtown Denver, I was amazed by the way that technology was used within the show. While this show makes great use of technology and creates an illusion of interactivity, it would be interesting to see how technology can be used in the performance to create actual interactivity with the audience. Video technology is used in the show to display previously filmed footage mixed with live footage of the audience to create the illusion that certain performances we happening in real time. In one of the performances, the Blue Men put an audience member in a suit and sent them backstage where the audience in the auditorium watches footage of a person dressed the same as the selected audience member get tossed around to create a splatter paint piece of art. While this footage was filmed ahead of time (as it would be inappropriate to toss an actual audience member around like that), it is made to look like the footage is live.
In situations such as the one I have just described, it becomes necessary to use previously filmed footage to create an illusion for the audience. What I propose, however, is a way of using the technology that is on the stage and somehow bring it to the audience. Another act in the show uses three giant iPhones that the Blue Men interact with. As they step behind the phones, their heads become larger, they find themselves wearing silly hats, and they are shown playing instruments that they were not holding before. While this video footage must also be filmed ahead of time in order to create the illusion of the blue man interaction with the giant iPhones, it would be cool to somehow be able to show the videos that show up on the giant iPhones on the phones of the audience members. As the Blue Men interact with the giant iPhones on stage, audience members can look at their own phones and see the same images as they are happening on stage.
Although I do not know the logistics of how this could be possible in a live performance, it would definitely enhance the show and be a use of technology that encourages audience interaction. When talking about the Blue Man Group performance, the concept of “affect” comes up. This is an interesting term in relation to interactive experiences because it suggests that the performance can both affect the audience and be affected by the audience. While other elements of the show use audience participation to create different experiences in each performance, the ability to play a video that is shown on the stage in the audience members own devices could be a way that the audience could be affected by the performance.
In order to achieve this sort of audience interaction using the audience’s own devices would require creative thinking behind the scenes, preparation, and a way to get convent from the audience to interact with their personal devices. Without total consent, this interaction may not be possible because it would potentially be considered and invasion of property by the production; however, with the right technology and the right audience, this could be a revolutionary addition to the Blue Man Group show that uses technology to interact with the audience in a totally new and exciting way.
The Blue Man Group Review
When it comes to performance art, you can’t get much better than “The Blue Man Group”. This show came to the Buell Theater in downtown Denver October 10 to October 12, 2014. It’s was only in town for a few days, but it was worth seeing. Not only is this show entertaining for everyone in attendance, but it is quite literally a work of art itself. Incorporating drums, paint, sculpting, technology, and dancing, this performance showcases nearly every type o art that one might think of. It is a performance art that is watched as well as an art which is interactive as it involves audience participation. There is truly something for everyone in this entertaining performance.
The blue men themselves do not speak, but entertain through their actions. The show opens with the three blue men playing trash cans as drums. As they play, one of the blue men pours yellow paint on his drum. This creates a splatter effect as he continues to play his drum. Another blue man pours red paint on his drum and the men act as though they are amazed by the effect of the paint as they drum, causing them to add more paint. The amazement that the blue men project is shared by the audience as they perform on their drums. Not only is the music considered to be art, but the paint adds another element which creates a spectacle. The art is no longer just music, but a performance of color and comedy as the blue men act as though they have never seen anything so amazing.
The blue men do not stop with just pain on the drums; they use the paint to create actual art. As one of the blue men holds what appears to be a bag of marshmallows, the other two blue men prepare to entertain the audience with their artistic ability. After some elements of performance and comedic tricks, one of the blue men creates a splatter art canvas while the other creates a sculpture out of the marshmallows that he catches on his mouth. They then recreate an art auction as the blue men place price tags on their works of art. Two lucky audience members get to leave with these crazy pieces of art created by the men. Later in the performance, another work of art is also given away as the blue men paint around an audience member.
While music and gallery art find their place in the Blue Man Group’s performance, technology also has an essential part in the show. As the blue men entertain, they use lights, projections, and even video technology to entertain the audience. In one of the more strange parts of the show, one of the blue men sticks a camera down the throat of an audience member and the footage is shown on a screen on the stage for the rest of the audience to observe. With the use of technology, footage which had been previously filmed of someone’s throat is timed perfectly so that there is the illusion that the footage of the throat belongs to the audience member present. The use of technology creates a sort of optical illusion for the audience, adding to the spectacle of the performance. Even more, lights are used on the stage with invisible screens to create fake people who dance on the stage with the blue men. The boundaries between reality and a technological fantasy are blended.
While “The Blue Man Group” show is abstract and unlike any other performance art that is out there, it cannot be denied that this performance qualifies as art. With the use of actual art forms such as music, painting, and even interactive technology, the show is riddled with art. The blue men themselves are even art as they art painted blue and act as something which is foreign to this world. This alien-like character that is embodied by the three blue men adds to the spectacle and amazing nature of the performance that creates an experience to remember for everyone in attendance.
My Review
I attended a performance of the Blue Man Group in Downtown Denver and this is what I will be writing my review on. This applies to an art review because the show used many artistic elements to entertain the audience. It also used extensive technology. It applies to my field because it qualifies as a performance art that requires an audience to be present, just like a dance or theater performance would.
The review I plan to model is one of a Broadway theater performance in the New York Times. This is a good structure for the type of art that I am reviewing because it relates to performance art.
Point of view
In the article “FCJ-043 Multiple Perspectives / Multiple Readings”, the issue of point of view comes up. The author Simon Biggs writes that he was interested in the viewer’s viewpoint, not the artist’s, when it came to art. This is an interesting idea because art it created my one person, so it is going to reflect that person’s point of view. Biggs writes that he wishes to create an art that reflects the viewer’s point of view, which is interesting because the viewer is unknown. As more people interact with the art, it becomes more difficult for the single piece of art to be a reflection of multiple people’s points of view.
It is important to discuss point of view when it comes to art because this reflects the way that art is understood. The artist typical has a point of view of his own, but it is the viewer of the art that judges it. This leaves room for multiple perspectives and readings of a single piece of art. Thanks to technology, there are more and more ways for viewers to participate in art and change it through interactivity in art. In a way, this makes the viewer the artist as well. Because of this, the same art can morph and adapt to the points of view of multiple individuals. This is significant because the technology allows for everyone to have the ability to create and review art with their own perspective.
3D Research
When discussing different methods of research, I am constantly reminded of the research method that one of My dance instructors had us use frequently in her class. The goal of the course was to learn about various choreographers and their style of dance. In order to do this, we were given articles about the choreographers. In these articles, authors described the choreographers’ different dance pieces and described the movement of the style. While the articles did a decent job of describing lines and other movements performed by dancers, there is only so much that can be truly learned about dance styles by reading about it on paper. My instructor encouraged us to read and research in a way that she described as “3-dimensional” research, which required us to find YouTube videos of the dance pieces that were described in every article. Instead of just researching about the choreographers and their styles, we were to go deeper and find visual representations of the works of art. Even more, we were expected to embody the different dance styles as a way of learning about them. After we read about and watched videos of different dance pieces by certain choreographers, we were required to choreograph and perform our own short dances inspired by the choreographer’s style. To do this, we had to really understand the movements that each different choreographer valued as well as the type of music that they would create their dance to. Through embodying the style of the choreographer, we were embodying our research so that we could know the movements and choreographers’ styles on the deepest level. This idea of 3D research takes researching to a new level in that the researcher does not simply learn about a dance and watch a dance, but they learn the dance style by embodying it. By actively participating in the art, one is able to understand the art on a much deeper level than is possible by simply reading about or viewing examples of the art.
Writing in the Visual Arts 