Concept, art direction and development by Brigitte Huezo
This is an inside view into the creative creation of the virtual process. The conceptualization and creative direction of the process took two months of work. Then from this starting point in the game engine, this process was developing to a broader production.
In March and April 2023, the artistic research "POST DIGITAL BODIES" was initiated by Brigitte Huezo, in which they archived and developed a series of motion capture choreographic dances, as well as an experimentation with game engine software and metahuman creation aka avatars. The research focused on the exploration of movement with special attention to archiving the body through motion capture, motion tracking technologies and choreography. Virtual space and digitization were a real medium, with which the artist interacted to develop the content of this research and further it as a practice. In short, these explorations in performance space advance the understanding about the human body at the intersection of dance and technology and cultivated questions about how the human body extends, begins, ends, and is present. The digital age proposes new ways of (re)imagining communication and the impact of the human body. The artist explored these programs in a digital environment using his own motion capture suit and computer skills, making this archive a work in progress at the intersection of the fields of body and technology, but also of interdisciplinary artistic endeavors, on how the moving body acts and is harnessed as a mode of expression to reveal deeper possibilities of the ontology of lived experience; with the help of 3D programming that interacted with time and captured the movement that the performer maintained for long moments and transported them visually into a design program. The possibilities of choreographing with new technologies can be disruptive and challenge the boundaries of human activity, and dance happens beyond the dancer's body. The intention of the movement, its impact and its effect inhabit the physical body of the dancer, but also create, change and respond to the aesthetics, temporality, exposure and position of the performance. The muscle and bone of the dancer's physical body and the code or mechanics of technology provide the choreographer with the opportunity to explore how, where and when dance can occur. And when dance can be danced. This was explored in the game engine, cinematic camera or motion tracker by focusing the camera with specific parts of the body thus taking a more complex position in the virtual space. The artist observed this process in which digital spaces are more visible to the viewer today from its focus on virtuality that moves. Additionally, Brigitte explored the idea of digital identities as an extension of oneself; an escape route and a source of connection to what is outside our physical radius. This choreographic structure examines how virtual platforms are both "open" and "closed", raising questions about the availability of identities for users of virtual game art. It addresses the identity processes of performance and verification, unraveling the ways in which users both gain and relinquish control of their identity meanings. This led to reconsidering the meaning of cyberfeminism, posthumanism and xenofeminism that served as a starting point for this research process. On the other hand, Brigitte experimented with movement trackers and the possible redesign and implementation of them for the probable development of a sculpture that could be designed in 3D and placed in physical space as conceptualized sculptural designs. In fact, the research and choreographic material developed during the residency was documented and filmed from the programming
Sometimes I stand at the threshold of cyberspace and wonder, is it possible that am unwelcome here too? Will I be allowed to construct a virtual reality that empowers me?
Motion capture #Takeheartresidenzen @PACT
̶P̶̶O̶̶S̶̶T̶ ̶D̶̶I̶̶G̶̶I̶̶T̶̶A̶̶L̶ ̶B̶̶O̶̶D̶̶I̶̶E̶̶S̶
#Research
“Post digital bodies”, takes the shape of a explorative installation whose protagonists are modern objects, mythological tools of digital cultures, while humans remain suspiciously absent. Informed by cyberfeminism and low brow culture, creates a hybrid space within which virtual identities are forming and falling apart, representation is in constant shift and (cyber) mythology functions as an archive of transcultura identities. Through non-linear narrative, it will question the intersection of vanishing bodies with the dystopian concept of an endless body of data: the primordial body and the body of the near future will engage in a dance where the living and the digital will seek to become entangled to the point of indistinguishability. This includes a constant critique of the domination of visuality in technological development: it is the physical body, not high-tech computer graphics, that allows a person to feel like virtual reality is a „real“ space. I will employ queer- and cyberfeminist perspectives to examine the multisensory experiences exploring in (semi)virtual spaces and how they affect our understanding of what it means to live as embodied beings. Accordingly, I will explore through digital technologies, computer hard- and software and the interactions of humans with them. Using techniques that apply so-called AI. In addition to exploring external perspectives of their own movement through motion capture, as a dancer I will look for movement material to archive within an immersive virtual environment. There I will explore a new approach in interaction with diverse technologies towards an exponentially more responsive, intuitive and articulate system and search for an aesthetic and creative practice based on glitches, errors.
Metahuman creation process #Takeheartresidenzen @PACT
„gefördert vom Fonds Darstellende Künste aus Mitteln der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen von NEUSTART KULTUR.“ (en: Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media within the program NEUSTART KULTUR).