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NEW from The Leonardo Book Series and The MIT Press<o:p></o:p>
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<i style="">Digital Performance: A
History of New Media in Theater, Dance, Performance Art, and
Installation</i>
by Steve Dixon<br>
<br>
The past decade has seen an extraordinarily intense period of
experimentation
with computer technology within the performing arts. Digital media has
been
increasingly incorporated into live theater and dance, and new forms of
interactive performance have emerged in participatory installations, on
CD-ROM,
and on the Web. In Digital Performance, Steve Dixon traces the
evolution of
these practices, presents detailed accounts of key practitioners and
performances, and analyzes the theoretical, artistic, and technological
contexts of this form of new media art.<br>
<br>
Dixon finds precursors to today’s digital performances in past forms of
theatrical technology that range from the deus ex machina of classical
Greek
drama to Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk (concept of the total artwork), and
draws
parallels between contemporary work and the theories and practices of
Constructivism, Dada, Surrealism, Expressionism, Futurism, and
multimedia
pioneers of the twentieth century. For a theoretical perspective on
digital
performance, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dixon</st1:place></st1:City>
draws on the work of Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard,
and
others.<br>
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To document and analyze contemporary digital performance practice, <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dixon</st1:place></st1:City> considers
changes
in the representation of the body, space, and time. He considers
virtual
bodies, avatars, and digital doubles, as well as performances by
artists
including Stelarc, Robert Lepage, Merce Cunningham, Laurie Anderson,
Blast
Theory, and Eduardo Kac. He investigates new media’s novel approaches
to
creating theatrical spectacle, including virtual reality and robot
performance
work, telematic performances in which remote locations are linked in
real time,
Webcams, and online drama communities, and considers the
“extratemporal”
illusion created by some technological theater works. Finally, he
defines
categories of interactivity, from navigational to participatory and
collaborative.
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dixon</st1:place></st1:City>
challenges dominant theoretical approaches to digital
performance--including
what he calls postmodernism’s denial of the new--and offers a series of
boldly
original arguments in their place.<br>
<br>
Steve Dixon is Professor of Performance and Head of the <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Arts</st1:PlaceName>, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Brunel</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
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To order this book and to learn more about other titles in
the Leonardo Book Series visit the Leonardo Book Series website at:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.leonardo.info/isast/leobooks.html">http://www.leonardo.info/isast/leobooks.html</a>
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<br>
MEMBER DISCOUNT! Leonardo/ISAST Associate Members are
eligible for 20% off all Leonardo Book Series titles as well as a
number of
other membership benefits! Visit <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://leonardo.info/members.html">http://leonardo.info/members.html</a> for
more
details.
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