Moving With Screens + Machines: A Symposium on Embodied Practices and Technology

Immersive Media Design (IMD), in collaboration with Arts for All and the Colleges of CMNS, ARHU and iSchool, is sponsoring a two-day symposium on the relationship between embodied practices and technology. This in-person event, co-organized by IMD instructor Jonathan David Martin, will feature multi-disciplinary experts and enthusiasts discussing how screens and machines shape our experiences and interactions. The symposium will include a Dance² performance on Friday night at The Clarice, an interactive dance involving a robot created by Computer Science Assistant Professor Huaishu Peng and his students. 

Some of the events include:

• Keynote Reception

Location: The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dance Wing (TDPS Courtyard/Studio 2)

Keynote with Amy Laviers

Can a human imitate an octopus? Can a bee mimic a centipede?  Can a quadruped mirror a biped? When do two bodies in motion do the same thing? Moving robots out of factories requires that we consider the ability of a body’s movement to communicate, express or otherwise encode meaning. This new context poignantly demonstrates how the arts are an essential body of knowledge for robotic research: Musicians make instruments like a cello and flute perform similar actions, bolstered by shared notation.

• DANCE² (Dance Squared)

Location: The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dance Theatre & Grand Pavilion

DANCE²  is a dance installation about human-robot interaction and our collective feelings about technology’s influence on the future. Audiences will use their smartphones to interact with the performance, influencing the choreography of the human and robotic dancers. Through their choices, we will explore the question of whether emerging technology is bringing us closer together or pulling us farther apart.

• Work in Progress Performance: SALT

Location: The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dance Theatre

"Salt" is an excerpt from a current work-in-development collaboration between interdisciplinary choreographer André M. Zachery and interdisciplinary sound/media artist Sadah Espii Proctor entitled “Against Gravity: Flying Afrikans and Other Urban Legends.'' This section is named and inspired by a novel of the same name by Trinidadian writer Earl Lovelace, the tale of “Igbo Landing” and the legend of “the people who could fly.” The relationship between “the water” and “flight” is symbiotic and at times reciprocal in African Diaspora cultural landscapes. This excerpt contends with how we are moving the speculative, unseen and yet to be heard towards the center of our trajectory while collectively engaging in futuring practices.