Live INTER-FACE Conference Lisbon, November 2014
PULse 02.
Abstract:
This paper discusses the interactive video performance PULse: Amelia and Me which came about as a result of an art residency in the Umbrian region of Italy (Amelia) taking place in September 2014. The work was to become part of the Verdecoprente Arts Festival. The paper focuses on the way the artist experiences ‘flow’ during the making process of this exhibition and the desire to extend this state of being for the participants in this work. Drawing on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s work on ‘flow’ the author makes analogies between his understanding of being in the ‘zone’ and be[ing] in the moment as an in[bodi]ed experience.
Keywords, In[bodi]ment, be[ing], flow, zone,
1. Introduction
The paper is presented into three sections. Section one introduces the framework of the paper and part two describes the artwork ‘PULse Amelia & Me’ illustrating the collaboration between art and technology. The author contextualizes the relevance of ‘flow’ and ‘embodiment’ within this work and the purpose of audience interaction. The third section explores the notion of ‘flow’ within the context of creating this exhibition and the way the artist found ‘flow’ within the making process. Finally section four articulates a more philosophical approach through the lens of phenomenology to understand the analogy between ‘flow’ and be[ing] in the moment understood as an in[bodied] experience. This phenomenological approach is presented as a way to make the invisibility of human experience visible through interactive digital video performance. To summarise the author advocates the collaborative strengths of bio sensing technology and the body as a means to stretch the corporeality of the body across the self/other divide exploring a third space between subject and object.
2. ‘PULse: Amelia & Me’
This was a one to one video performance between the live spectator-performer and the projected video image. The work was part of an international art residency that took place in Italy September 2014 which became part of the Verdecoprente Arts Festival. The focus of the festival was to interpret ways to re-connect the individual regions of Southern Umbria and its inhabitants through performance practice. ‘PULse: Amelia & Me’ connected the natural landscape of Amelia, the corporeal body of the spectator/performer and culture through a reactive bio-digital feedback system. In this real-time video performance the interface between the physiological body and the computer was controlled through a heart rate sensor. The video image depicted the landscape of Amelia through the lens of a wine glass. Water was poured into the vessel followed by the regions olive oil. The pulse of the spectator/performer could mix or separate these fluids depending on their heart rate. At 75+ beats per minute both the body and image could unite creating a unified solution and/or -75 bpm they separate. The heart rate of the spectator/performer breathed new life into the landscape creating a collaborative dance that oscillated between the moist body of the performer and the dry pixels of the digital data controlled through breathing and moving, software and hardware. The participant wears a wireless headset and a wireless heart rate sensor and views to video projection in front of them.
The cross-over between the corporeal body re-presented as visual data and the digital video image created a heightened self-awareness of the computational material as a creative process which altered the experience. The flow between the input of the sensor and the output of the image created a live third space in ‘the here and now’. The reactive bio-digital feedback system between the body, vision/sound, digital technology and the image of Amelia made an impact on the performer and vice versa so together they created PULse – an in[between] condition of being in the moment. While the spectator/performer concentrated on the rhythm of the hearts bmp to mix/or separate the oil and water this was understood as being in the ‘zone’ or ‘the moment’. This is something the author has coined In[bodi]ment which translates as be[ing[ in the moment where one feels they are in the body of the work in the ‘here and now’. The consciousness of the zone has been well researched through the work of American psychologist of Hungarian decent Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who in the mid1970s explored the creative processes of artists and sculptures. He interviewed a variety of people in sports and the arts and many described these experiences as a ‘continuous flowing’ which Csikszentmihalyi named as ‘flow experiences’ (Csikszentmihalyi 2008). According to Csikszentmihalyi these states of consciousness are focused and ordered, allowing the subject to carry out complex activities with a sensation of intense enjoyment and ease. Though Csikszentmihalyi’s work on ‘flow’ is very much associated with game designers by seeking ‘flow’ in the user experience of video performance the author makes analogies between Csikszentmihalyi’s understanding of the ‘zone’ and be[ing] in the moment as an in[bodi]ed experience.
Participants at the Inter-face conference where invited to take part in PULse Amelia & Me to discuss the quality of their experience and whether they felt in the zone. For Csikszentmihalyi practicing in flow puts an awareness on the process in the present where action and consciousness become one (Csikszentmihalyi 2008). This current research looks towards the real-time interfaces of bio sensing technology as a way to in[body] participants to the video image to create a seamless loop between the human and the computer, the body and the digital image. The live interface of the sensor creates a porous membrane between the internal body and the external image to interpret human experience.
3. Flow in the making process
At what point during the making process do we experience ‘flow’? There are so many variables to consider when one is making/creating an artwork. Working in collaboration between art and technology are processes that enable ones ‘flow’ to become more an intuitive marriage between action and consciousness. The artistic challenges encountered during digital media art practice and the constant negotiation between thinking and doing strengthens those relationships. The artist as a self-collaborator emerges as a multiplicity of roles, viewpoints and vocabularies to work across art and technology. Investigating these bio technologies has without doubt made an impact on working methods and processes. For the artist when making ‘PULse: Amelia & Me’ the relational felt experience of the technology became much more than functional. In essence the technology caused the work and vice versa. The desire to connect participants to the video image via bio sensing technology created the symbiotic relationship the artist was looking for as a way to articulate the invisibility of experience through the visual manipulation of a video image. Due to the nature of the art residency which focused more on the creative process rather than the product of an artwork the video explorations leading up to ‘PULse’ enabled the artist to experience ‘flow’. The important aspect of finding ‘flow’ during the making process was a culmination of the technology and the body working together. Being aware of the action through exploration and enjoying the activity for its own sake without the pressure of making a product/artefact enhanced the feeling of ‘flow’. Consequently the control one acquired of one’s attention when interacting with ‘PULse; Amelia & Me’ encapsulated being in the moment or the ‘zone’.
4. Flow as be[ing] in the moment
To prolong the experience of being in the moment this art practice/research is seeking new ways to embody participants within the artwork as a way to enhance ones connection with the interactive experience. To articulate these ideas through the lens of phenomenology based on the knowledge that the lived experience of subjects is hidden the author is attempting to make that invisibility, visible through the video image. By drawing on the concepts of phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty he can help us to re-conceptualize the way we look at the world, not just with our mind but with our body. Merleau-Ponty sees our bodies in fine tune with the world that goes beyond the visual world. In (blab la) he postulates an embodied perception that positions our bodies as a medium through which we gain consciousness of the world. Merleau-Ponty’s theories are at odds with the dualistic philosophies of consciousness studies separating the mind from the body. He gives us vivid accounts of understanding the way we relate to the world and the impact this has on viewing art.
The artists aim in creating ‘PULse: Amelia & Me’ was to find new ways of being in the world when we interact with video art. What do subjects really feel when they interact with the artefact and what impact do these interactive viewing experiences have on the subject? How aware are we of the connection we have with the experience? To answer these questions it was important to engage participants within the work in a literal sense. How far can one go in order to truly immerse the participant in the work as a tangible experience? Can we get to a point where we can see our experience in the moment? The notion of be[ing] the author refers to is ‘to be in the experience in the moment’. Drawing on Csikszentmihalyi’s notion of being in the ‘zone’ the author sees this as analogous to be[ing] in the moment – in the here and now. During ones engagement with ‘PULse: Amelia & Me’, the body and the image begin to work together creating a biofeedback loop. The external image has an impact on the body and the internal body reacts to the image. This relationship is attempting to in[body] the participant. A phrase the artist has coined to articulate be[ing] in the moment in the here and the now – the ‘zone’ in which the corporeal body feels it is in the image. Comparing Csikszentmihalyi’s notion of ‘flow’ to in[bodi]ment is a way to understand the corporeal lens of experience through ones entire body and not just through sight. This is fundamental to experiencing artwork and our relationship with it. It is through the making process and the interactive experiences we encounter that we can touch with our eyes, see with our hands and hear through our bodies.
5. Summary
Though the inspiration for this artwork came about as a result of the art residency in Italy it has become the beginning of a new body of work to explore the relationship between the corporeal body and the digital other. The binaries between the internal/external, self/other, visible/invisible, moist bodies and dry pixels are all culminating in the exploration of that ‘third space’ between these modalities. Using bio sensing technologies is enabling the crossing over of these polarities to interpret experience and the impact interaction, making and viewing digital artworks has on the subjects lived experience. To be in the moment is not an easy place to stay in the world. If art practice can enable us to be in the ‘zone’ then it has a fundamental purpose – to experience be[ing] in the world.
References
Moore, L. (2014) PULse: Amelia & Me http://lornam77.wix.com/lornamooreartist#!current-sketchbook/c65q
Moore, L. (2014) In[bodying] the Other: Performing the digital other as a component of self through real-time video performance, unpublished thesis, University of Wolverhampton.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perennial Modern Classics; 1ST edition
Merleau-Ponty, M.
Lorna Moore
PULse: Amelia & Me (2014)