MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE 2007/08

School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies

Autumn/Spring Term Module 2007/08

Convenor: Dr. Edward Scheer (e.scheer@warwick.ac.uk)

Timetable and Room: Tue 11.00-1.00 G56


Introduction
This subject examines the places of technology in contemporary performance culture from MTV to performance art. It considers the rise of video literacy and the expanding field of digital culture in terms of the ways in which such technologies have shifted the parameters of performance and representation. It looks at questions of the convergence of performance genres and the remediation of art works and theoretical concepts such as posthumanism and cybernetics. It develops the argument that live performance forms are also mediated and therefore connected to contemporary cultural and technological change. This is a level 3 course which enables a more focussed and theoretically intensive discussion than first and second year courses. It also brings the new developments in the field of performance studies into contact with issues in media studies and reflects an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning.



COURSE OUTLINE
Part I. Autumn Term

Week 1. Introduction
- course particulars

Week 2. From slide shows to pomo.
- Performance theory reviewed
- genealogy I: early media/art experiments
- Debates in culture and technology.
- Theories of Multimedia.
Reading:
- Michael Rush ‘Media and performance’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 36-77, 78-115
- Randall Packer and Ken Jordan (2001) ‘Overture’ in Multimedia: From Wagner To Virtual Reality, New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Ltd (xii-xxxi)
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Introduction’ Virtual Theatres: an Introduction

Week 3. Liveness
- Live V Mediated performance
- Remediation and simulation
- Performance documentation
- Mediatised culture
- Marina Abramovic’s Seven Easy Pieces
Reading:
- Philip Auslander from Liveness. Performance in a Mediatized Culture, (extract of Chapter 2).
- Philip Auslander. ‘The Performativity of Performance Documentation’, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 84 Vol 28.3 (2006) 1-10.


Week 4 The Performativity of Music Video
- the emergence of music video
- the influence of music video on other performance styles in other media
- MTV and postmodernism
Reading:
- Will Straw, ‘Popular Music and Postmodernism in the 1980s’, in Sound and Vision: the Music Video Reader, eds. Simon Frith, Andrew Goodwin and Lawrence Grossberg, 3-21.

Week 5 The Evolution of Multimedia Performance I
- genealogy II: happenings, John Cage and time-based art
- fluxus and performance art
- integration and interactivity in multimedia
Reading:
- Michael Rush ‘Video Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 78-115

Week 6 Reading week

Week 7 The theatre of images revisited
Screening: Einstein on the Beach (Robert Wilson) and Home of the Brave (Laurie Anderson)

Week 8 The new theatre of images
- Laurie Anderson, The Builders Association
- Postmodernism reviewed
Reading:
- Jon McKenzie, ‘Laurie Anderson for Dummies’ (TDR v41 #2 1997)
- Maria Shevstova from Robert Wilson Routledge 2007-09-27
- Connor, Steven. “Postmodern Performance.” Postmodernist Culture. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1989. 141-175 (141- 163)

Week 9 Dance + Virtual = …?
- the stage as screen and vice versa
- Merce Cunningham Biped with Paul Kaiser.
- Ghostcatching with Paul Kaiser and Bill T Jones
- Choreography ‘Dance Forms’ and ‘Life Forms’
Screening: Biped
Reading:
- Paul Kaiser, ‘Frequently Pondered Questions’ in Envisioning Dance on Film and Video, ed. Judy Mitoma, Routledge Press, 2002. See Paul Kaiser's website http://www.openendedgroup.com/

Week 10. Digital Dance in Australia
- Chunky Move Glow
- Company in Space Escape Velocity
Screening: Glow
Reading:
Johannes Birringer ‘Contemporary Performance/Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 361-381

****
Part II. Spring Term


Week 1. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance I
- contemporary Japanese video performance, Kyupi Kyupi, Dumb Type PH, OR and S/N
Reading:
- http://dumbtype.com/
- Cynthia Gedrich and Woodrow Hood, ‘Noise and Nudity: Kyoto’s Dumb Type’ Theatre Forum #18 (Winter/Spring 2001), 3-11.


Week 2. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance II
- Blast Theory: Kidnap, Desert Rain
Reading:
- http://www.blasttheory.co.uk
- Matthew Causey ‘The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 383-394

Week 3. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance III
- New Australian performance
- Artspace and P Space
- Monica Tikachek, The King Pins, Tony Schwensen
Reading:
- http://www.performancespace.com.au/
- Scheer, E. (2006) ‘Documents of Paradox: Negotiating Liveness in Video Art’ The Ends of the 60s. Performance, Media and Contemporary Culture, Peter Eckersall and E. Scheer eds., Sydney: Performance Paradigm. 128-35

Week 4. Video Installation and time-based art
- Bill Viola confessional video,
- Martin Arnold, Cinemnesis
- Guillermo Gomez-Pena
Reading:
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Towards an Aesthetic of Virtual Reality’ in Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
- Michael Rush ‘Video Installation Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 116-167


Week 5. New cultural media
- Hacktivism and digital politics, activist sites, flashmobs
- Digital performance
- The production of identity in Blogs and Myspace
Reading:
- Rebecca Schneider, ‘Nomadmedia: On Critical Art Ensemble’
TDR: The Drama Review - Volume 44, Number 4 (T 168), Winter 2000
- Jon McKenzie, ‘Hacktivism and Machinic Performance’ in Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture #1 March 2005 http://www.performanceparadigm.net/
- Michael Rush ‘Digital Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 168-217.
- John Potts and Andrew Murphie from ‘Digital Aesthetics’ in Culture and Technology, 66-83.


Week 6. Reading week

Week 7. Towards a posthuman performance
- Stelarc: Movatar and other actions
- Critical Art Ensemble
- What is post-humanism?
- Cybernetics
Reading:
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Cyborg Theatre’ in Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
- Edward Scheer ‘Performing Indifference, An Interview With Stelarc’ Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture. #1, (March 2005) www.performanceparadigm.net


Week 8. Performative Architectures
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. UnderScan and BodyMovies
- Diller and Scofidio: ‘The Blur Building’ 2002
- Krzysztof Wodiczko ‘Projections’ various 1991
Reading:
- Nick Kaye, from Site-Specific Art. Performance, Place and Documentation, 33-41.
- http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Krzysztof/krzy.htm
- http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/dillerscofidio.html

Weeks 9,10. Powerpoint presentations
- Individual and small group consultations with lecturer (summaries due)
- rehearsals
- Presentations and discussion

Assessment
(1) Exam (50%).
(2) Individual or Small Group Research Projects (30%)
Part I. Tuesday 15th January 2008 (Week 2, Spring Term)
Part II. Tuesday 29th April 2008 (Week 2, Summer Term)
(3) Class/blog participation (20%). This grade assesses contribution to the subject in terms of levels of preparedness and approach to activities and discussions. It includes the quality and cogency of blog postings.

Essential Reading

Philip Auslander Liveness. Performance in a Mediatized Culture

Will Straw, ‘Popular Music and Postmodernism in the 1980s’, in Sound and Vision: the Music Video Reader, eds. Simon Frith, Andrew Goodwin and Lawrence Grossberg, 3-21.

Randall Packer and Ken Jordan (2001) ‘Overture’ in Multimedia: From Wagner To Virtual Reality, New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Ltd

Hans Thiess Lehmann ‘Robert Wilson Scenographer’ Parkett #16 1988, 44-50.

Jon McKenzie, ‘Laurie Anderson for Dummies’ (TDR v41 #2 1997).

Cynthia Gedrich and Woodrow Hood, ‘Noise and Nudity: Kyoto’s Dumb Type’ Theatre Forum #18 (Winter/Spring 2001), 3-11.

Paul Kaiser, ‘Frequently Pondered Questions’ in Envisioning Dance on Film and Video, ed. Judy Mitoma, Routledge Press, 2002.

Johannes Birringer ‘Contemporary Performance/Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 361-381.

Matthew Causey ‘The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 383-394
John Potts and Andrew Murphie from ‘Digital Aesthetics’ in Culture and Technology, 66-83.

Rebecca Schneider, ‘Nomadmedia: On Critical Art Ensemble’
TDR: The Drama Review - Volume 44, Number 4 (T 168), Winter 2000.

Nick Kaye, from Site-Specific Art. Performance, Place and Documentation

Gabriella Giannachi, Virtual Theatres: an Introduction London: Routledge, 2004



FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES
- Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture http://www.performanceparadigm.net/
- http://www.realtimearts.net/
- http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/
- http://www.billviola.com/
- http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_journal/toc/tj51.4.html

Back issues of the following journals can sometimes provide some interesting essays on specific artists and their work:

High Performance
TDR: The Drama Review
Performance Research
PAJ Performing Arts Journal
Theatre Journal
New Theatre Quarterly
Theatre Research International