The Performing Subject in the Space of Technology: Through the Virtual, Towards the Real

Now that the shock of the virtual has subsided toward a 'new-normal' of computational interference in all areas of life, it is an advantageous moment to reflect on the passage through the virtual and back to the real. Digital culture has developed into a bio-virtual environment in which the categories of the biological and the virtual no longer stand as separate. The contributors to this volume respond to the questions raised by the 'after-event' of the digital through practice-led research analyses of performance processes, philosophical readings of the work of art and technology, and performance studies investigations of the subject in the spaces of technology. The volume examines a wide range of activities, from bio-art to internet child pornography, gaming and social networking technologies to the use of motion-tracking in developing choreography and documentation. The authors draw from diverse perspectives in dance, theatre, performance, film and music studies, digital arts and culture.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: 'In the after-event of the virtual'; Matthew Causey, Emma Meehan, Néill O'Dwyer PART I: PROVOCATIONS: SUBJECTIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY Introduction to Part I; Matthew Causey, Emma Meehan and Néill O'Dwyer 1. 'Into the body of another: strange couplings and unnatural alliances of Harlequin Coat'; Burcu Baykan 2. 'The Cultural Critique of Bernard Stiegler: Reflecting on the Computational Performances of Klaus Obermaier; Neill O'Dwyer 3. 'The Flicker at the threshold of societies of control'; Sharon Phelan 4. 'The Right to Be Forgotten and The Image-Crimes of Digital Culture'; Matthew Causey 5. 'Materiality, immateriality and the dancing body; the challenge of the inter in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage'; Sarah Whatley 6. 'Performing (the Subject of) Exteriority: Virtuality, Mīmēsis, and the Gratuitous 'One Must''; Riku Roihankorpi PART II: PRACTICES: EMBODIED NOTIONS OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY 7. Introduction to Part II ; Matthew Causey, Emma Meehan & Néill O'Dwyer 8. 'Not Waving But Drowning: The Affect Of Random Programming On The Creation Of A Digital Performance Work'; Mary Oliver 9. 'BrainExplode! Audiences and agency through the appropriation of Videogame structures'; Dan Bergin 10. 'Relational Works-In-Movement Using The Body Response System'; Maria Coleman 11. 'Dancing With Dirt And Wires; Reconciling The Embodied And The Digital In Site Responsive Collaborative Practice'; Natalie Garrett Brown, Christian Kipp And Amy Voris 12. 'Jeanette Doyle: Fifteen Days And Factory Direct At The Andy Warhol Museum: The Relationship Between The 'Immaterial', 'Dematerial' And 'Material' In Contemporary Art Practice'; Jeanette Doyle 13. 'Inscribing Work And Process: The Ontological Implications Of Virtual Scoring Practices For Dance'; Hetty Blades 14. 'Traces And Artifacts Of Physical Intelligence'; Scott Delahunta Index

About the Author :
Matthew Causey is Associate Professor in Drama, and the Director of Arts Technology Research Laboratory at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is author of Theatre and Performance in Digital Culture: from simulation to embeddedness (Routledge 2009) and Performance, Identity, and the Neo-Political Subject (Routledge 2013) co-edited with Fintan Walsh. Emma Meehan is a research fellow at Coventry University's Centre for Dance Research, UK. She is co-convenor of the Performance as Research Working Group at the International Federation for Theatre Research and editorial assistant for the Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices. Néill O'Dwyer is a PhD candidate at the Arts Technology Research Lab at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is part-time lecturer in the Department of Visual Culture at the National College Of Art and Design and is an associated research fellow of the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media, Dublin.

Review :
'The Performing Subject in the Space of Technology challenges perceived notions of 'virtual' and 'real' in a collection of fascinating essays. It explores the ubiquity of technology in both academia and professional practice, emphasising the experience of body/ technology encounters. The first half of the book brings a variety of philosophical approaches to technology, politics and ethics, while the latter half draws the richness of the practitioner's embodied perspective into the bag of analytical tools.' - Sita Popat, University of Leeds, UK