The cybernetical dance of the (post)human death:
A performance analysis of three case studies
Poernima A. Gobardhan
A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of Humanities
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE
in THEATRE STUDIES
Professor dr. K.E. Röttger, University of Amsterdam MA. H.M.H. Goeyens, University of Amsterdam
TABLE OF CONTENT
P.
Preface 3
1. The Human Condition; Dance, Cybernetics And Posthumanism 7
1.1 Contemporary dance performance 7
1.2 Cybernetic systems 13
1.3 Posthumanism 19
2. Animation of the other 26
2.1 The performance POW_2045 26
2.2 Performance analysis POW_2045 28
3. Incorporation of the human and the machine 38 3.1 The performance TransAvatar, a journey through multiple identities 38 3.2 Performance analysis TransAvatar, a journey through multiple identities 40
4. Interaction and collaboration 46
4.1 The performance Zeph. yr 46
4.2 Performance analysis Zeph. yr 48
Conclusion 55 Bibliography 63 Figure list 68
PREFACE
Even though living in a world surrounded by technology and machines, most people are assured that machines cannot think like a human can. Some scholars, however believe the opposite to be true, just take a look at this conversation:
Q: Please write me a sonnet on the subject of the Forth Bridge. A: Count me out on this one. I never could write poetry. Q: Add 34957 to 70764.
A: (Pauses about 30 seconds and then gives an answer) 105621.
The above conversation looks like an ordinary conversation between two people, but is in fact nothing of this sort. The one giving the answers is in reality not a human but a machine. This conversation is part of the imitation game invented by mathematician Alan Turing in order to answer the question, ‘Can machines think?’ Three players, a machine, a woman and an interrogator play the game. The interrogator needs to determine which one of the player is the machine and which one is the woman. The results of the imitation game gave a positive answer to the initial question posed by Turing and showed that the interrogator mostly identified the machine to be the woman. In other words the machine was perfectly able to imitate the thinking of a human. This
imitation game of Turing subsequently shows us that machines can think like humans.1 With the arrival of technology and its integration in our lives, a livingly
discussion on the relation between technology and the human has come into life. Some have a rather positive outlook, like Hans Moravec who predicts that the machine will develop in such a manner that in forty years the machine will obtain a human-like conscience. The machine will be able to learn to adapt to physical, cultural, and psychological assets like shapes, weight, names, locations, beliefs and feelings.2 Opposite ideas on the role of technology and machines in our life constitute a rather more terror connotation. The terror lies in the apocalyptic view of the posthuman and in the fear of the replacement of the human by technology as a result of becoming
1 Turing, Alan. ‘Computing machinery and intelligence.’ Mind, vol. 49 (1950): 433-460. 2 Moravec, Hans. Robot. Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. New York: Oxford
machines themselves.3 The title of this thesis also refers to this problem. Besides the
reflection of the subject matter of this research, the title also contains the above elucidated views in regard to cybernetics and posthumanism. The dance of death originates from the late Middle Ages and is used to describe a dance that represents the inevitability of death.4 Through a cybernetical analysis of dance performance it will either become clear that the terrifying future of the replacement of the human is true and the human will inevitability find its death by machines or a cybernetical analysis of dance performance will show that exactly these terror ideas of the posthuman will find its inevitable death.
This research is set out to explore the intricate relation between technology and the human by analysing this relation within a dance performance. The widely spread use of technology raises several questions such as: ‘What does the integration and
incorporation of technology within a dance performance actually mean for the role of the dancer? and ‘How does this affect our understanding of a dance performance?’ These issues form the subject of my problem definition, therefore I would like to answer the following research question: ‘In what way can the relation between technology and dancers in dance performances be defined?’ In order to answer the research question a performance analysis will be used as research methodology, by carrying out an analysis of the performances POW_2045, TransAvatar, a journey through multiple identities and
Zeph. yr according to the theory of cybernetics and posthumanism. The performances POW_2045, TransAvatar, a journey through multiple identities and Zeph. yr were
selected due to the fact that all performances integrate technology, but do this all by using a different instrumental approach to technology and dance. TransAvatar, a journey
through multiple identities utilizes beside a video projection and digital sound also a
gauze screen in front of the stage, which creates different layers within the
performance.5 Zeph. yr and POW_2045 both make use of cameras.67 A recording of the
3 Hayles, Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press Chicago & London, 1999: 283.
4 "dance of death" Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015. Consulted
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/154473/dance-of-death>. (01 apr. 2015.)
5 ‘Performances’ Attakkalari. 2012. Consulted
performances POW_2045, TransAvatar, a journey through multiple identities and Zeph.
yr will be used for the analysis. Articles, reviews from the performances and interviews
with the maker and other members of the artistic team will be employed to illustrate the working of the performances as a whole. Further primary and secondary literature on cybernetics and posthumanism from, for example, W. Ross Ashby, W.J.T. Mitchell and Katherine Hayles will be applied in this research. It is not my aim to verify the
application of cybernetics and posthumanism as a form of analysis but rather to view the performances within these theories and attain a better understanding of dance
performance in the current situation.
Norbert Wiener introduced the word and the concept cybernetics, encompassing the field of control and communication theory. Cybernetics emanates from Wiener’s experience during the war where he became aware of a similarity between the weapons with servomechanisms like the automatic target control and the human mechanism. As a result cybernetics focuses on manipulating the regulation, the determination and the reproduction of behaviour of biological physical and chemical systems.8 In other words, in cybernetics the human is perceived as a machine, through the application of the theory of communication and control to humans in the same way it is applied to machines.9 After Wiener many scholars played an influential role in the further development in the field of cybernetics. W. Ross Ashby established the foundation of cybernetics and identified the most important factors in cybernetics. Warren McCulloch indicated the similarities and differences between the human and the machine
mechanism and finally C.E. Shannon developed a theory of communication. These cybernetic concepts had a great influence on the present day comprehension of the human. Katherine Hayles explores the aftermath of cybernetics and refers to this as the shift from human to posthuman. According to Hayles the effects of cybernetics manifest itself in the posthuman. Hayles states that posthumanism presumes that the identity of
6 ‘Productions’ Floating World Productions. Consulted <
http://floatingworldproductions.com/productions-2/zeph-yr-dublin-dance-festival-2013/>. (4 January 2015.)
7 ‘Portfolio’ Princemio. 2011. Consulted < http://princemio.net/portfolio/Pow_2045/>.
(1 January 2015.)
8 Ashby, W. Ross. An introduction to cybernetics. London: Chapman & hall ltd, 1957. 9 Duffy, P. R. ‘Cybernetics,’ The journal of business communication, vol. 21, iss.1
the human is not seated in the body, but rather in the conscience involving judgment, mastery and control by the conscience agency. Furthermore, she finds that
posthumanism conceives the body as something that can be replaced or extended by prostheses. In other words Hayles claims that in posthumanism there is no distinction between a human and a machine, as she states that there is no difference between the bodily existence and the computer simulation.10
In the following chapter an overview of the current circumstances of the dance field will be described to the extent that is relevant for this research. Further the origin, the development and the different views on cybernetics will be defined. Which will be followed by an explanation of the concept of posthumanism. In chapter two the performance POW_2045 will be analysed. In chapter three the performance
TransAvatar, a journey through multiple identities will be subjected to an analysis
followed by a performance analysis of the performance Zeph. yr in chapter four. Which will be succeeded by an answer to the research question in the conclusion of this
research.
10 Hayles, Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics.
1. THE HUMAN CONDITIONS; DANCE, CYBERNETICS
AND POSTHUMANISM
In the following chapter the dimensions of the conditions within dance, cybernetics and posthumanism will be sketched. Firstly the condition of dance practice will be defined through an elucidation of the influence of globalization, which brings along many intersecting cultures, digital media and immaterial information.11 Following, the concept of cybernetics will be made explicit and the different applications of cybernetics like biocybernetics and the application of cybernetics in art will be discussed. Finally, the notion of posthumanism will be described according to the dominant conceptions in present-day discussions, such as the approach to posthumanism according to Katherine Hayles.
1.1 Contemporary Dance Performance
As a result of the influence of global spheres on the current situation in theatre and dance, these art forms have taken a hybrid form. More choreographers, performers and digital artists for example experiment with linking new digital media forms from different cultures and technologies with dance. The conventional organization and articulation of theatre and dance performance has been subjected to many changes, in this way the traditional role of drama, the director and actor or dancer within the hierarchy of theatre and its function has altered.12 In dance many practitioners already
highly make use of electronics, video projections and monitors. With the unprecedented presence of computers and the internet, artists have now started to incorporate the internet, information and communication technologies within performance.13 Media has challenged bodily boundaries and spatial realities and consequently affected the
relations between humans and machines. This challenge can also be found in the role of the dancer, the space in dance performances and the relation between dance and
11 Birringer, Johannes. ‘Interacting.’ Contemporary Theatre Review, vol.16, iss. 4
(2006): 390.
12 Ibid. 391.
13 Birringer, Johannes. ‘Performance Systems.’ South African Theatre Journal, vol. 17,
technology.14 Dance has not disappeared from our contemporary theatre, however a new
relationship has emerged as a result of the convergence of dance and media and thus dance needs to be re-evaluated in the context of digital performance.15
In regard to this re-evaluation it is necessary to outline the concept of
interactivity. The term interactivity originates not from a choreographic concept, but rather from participatory events during the early twentieth century in the context of Dadaist, Futurist and Surrealist performances such as happenings, kinetic art, art and technology, cybernetic art and video installations. From 1970 interactivity refers to multimedia installations and environments that work together with computer technologies.16 Spiro Kiousis defines interactivity as followed:
Interactivity can be defined as the degree to which a communication technology can create a mediated environment in which participants can communicate (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many), both synchronously and asynchronously, and participate in reciprocal message exchanges (third-order dependency). (Kiousis, 372)
The introduction of interactivity in dance is relatively new, dance academies fore mostly focus on the physical training of the body of the dancer and the ability to execute
choreography. As a consequence dance education neglects to respond to the new development of technology, which involves the ability to participate in communication processes and feedback systems. Therefore, dancers were initially not able to interact with a mediated environment and interactivity has long failed to appear in the realm of dance.
This development in the arts and the introduction of interactivity reflected in the practice of dance in four different ways. Firstly the introduction of media within dance demanded a change in the focus from only on the choreography to a shared focus on the
14 Birringer, Johannes. ‘Dance and Media Technologies.’ PAJ: A Journal of
Performance and Art, vol. 24, iss.1 (2002): 80.
15 Birringer, Johannes. ‘After Choreography.’ Performance Research, vol. 13, iss.1
(2008): 188.
16 Birringer, Johannes. ‘Performance Systems.’ South African Theatre Journal, vol.17,
relation of the receptivity of the dancer, the digital environment and the choreography.17
Interactivity secondly created a new manner of approaching dance for many
choreographers who were used to create within the context of the proscenium stage. This also generated new terms for choreographers to incorporate within their creation process like the terms mapping, navigation, tracking systems and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI).18 Further the conventional stage is no longer sufficient enough for the integration of media. Therefore artists are experimenting with the possibilities of a stage and internet access, telematic transmission of streaming video and MIDI signals and adding tracking systems. Finally interactivity has caused for a rising attention to the engineering aspects of technological dance performances.19
Nowadays a great understanding of the processes of media has come into existence amongst dancers. Choreographer, filmmaker and artistic director Johannes Birringer makes a subdivision in four different environments that come into existence according to the application of different technology. Birringer first notes that the use of sensors and tracking systems of movement create an interactive environment, in this kind of dance performance, the sensors or cameras translate the movements into a signal for the computer program. Birringer emphasizes that these technologies only become interesting for the dancer when the dancer is allowed to explore the behaviour of the system and undertake a sort of dialogue.20 Secondly the employment of motion-capture, live telepresence or telerobotic communication results in a derived environment. Thirdly immersive environments arise when choreographers utilize virtual reality installations or panoramic installations. In regard to immersive environment performance, discussions on the visibility or invisibility of the utilized system existed for a long time. In
specifically this refers to the mapping, which encompasses the way the input of data, movement for example, is converted in a system for a specific output. Finally, when the ‘user’ is able to interact with another body, avatar or prostheses through telepresence, videoconferencing and telerobotics a networked environment arises. A vital aspect of networked environments in performances is the instability in the frame-rate, pixilation,
17 Birringer, Johannes. ‘Performance and Science.’ PAJ: A Journal of Performance and
Art, vol.29, iss.1 (2007): 24-27.
18 Birringer, Johannes. ‘Performance Systems.’ South African Theatre Journal, vol.17,
iss.1 (2003): 82 – 84.
19 Ibid. 88. 20 Ibid. 92.
image-disintegration and audio as it is dependent on the network traffic, this can be viewed as an interference or as a part of the performance. The possibility of being present in one place and still interacting with distant places is another important aspect of networked environments in performances.21
Contrary to Birringer’s instrumental understanding of media, Vogl argues that media cannot be reduced to means of representation such as technology. Joseph Vogl poses that current theories show that medium can be approached as something more than mere a set of procedures for information storage, information processing, information distribution and transmission of data.22 Vogl endorsed Galileo's telescope to illustrate this. The view that Galileo obtained through the telescope was mediated under conditions that were created by the telescope itself and from which the telescope was comprised. In this way the telescope could be understood as not only an instrument which allows you to observe remote objects or as an extension of the sight, but these understandings were supplemented by the redefinition of the meaning of vision because the natural view now became part of many other optical views, as Johannes Kepler stated in his book Dioptrice, vision is denatured.23 In other words, an essential aspect of media is that it produces a world and in this way the telescope of Galileo transformed from a mere instrument into a medium; an assembly of material, discursive, practical and theoretical elements. Vogl finally emphasizes that the transformation from an instrument into a medium does not apply in general to media, but is dependent on different factors in order for the occurrence of a transformation into a medium.24 Kati
Röttger adapts this open understanding of Vogl on media opposed to the exclusively instrumental understanding of media of Birringer. Within the context of choreography Röttger finds the application of an open understanding of media more than necessary. According to Röttger the medium choreography cannot be reduced to merely a way of storing information, transferring information or distribute information. Röttger believes that an open understanding of the term media will lead to the broadening of the Western concept of choreography as a notation system of movement. Besides that, Röttger states
21 Birringer, Johannes. ‘Dance and Media Technologies.’ PAJ: A Journal of
Performance and Art, vol. 24, nr.1 (2002): 88.
22 Vogl, Joseph. ‘Becoming-Media: Galileo's Telescope.’ Trans. Brian Hanrahan. New
German Media Theory, vol. 29, (2007): 15-16.
23 Ibid. 17. 24 Ibid. 23.
that the open understanding of medium enables to view the body of the dancer as a medium, this view plays an essential role in the comprehension of the medium of choreography.25In the case of viewing dance as medium, different questions arise on what dance actually transfers. These questions immediately show the problem of the term medium according to Röttger, because in an ideal situation media shows you something, it lets you hear something or it makes you feel something but you are not able to recognize or distinguish it as media. Röttger presumes that media can only be comprehended within other media, which Röttger refers to as intermediality. Hence, with respect to dance, intermediality implies that the body of the dancer becomes a medium when the view of the spectator and the cultural and historical context are involved.26 In contrast to Vogl, who claims that the ‘becoming of media’, the
transformation from an instrument into a medium, does not apply in general to media, Röttger argues that all theatre situations can be regarded as a media-event, provided that theatre is approached as an open concept that transfers media and as a concept that is reliant on the cultural and historical context.27 In short you can state that Röttger does not advocate one particular medium in choreography, but Röttger rather emphasizes that it is about the transmission between media or in Röttgers terms, intermediality in a choreography. This approach encourages the research into the perspectives of media, where Röttger notes that it is not only important to look for the way in which
intermediality occurs but the conditions of the appearance of intermediality are also of significant importance according to Röttger.28
Röttger’s understanding of the term media seems to go a step further than Vogl’s understanding, W.J.T. Mitchell’s view on media, however entails a crucial turn in our period of time. Different media has caused for the realisation of intelligent organisms as result of the development of genetic and computational technologies.29 Mitchell refers to this turn as the pictorial turn, a turn which comprises of a fear of images and pictures, or as Mitchell identifies it as the fear of the biopicture. Mitchell elucidates the biopicture as
25Röttger, K. ‘Die Frage Nach Dem Medium’. Angerer, M., Y. Hardt and A. Weber,
Choreographie - Medien - Gender. Zürich: Diaphanes, 2013: 57-61.
26 Ibid. 62-62. 27 Ibid. 67. 28 Ibid. 73.
29 Mitchell, W.J.T. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.’
followed; ‘...the icon ‘animated’ - that is given motion and appearance of life by means of the technoscience of biology and information.’. Thus the turn is fore mostly formed by the convergence of genetic and computational technologies that create images that resemble life form and creating life form resembling images. According to Mitchell the biopicture is associated with biopolitics as an enhancement of the sovereign that controls the bodies and the population as a way to produce power over living beings. The rise of technology created new ways to control or to engineer the bodies and the population in regard to reproduction and genetic manipulation of the individual and statistical tracking of the population.30 Mitchell claims that this is the age of biocybernetic reproduction, the age where the image really comes alive.31 The figure of the clone and the process of cloning plays an important part in current discussion, not only as a literal issue in the form of reproduction but also as a symbolic representation of technical revolution in media. A terror of cloning, imitation, copying, artificial life and image-making has arisen.32 Mitchell often utilizes the still image of the Velociraptor from Stephen Spielberg’s movie Jurassic Park (see figure 1.), as a biopicture and an example of biocybernetic reproduction.
Figure 1. Still from Jurassic Park, dir. Steven Spielberg, 1993.
30 Mitchell, W.J.T. Cloning Terror: The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present. Chicago: U
of Chicago, 2010: 69 – 71.
31 Mitchell, W.J.T. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.’
Modernism/modernity, vol. 10, iss. 3 (2003): 482.
32 Mitchell, W.J.T. Cloning Terror: The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present. Chicago: U
This image shows the scene where the Velociraptor had broken into the computer control room of the dinosaur park and accidentally turned on the film projector, making the letters of the DNA code visible on the skin of the Velociraptor. The same DNA code that allowed the cloning of the Velociraptor.33 In this image life and biotechnology come together in the form of the reanimation of an extinct organism and the living image.34 Another biopicture Mitchell uses to illustrate biocybernetic reproduction is that of Dolly, the cloned sheep. Mitchell notes that the living image of Dolly was obviously also a living organism but Mitchell emphasizes that Dolly, (just as the still of Jurassic Park) was also a symbol of forms of life. They do not represent these life forms, but are rather a symptom of what they represent. Dolly is a symbol of a form of life that is feared, the concept Dolly personifies is perceived by some as an unnatural life-form, some religious believers find the concept and Dolly as a violation of the divine laws, as the second commandment prohibits making idols. In this way Dolly encompasses the fear of breaking the natural and the divine law.35 In short Mitchell argues that the new configuration of media, is about the control of bodies with codes and the reduction of life to calculable processes. Mitchell states that our time, where the fantasies of cybernetics and the posthuman prevail, presents the task for artist,
technicians and scientists occupied with the imitation of life, of revealing the codes and expose the image of the control of life.36
1.2 Cybernetic Systems
In 1938 mathematician Norbert Wiener became a member of the group of Arturo Rosenblueth who held monthly discussions on scientific method. They both agreed on the great loss science would have to suffer if certain areas would remain unexplored. One of these areas was the intersection of communication control and statistical mathematics, this intersection was not only to be found in the machine but also in the human mechanism. As a result of the abandonment of this area Wiener and Rosenblueth
33 Ibid. 69 – 72.
34 Mitchell, W.J.T. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.’
Modernism/modernity, vol. 10, iss. 3 (2003): 487.
35 Mitchell, W.J.T. What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and Loves of Images. Chicago:
U of Chicago, 2005: 15-17.
36 Mitchell, W.J.T. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.’
were faced with little literature, no terminology to approach the problems of the area and no name for the area. Therefore, Wiener endorsed the Greek name cybernetics
(kybernetike), meaning steersman, to refer to the area concerning control and
communication theory.37 W. Ross Ashby established the foundation of cybernetics and identified two important factors in Cybernetics. According to Ashby cybernetics firstly contributed a common language by offering one vocabulary and one concept that represents diverse systems. Secondly, Ashby states that cybernetics developed a methodology for approaching complex systems.38 Following Ashby, C.E. Shannon explored the existing theories of communication and developed a theory of
communication involving the existence of multiple messages.39 From 1943 until 1954 the Macy Conferences on Cybernetics were held annually where cybernetic pioneers like Norbert Wiener, W. Ross Ashby, C.E. Shannon and Warren McCulloch came together in order to disclose a theory of communication and control that would be applicable to animals, humans, and machines. Eventually the Macy Conferences on Cybernetics led to the development of the understanding of humans as intelligent machines.
The development of cybernetics can be divided in three theories and started with the information theory, which is also regarded as the communication theory by Shannon and Weaver. Weaver stated that the theory could be applied to any field because of the focus on the basic relationships in communication. The information theory is part of the mathematical theory of probability, which indicate that the more random and
unpredictable a message is, the more information the message will contain. In figure 2 the information transmission is illustrated in the case of communications engineers and involves the transmission of information over the telephone and radio. But as earlier stated by Weaver, the concepts of information theory can be applied to various fields.
37 Wiener, Norbert. Cybernetics Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the
Machine. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1961: 1-11.
38Ashby, W. Ross. An introduction to cybernetics. London: Chapman & hall ltd, 1957:
4-5.
39 Shannon, C.E. ‘A Mathematical Theory of Communication.’ The Bell System
Encoding Message Decoding Information Transmitter Receiver Information
Source destination
Noise
Figure 2. Apter, J. Michael. Information transmission. 1969.
Following the information theory the second theory elaborated on the effect of messages on a system, this theory is known as the control theory.40 The control theory
encompasses the concept of homeostasis and refers to the ability of organisms to keep their state consistent in the way that the body, for example sweats in order to maintain the body temperature stable.41 The concept of homeostasis was transferred to the machine in cybernetics in the form of the concept of feedback. Feedback is connected with the idea of a message that informs the input what is happening at the output end and in this way the difference between two things can be measured. Negative feedback decreases the difference between the desired result and the obtained result, the opposite happens when a positive feedback is received.42 In cybernetics a state of stability is often desired and this can be achieved by a negative feedback, which then stabilizes the
situation.43 This process repeats itself in a loop and constitutes feedback. Feedback can also be referred to as a control loop and can be observed in a closed form or an open form. A closed loop exists from purely the system itself and an open loop is formed by a system that is dependent and exchanges information with its environment.44 Later the homeostatic system was redefined in order to incorporate the observer by the use of reflexivity. Reflexivity uses what created a system to become part of the system itself
40 Apter, J. Micheal. ‘Cybernetics and Art.’ Leonardo, vol. 2, iss. 3 (1969): 258. 41 Hayles, Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press Chicago & London, 1999: 7.
42 Duffy, P. R. ‘Cybernetics.’ The journal of business communication, vol. 21, iss.1
(1984): 36.
43 Ashby, W. Ross. An introduction to cybernetics. London: Chapman & hall ltd, 1957,
73.
44 Duffy, P. R. ‘Cybernetics,’ The journal of business communication, vol. 21, iss.1
through a changed perspective. With the emergence of virtuality, where material objects are interpenetrated by information patterns in the form of virtual life and self-organizing computer programs for instance, the final development of cybernetics took place and resulted in the automata theory. Automata theory focuses on the logic of the operation of machines (automata) in regard to the conversion of information between procedures. In this way automata theory creates an understanding with respect to the manner of problem solving and function computation and revolves around the question ‘What are the fundamental capabilities and limitations of machines?’45 The current situation involves the idea that information and materiality are separate concepts and information takes a more primary position over materiality.46
Cybernetics media, visual-art and literature scholar and theorist W.T.J. Mitchell extends the cybernetic concept, opposed to merely focussing on the understanding of cybernetics as the area encompassing control and communication theory in accordance with Wiener, Mitchell intends for the inclusion of the rejection of control and
communication by the employment of the concept Bios as Bios refers to living
organisms which are subjected to control but may also oppose control. Mitchell applied the developments and establishment of cybernetics by approaching the concept of biocybernetic reproduction.47 Mitchell utilizes the concept biocybernetic reproduction to refer to the outcome of the current revolutions in the collaborations in computer
technology and the biological science such as cloning and genetic engineering.48 Additionally, the employment of the term biocybernetics also illustrates the two-way influence of technology and biology. Biocybernetics creates new living conditions in which living organisms are transformed into machines and machines are transformed into living beings.49 With this new situation Mitchell states that when the relationship
between bios and cyber are viewed within semiotics and iconology it indicates a need
45 ‘automata theory’ Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Consulted http://www.britannica.com/topic/automata-theory. (30 june 2015.)
46 Hayles, Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press Chicago & London, 1999: 11-13.
47 ‘About’ Welcome to the jungle of the imaginary. Consulted <
https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/wjtmitchell/>. (16 april 2015.)
48 Mitchell, W.J.T. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.’
Modernism/modernity, vol. 10, iss. 3 (2003): 484.
for a revision of the relationship between nature and human beings and machines.50 A
variety of artists found a way to do this through their artwork, the installation Blender by Stelarc and Nina Sellars for example, does this by the operative removal of biomaterials from their bodies, which they placed in a special build blender. In this way Stelarc and Sellars received the legal ownership of the content and of the result of the artwork’s process. The content was automatically circulated through a pneumatic actuator that was connected to a system of compressed air pumps. The blender was also wired for sound, which created an audible pulse. This artwork reflects the discussions on the ‘blending’ of technology and corporality.51 Artist Eduardo Kac revised the relation between the human and machines through his Natural History of the Enigma, where he created a hybrid between himself and the flower plant petunia through genetic engineering. The DNA of Kac is represented by the red veins of the flower.52
Mitchell proposed that biocybernetic reproduction has replaced the idea of mechanical reproduction of Walter Benjamin.53 Benjamin acknowledged that the reproduction of a work of art has always been present. However, he identified the mechanical reproduction of art as something new, something that increases the speed of the reproduction and the distribution of art due to the upcoming of new (reproductive) technologies. Benjamin states the following about the importance of the authenticity or in Benjamin’s term, the aura of a work of art, by making replica's of art the unique existence is replaced by a number of copies. In other words the aura of the original artwork is destroyed.54 As Benjamin states that mechanical reproduction dominated in
the period of modernism, Mitchell poses that biocybernetic reproduction dominates in the period of postmodernism. However, Mitchell is fully aware that proposing a shift like this means that everything needs to be re-evaluated, Benjamin uses the term reproduction in a different sense than Mitchell himself does, for example, Benjamin
50 Mitchell, W.J.T. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.’
Modernism/modernity, vol. 10, iss. 3 (2003): 486.
51 ‘Blender’ Stelarc. Consulted <http://stelarc.org/?catID=20245>. 22 June 2015.
52 ‘Natural History Of The Enigma’ KAC. Consulted
<http://www.ekac.org/nat.hist.enig.html>. (19 Juni 2015.)
53 Ibid. 490.
54 Walter, Benjamin. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Trans.
refers to a mass production while Mitchell refers to the reproduction of the biological science and technology.55
The shift from a mechanical to a biocybernetic reproduction has resulted in three effects according to Mitchell. Firstly biocybernetics opposed Benjamin’s understanding of the mechanical reproduction with respect to the idea that implied that the copy causes the loss of the unique presence of the original. Biocybernetics in contrary, believes that the copy can be an improvement of the original. In regard to the example of cloning, it is always the aim to achieve an enhanced copy besides full correspondence with the
original. Secondly biocybernetics changed the relation between the artist and the artwork, the artist is closer, but also more distant to the artwork. Thirdly Mitchell explains that the new temporality that biocybernetics brings along in the form of an age constituted by technical determination creates a new understanding of our history. In our time media circulates more information in contrary to the past, nevertheless the notion of disconnection is more present than ever before.56 As a response to these effects of biocybernetics Mitchell finds that the present is so remote from our understanding that we need to re-evaluate our understanding of the present. Mitchell argues that we need art to rethink our condition in order to understand life.57
Artist and theoretician Roy Ascott is since 1960 involved with the merging of advanced technology and the arts, in this way he evolved the Cybernetic Vision on Art. The Cybernetic Vision on Art implies the opposite of the Deterministic vision,58 which
entails that the present situation is the effect of the previous situation and will be the cause of the situation in the future, this also applies to all events, like moral choices and phenomena, as mathematician, astronomer and physicist Pierre Simon de Laplace articulated in his thesis, A Philosophical Essay on Probability.59 According to Ascott in
55 Mitchell, W.J.T. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.’
Modernism/modernity, vol. 10, iss. 3 (2003): 490.
56 Ibid. 491-496. 57 Ibid. 499.
58 Ascott, Roy. ‘Behaviourist Art and the Cybernetic Vision.’ Packer, Randall, Ken
Jordan, Multimedia. From Wagner to Virtual Reality. New York: Norton & Company, 2002: 104.
59 Laplace, Pierre Simon De, Truscott, Frederick Wilson. A Philosophical Essay on
the Cybernetic Vision on Art, Cybernetics shapes our philosophy and our behaviour.60
Ascott notes that Cybernetics already controls transportation, storage and different control and communication processes in our lives. In the context of his Cybernetic view on art Ascott refers to John Cage who stated that the idea of the 'perfect object' should be discarded and the focus should move to the aspect of response between the artwork and the spectator. Ascott takes this statement of Cage in the field of art and technology, as he finds that cybernetic can create this kind of response.61 The concept of feedback
stemming from the cybernetic theory can establish an open-ended loop between the artist, the artwork and the spectator. Ascott defines the open-ended loop in art as the overall context of the art-experience that is created by the artist but whose development is dependent on factors from outside the system, namely the spectator and the
involvement of the spectator. Ascott states that in this way the relation between the human and the machine can be researched by means of art, but it can also be viewed as a methodology to understand this relationship.62
1.3 Posthumanism
The foundation for the posthumanist thinking is not a break with the past, but can be traced back far into history and has existed in relation of overlapping innovation and reproduction.63 In the book The Order of Things Michel Foucault expresses that the human should be seen as temporarily. According to Foucault man as the basis of things is someone we are already departing from. Although this statement of Foucault did not become reality, it does however illustrate how the human is constituted by different involvements with forces from outside the human.64 In the same way Bruno Latour argues that humans are constituted by what he calls non-humans like technology.
60 Ascott, Roy. ‘Behaviourist Art and the Cybernetic Vision.’ Packer, Randall, Ken
Jordan, Multimedia. From Wagner to Virtual Reality. New York: Norton & Company, 2002: 108.
61 Ibid. 104. 62 Ibid. 105.
63 Hayles, Katherine. ‘Afterword: The Human in the Posthuman.’ Cultural Critique, vol.
53 (2003): 134.
64 Foucault, Michel. The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. New
According to Latour humans are depended on non-humans in their life.65 The
actor-network-theory of Latour takes an important place in his understanding, where the social environment is understood to be formed by a network of interactions between humans and non-humans and the non- human is believed to have an agency. Additionally Latour finds that humans and non-humans are not by definition binary oppositions.66
In 1986 biologist, feminist and science and technology theorist and philosopher Donna Haraway wrote the influential essay A Cyborg Manifesto regarding the binary oppositions of Western thinking. In this essay she adopts the notion of cyborg that was coined by engineers of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline and is a contraction of the cybernetical organism. Clyens and Kline used the term to refer to a hybrid human machine that was able to sustain in space. Their view of the cyborg encompasses the dream of overcoming bodily weaknesses by technical development.67
Haraway employs the term cyborg as a metaphor in four different ways, a cybernetical organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of lived social reality and a creature of fiction. The cyborg is not something of the future, according to Haraway, because the cyborg can already be found in medicine, reproduction and war. Therefore Haraway states that we are cyborgs. According to Haraway the cyborg has no origin in the Western sense, it does not depend on human reproduction. But they are the result of the military, capitalism and socialism. Haraway notes three boundary
breakdowns in order to illustrate that the cyborg is something of the present, firstly the breakdown of the boundary between human and animal, secondly the breakdown of the boundary between organism and machine and thirdly the breakdown of the boundary between physical and non-physical, this boundary refers to the modern machine that can be found everywhere but is at the same time invisible.
Haraway states that science and technology have influenced social relations, which she shows by a list of old hierarchical dominations and a list of new networks. From this lists Haraway concludes that communications and biotechnology are now
65 Latour, Bruno. ‘Morality and technology: The end of the means.’ Theory, Culture &
Society, vol. 19, iss. 5 (2002): 247–260.
66 Latour, Bruno. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
67 Cook, S. Peta. The Modernistic Posthuman Prophecy of Donna Haraway. Centre for
interfaced. Communication sciences and biology have started to approach the world in coding according to Haraway, which she explains by pointing to the cybernetic systems in for example telephone technology. However, Haraway notes, that in this world
troubling dualisms have existed in Western tradition, such as mind and body, culture and nature, male and female, reality and appearance, right and wrong and God and man. Haraway argues that the cyborg challenges these dualisms, the distinctions for these dualisms are not clear or not present with respect to the cyborg. This is the power
Haraway attributes to the cyborg, Haraway concludes her essay with the following: ‘The machine is not an 'it' that should be animated, worshipped or dominated, the machine is us, it is an aspect of our embodiment. They do not dominate us, we are responsible for our boundaries.’ 68 In short Haraway's main aim is to deconstruct the binary oppositions
by adapting the cyborg as a metaphor and not as a serious way of analysis of the relation between the human and the machine. Nevertheless the approach of Haraway to the cyborg was undoubtedly influential for posthumanism theories such as the posthuman understanding of Katherine Hayles.69
In her exploration of posthumanism Hayles acknowledges a division in regard to the reception of the posthuman. The two opposing views encompass on the one hand terror and on the other hand pleasure. After a closer study on the implications of
posthumanism these views will become clear. Hayles discusses four characteristics of a posthuman view, which first of all favours informational pattern over material
instantiation. The second characteristic is the understanding that the human identity is to be found in the conscience. Manipulating the body by extending or replacing it by prosthesis is the third characteristic Hayles clarifies. Lastly, the most important characteristic involves the human and the machine being able to unite.
The dialectics of presence and absence and the dialectics of pattern and randomness have led to the configuration of the posthuman.70 In information theory information is understood to be different from the object in which it is contained,
68 Bell, David, Barbara M. Kennedy. The Cybercultures Reader. New York: Routlegde,
2000: 292 -315.
69 Rae, Gavin. ‘The Philosophical Roots of Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Imagery:
Descartes and Heidegger Through Latour, Derrida and Agamben.’ Science and Business
Media, vol. 37 (2014): 506.
70 Hayles, Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics.
information is a pattern. In contrary to the assumption that noninformation would inevitably mean the absence of pattern, namely randomness, Hayles states that information can also exist out of a pattern and randomness at the same time. Pattern defines randomness and randomness defines pattern and in this way the dialectic allows the information to move.71 With the arrival of technology in our lives, information, pattern and randomness, seems to be emphasized over materiality, presence and absence. With the introduction of a semiotic square (see figure 3) representing the relationship between presence/absence and pattern/randomness dialectics Hayles poses to approach the dialectics as complementary rather than opposites. The interplay between the dialectics result in infinite new dialectics, from the interplay between presence and absence for example materiality arises and from the vertical relation
between presence and randomness mutation develops, the other vertical relation between absence and pattern causes hyperreality and the interplay between pattern and
randomness produces information. Hayles claims that the semiotic square illustrates in what way the dialectics between presence/absence and pattern/randomness creates concepts like materiality, information, mutation, and hyperreality, from which the posthuman is constituted.72 The concept of materiality, that arises from the dialectic between presence/absence, and the concept of information as the result of the dialectic between pattern/randomness, can be found in money for example, money can be
perceives in its cash form but it is also often regarded as an informational pattern kept in the computers of banks. Hayles states that another example can be found in virtual reality where the user’s movements are reproduced by an avatar on the computer screen that is accompanied by a three-dimensional sound field leading to an experience where the user feels inside the computer. In this example the dialectics between
presence/absence in regard to the body of the user and the avatar being present in the real world and/or in the virtual world create the concept materiality and the dialectics pattern/randomness through the connection between the control loop and the body create the concept information. The interaction between the concepts materiality and
71 Ibid. 25.
72 Hayles, Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics.
information lead to the understanding of hyperreality,73 a situation where the distance
between the original and the simulation merges.74
Figure 3. Hayles, Katherine. Semiotic square representing the relationship between
presence/absence and pattern/randomness. 1999.
In her discussion of posthumanism Hayles addresses the rise of both excitement and terror with reference to posthumanism. According to Hayles the terror can be found in the dual connotation of ‘post’, firstly it signifies that something comes after the human but it also signifies that something replaces the human. With the following remark of Warren McCulloch the excitement created by the posthuman can be illustrated: "Man to my mind is about the nastiest, most destructive of all the animals. I don't see any reason, if he can evolve machines that can have more fun than he himself can, why they
shouldn't take over, enslave us, quite happily. They might have a lot more fun. Invent
73 Ibid. 27.
better games than we ever did.’75 In response to this sort of view of the posthuman,
Hayles notes that although the human works alongside the intelligent machine and the intelligent machine replaces the human in performing tasks, the unification of the human and the intelligent machine has certain constraints as the embodiment of the human functions in a distinctly different way from the working of the embodiment of the machine. Another important note Hayles makes is that these apocalyptic views originate from the conception that conscious agency is the essence of the human identity and by letting machines take control and make judgement decisions would be to relinquish being human. However, the conscience agency has never had the control according to Hayles. In this way Hayles supports a more optimistic view of the posthuman. The shift from presence and absence to pattern and randomness is employed to illustrate how this can transform and create new configurations from which the posthuman is constituted. The transformation emerged from the relation between the two dialectics. For Hayles posthumanism leads the way to a new manner of thinking about being human, opposed to the meaning of the end of the human. This new thinking encompasses a change in concepts about the human and the possibility of the human working together with the machines. Further Hayles emphasizes that posthumanism is not about the replacement of the human by taking away the responsibility or the conscience agency, but rather about the development and enhancement of the human. Hayles claims that by trying to understand the human in these terms, a better understanding of our time is created, which in turn will give a better understanding of the world.76
This chapter has shown the current development in dance, through an approach of the instrumental understanding of media, where the linking of technologies such as sensors, tracking systems, motion-capture, live telepresence, telerobotic
communications, virtual reality installations and panoramic installations in dance performance introduced interactivity within dance and in this way challenged the bodily boundaries, spatial realities and the relationship between the human and technology. Which was supplemented by a discussion of a more open understanding of media with
75 Bateson, C. Mary. Our Own Metaphor: A Personal Account of a Conference on the
Effects of Conscious Purpose on Human Adaptation. New York: Hampton Press, 2004:
226.
76 Hayles, Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics.
respect to choreography as an understanding that is broader than merely a way of storing information, transfer information or distribute information. Another example of an open understanding of media was given by means of biocybernetics, where the convergence of the media in the form of genetic and computational technologies create images that resemble life form and creating life form resembling images. In this way the new configuration of media is focused on the control of bodies with codes and on the reduction of life to calculable processes. Following the concept of cybernetics was approached as the area encompassing control and communication theory in accordance with Wiener. Which was complemented by an explanation of the manner of adoption of the term biocybernetics by Mitchell in order to also include the rejection of control and communication. Ascott’s view was utilized to illustrate how the concept of cybernetics can be employed to comprehend these shifts within dance and humanism. Finally the concept of posthumanism was elucidated through the approaches of Haraway and Hayles. This research will be continued by means of these views. These views allow a thorough analysis of dance performances that use a form of technology.
2. ANIMATING THE OTHER
Bright beams cut the room, replacing complete darkness. They glow in threatening white as they reach to the ceiling in mathematical precision. Two men step into the room as scan matrices sense their bodies. They become sliced into their components, rearranged and manipulated by light till the moment they decide to break the dictatorship of the machine and find nothing left – but themselves. (Princemio.net)
In the following chapter the concepts of cybernetics and posthumanism in the
performance POW_2045 by Prince mio labs will form the analysis subject. POW_2045 is a performance where dance and drama are combined with a close collaboration between music art and visual art. The collaboration between dance, drama and media in the production of POW_2045 did not only concern the final result in regard to the performance, but the collaboration was also implemented within the creation process. Allowing not only the (human) choreographer, but also the computer to make vital decisions in the choreography. Beside the main issues involving theincomprehension
and the consequences of bringing together the human and technology, the performance
POW_2045 also incorporates the search, the definition, the acceptance and pursue of
one’s goals and dreams in life as a narrative.77
2.1 The performance POW_2045
The performance POW_2045 was created by the Berlin based Christian Mio Loclair, founder of Prince mio labs. Loclair studied computer science and is a professional dancer specialised in the dance style hiphop. Besides dancer, Loclair is also occupied as a media-engineer. In this way he developed the WiiPop, an acceleration video game which is based on the physical data of the ‘popping’ movement of the dancer. With the foundation of the Prince mio labs, Loclair constructed a platform for a range of
international choreographers, directors and media artists who create performances where they combine dance and interactive media. As the artists of the Prince mio labs all felt
77 ‘Portfolio’ Princemio. 2011. Consulted < http://princemio.net/portfolio/Pow_2045/>.
the current tendencies of our times between the human and technology they merge the two together within performance in order to understand the abilities of the machine and the meaning of the human.78
‘Pow’ is a term originating from computer language and refers to exponential functions and was incorporated in the title of the performance in order to show the exponential evolvement of technology in our time and the future. Through the
performance POW_2045 Loclair tried to answer the following questions, ‘How can a machine become a partner within an artistic process instead of an effect that serves the artist? and ‘How can the machine generate choreographic patterns, creative solutions and become an equal partner within artistic productions?’ In this way the performance was a discovery of the dancers and the technological environment. POW_2045, can be divided into three sections, firstly the choreography, that was created by Loclair, art director Raphael Hillebrand and choreographer Pham Khanh Linh and was performed by the dancers of S.I.N.E CREW. With respect to the choreography, Loclaire and art director Hillebrand worked together and constructed ‘Pathfinder’, which is a software that enabled them to generate a choreography through a computer, the exact working of the software will be further clarified in the following paragraph. The emphasizes on technology could even be found in the dance itself, which was based on the urban dances like popping, a dance form that highly depends on mathematical calculations, as the dancer has to calculate the amount of contraction, pressure or isolation of the muscles and movements in order to attain popping. The second section of the performance was formed by the architectural design and was developed by Loclair. Loclair covered the whole stage with a three dimensional installation which was placed in front of a projection screen. The installation consisted of big white strips of cloth that was arranged in a diagonal manner and was fixed at two points, from the ceiling to the floor. The installation was inspired by the mathematical designs and architecture of Oskar Schlemmer. Loclair however strived for a new manner of the usage of the projection screen by not focusing on the mapping technology, but by focussing on the controlling and manipulating of the projection screen by an algorithm. A 3D camera translated the movement of the dancers into visuals and sound. Lastly the sound and
78 ‘About’ Princemio. 2011. Consulted < http://princemio.net/portfolio/Pow_2045/>. (1
light technology was managed by sound designer Tri Minh and light designer Nguyen Duy Chan. Minh was able to create a two way influence between the dance and sound. In some parts the music was created by the choreography and in other parts the
choreography was created by the music using 3D cameras.79
‘Pathfinder’ was utilized to choreograph the performance POW_2045 and was inspired by the visualization of lines and patterns. Pathfinder generates a number of geometric shapes in order to inspire the dancer to translate these images into movement. The speed and the complexity were attributes that could be adjusted, the specific
outcome of the algorithm however could not be predicted. Pathfinder responds to the improvisational movements of the dancer. The shapes that Pathfinder generates, such as points, lines and planes were inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s theory on geometric primitives which he articulated in his book Point and Line to Plane.80
2.2 Performance Analysis performance POW_2045
In the context of the cybernetical performance analysis scene two and scene three will be discussed in relation to each other. A dark stage marks the opening of the second scene of POW_2045, this darkness is disturbed by the emergence of small white squares falling down in a row on a small section on the left side of the projection screen until they reach the bottom of the projection screen and disappear, this change arises together with a change from a low speed to a higher speed in the digital sound. After this, the small white squares appear again from the bottom, but this time, alternating from moving upwards and downwards in a row, while covering the whole projection screen including the three dimensional installation instead of only the left side. The speed of the movements of the squares now varies from slow to fast depending on the speed of the digital sound. While the scene proceeds the sound becomes more complex, which reflects on the movement of the squares and the diverse additions like the change from a black background to a white background and the forming of whole lines from all the small squares. When the sound decreases in complexity the small squares come to standstill and take the shape of long white lines until eventually the visual stops moving (see figure 4). In scene three, five dancers enter the stage, one dancer is positioned on
79 ‘Portfolio’ Princemio. 2011. Consulted < http://princemio.net/portfolio/Pow_2045/>
(1 January 2015.)
the left side of the stage and the remaining four dancers stand in a line next to each other. The solo dancers starts to make small isolating movements which are followed by small arm movements of the other four dancers while the visual on the projection is not moving. When the dancers make more dynamic movements, the digital sound reacts by shifting from a delicate flow to a sharper sound, at the same time the white lines on the projection screen and the three dimensional installation start to move again by altering their length. Although the movements made by the dancers appear to be more dynamic than before the dancers seem to execute rather rectilinear movements. When the digital sound starts to present sudden beats the dancers start to move around the stage and the white lines on the screen and the installation start to move at the same pace of the sound (see figure 5). Finally, one dancer starts to move in a static manner and grabs another dancer, which continues until all the dancers hold on to each other. In the end of this scene the visual stops moving again in the same way the dancers stop moving (see figure 6). The dancers, however do remain to show some movement in the same way that the sound is almost absent but can sometimes be heard very softly.81
Figure 4. POW_2045. 2013
Figure 5. POW_2045. 2013 Figure 6. POW_2045. 2013
An application of the information theory can be found in the second scene through the information that is transmitted from the sound to the visuals. During the scene the sound sends a message to the visual in one way (see figure 7). With the help of the information theory the audience is confronted with a clear synchronization of the visual and sound resulting in a performance of the technology opposed to the performance of a human as a result of the absence of the dancers in the second scene.
Information Information
Source Transmitter Receiver destination
Sound Music installation Laptop Projection screen
Figure 7. Information transmission POW_2045
In the third scene the sound clearly respond to the movements in regard to the intensity of the movement. The nature of the movement of the dancers, highly correlate with the movements of the visuals. This can be explained by the application of the choreography tool Pathfinder that is based on geometric primitives. Beside Pathfinder, the correlation can also be explained by the dance style hiphop, which is primarily linear orientated.
