report
thoughts on what i’m trying to do over the coming days.
developing the installation through parallel streams: content, structure, technical, ‘vision’
linked through the idea of working with peripheral vision - as it is used/not used by an audience member, as it applies to our perception of the world, and how it can have an affect on a choreographic process.
here is the original proposal for the workshop:
I am interested in beginning the development of an interactive screendance installation work. While the thoughts behind my project are still very unformed, the essence of it lies in an exploration of how we utilise our peripheral vision in both a literal way and more metaphorically.While visual acuity decreases from the fovea (centre of the retina where high detail and colour are perceived by ‘cones’) to the distal areas of the retina, there is a corresponding increase in sensitivity to movement (facilitated by ‘rods’). I am interested in examining how, visually, I can play with an audiences’ peripheral vision in the context of a screen based installation work. Immediately this seems unlikely, with an audience having the possibility of being able to focus their gaze on any one part of a screen or projection area – thus avoiding using their peripheral vision.
Some initial thoughts about accessing this area of vision would be to use a 3-wall projection system – perhaps the three walls of a standard 4m x 4m room – as projection surfaces. Using face recognition software (or other movement tracking technology) to track the face/eyes of audience member/s it would then be possible to manipulate where the images appear on the three screens. With this technique it would be possible to keep the moving body (I am imagining the dance component as being a single person) in the audience members’ peripheral vision as necessary. With more than one audience member in a space, the tracking data could be averaged from all participants (for instance 3 people in the space, tracking their head position as a vector and then averaging the three vectors to produce a joint ‘front’) and essentially involve the participants in their own choreography, which would be defined by their desire to view the work.
Further to this I am interested in the passive gaze – how, as a generalisation, we are becoming more and more used to a passive interaction with screen based material. We have an expectation of having our experience of screen based material be facilitated with ease and passivity, not movement or discomfort. I feel that by playing with the edges of vision I will have the opportunity to engage people with the ideas of seeking out, exploration, discovery and patience.
As a time-based work, I can imagine a narrative driving the images – that if the audience member waits and watches calmly, using their peripheral vision, the story will come to them, and conversely, once the story has arrived trying to avoid it will keep it directly in their vision. Again, these are half formed ideas, but I imagine putting the audience in relationship with the filmed dancer – that those fleeting first glimpses at the edge or their vision may or may not lead to finding out what the story is. Constantly trying to capture the image directly may leave the viewer frustrated and lost – yet taking in moment from the external vision may allow a development and resolution of movement/story/the work.
At present there are many questions and little process in place – I would hope that the lab would allow me to coalesce my ideas into a solid plan while also giving me the opportunity to play with capturing and projecting some movement ideas.
