CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media
Special Edition: Live Performance in Digital Environments
Guest Editors: Dr Kerry Francksen and Prof Sophy Smith
Submission deadline: June 30, 2023
Digital performance practices continue to proliferate in response to a fast-moving technological landscape; one where artists have persisted in their adaptations towards a post-pandemic vista. Yet, whilst our attention was sharply focused through the pandemic (as highlighted in the recent ‘Covid-19: Theatre Goes Digital’ Special Issue), it is the case that having to use technologies fundamentally changed how artists and practitioners composed and realised their artwork. As we emerged from the pandemic, the ‘breath in dancing, theatre, and music making’ (Birringer 2022:192) did indeed prevail, and yet, a great many artists became transformed through their need to reach out to the world via digital means. Moreover, many from across the performing arts and the creative industries found themselves coming together out of a necessity to establish new connections, and to invent new methods and creative processes to reach their audiences. In so doing, some of the essential building blocks for creating live performance in digital environments were brought into focus. Notions of live performance incorporating digital technologies in physical real-world environments are well established and have been keenly debated for decades (Phelan 1993, Auslander 1999 & 2008, Broadhurst 2011 et al) however, over the last few years new work and new applications have become prevalent that explore
live
performance within digital environments.
The UK Creative Immersive Landscape 2020 report found that during the pandemic in 2020, remote viewing and participation became more popular, paving the way for the increased adoption of new technologies that leverage these forms of consumption. The challenge of connecting with audiences during the global pandemic drove performance practitioners to explore the potential of a wide variety of digital environments, some established and others emergent. Social VR platforms such as VRChat, live streaming services such as Twitch and even virtual conferencing facilities such as Zoom have been explored as environments for live performance. Live performance in-game and using game engines, as well as networked motion capture systems have enabled practitioners to create and share work in new ways and to connect with new audiences. We recognise that the pandemic accelerated developments in the creation of live performance within digital environments, with practitioners shifting their practices as they responded to the changing platforms of engagement. However, what is less clear is how this acceleration changed some of the intrinsic elements of making live performance. This Special Edition hopes to collate and capture these emerging practices in a unique moment in time, post-pandemic.
These new digital environments offer not one, but two significant new opportunities. One is the potential to offer new ways to engage with performance work through new devices and new platforms. The other is the potential to transform ideas of what performance is and can be. In light of these recent innovations, digital environments continue to offer us a vision where digital performance isn’t only a traditional live stream but can be reimagined as new aesthetic and hybridised forms for artistic engagement. This Special Issue will provide a space to focus on and interrogate these practices, from the perspective of artistic process and practice. It looks to amplify the voice of the practitioner, of those making this new work, placing their practice-based experience at the forefront of the Special issue.
This Call for Contributions is open to contributions from all performance disciplines, engaging with the following questions:
- What might these new modes of performance look and feel like?
- How have these new environments changed the way that live performance work is created?
- What kind of new work have these new environments enabled?
- What new skills are required from performance-makers within these environments?
- What new ways of accessing and engaging audiences have arisen?
- What are the new relationships and connections that the performer and audience share and experience in these environments?
- What do we mean by ‘live’ in this kind of work?
- What is the potential for shared experience within digital environments?
- What are the opportunities for a more intimate personalized experience?
This Special Issue will provide a space to focus on and interrogate these practices, from the perspective of artistic process and practice. It looks to amplify the voice of the practitioner, of those making this new work, placing their practice-based experience at the forefront of the Issuer. We welcome contributions in a range of formats, including
- Full articles (7-8,000 words)
- Reflective accounts of practice-based research
- Interviews
- Discussion Pieces
- Video Essays
- Reviews of Books, Conferences, Exhibitions and Events
Deadline for contributions, June 30, 2023. For further details, please contact the guest editors at sophy.smith@dmu.ac.uk and kerryfk1@gmail.com.
|
