Alternative Dramaturgies: Marginality, the Senses and Technology

Cover photo by Laurence Gagnon Lefebvre of Au-delà du visuel research project  

Link for August 25th online presentation: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7527854730?pwd=V01SRll4U0I1b0tJU1diS2IzOU1hdz09

Postmarginal announces a new series of performance research labs, « Alternative Dramaturgies ». Inspired by the ideas of The Centre Cannot Hold on hybridity of artistic disciplines and marginalities, the first edition — “Marginality, Senses and Technologies” — is slated to take place between October 2023 and March 2024. The participants are united around the idea that marginalities and “non-standard” experiences create unique perceptions of reality and new theatrical possibilities.  

Four artists who work with or between different psychological, artistic, physical and ethnocultural perspectives will be called upon to develop and test new dramaturgical ideas in three separate laboratories involving interactive, immersive and other technological devices. Using their creative projects currently in development, they will focus on material such as: 

• How ​​can technology refocus marginal perspectives in chosen dramaturgies?
• What creative opportunities or challenges does technology offer artists? 
• What sensory experiences can be communicated to the public by technologies? 
• What new dramaturgies can emerge?
• What is shared between the artists as physical and emotional experiences? What are the relational aspects of their experience?

 

The Artists

The four artists involved are Audrey-Anne Bouchard, Jean-François Boisvenue, Peter Farbridge, and Kagan Goh: 

Audrey-Anne Bouchard is a director and lighting designer who lives with a visual impairment. She creates multi-sensory and immersive performances for spectators with or without sight.  

Jean-François Boisvenue is a multidisciplinary artist who explores facets of his neurological unicity such as synaesthesia in his work. 

Peter Farbridge is a performer and creator interested in the arts inspired by the experiences and practices of so-called marginal artists. 

Kagan Goh is a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist: published author, spoken word poet, screenwriter, performer, mental health advocate, and activist. 

 

The Researchers

Nicolas Berzi (Project Collaborator | Researcher | SIT) is a researcher-creator in the performing arts and interdisciplinarity, director, author, playwright, audiovisual designer and producer. Nicolas Berzi has been developing collective, hybrid and technological scenic writing for over fifteen years. Nicolas will work with the group as a dramaturg during the laboratory phase.  https://studiosit.ca/equipe/#toggle-id-2

David Bobier (Project Collaborator | Researcher | VibraFusionArts) is a media artist, educator, arts administrator and curator. He is the Founder, Director and Curator of VibraFusionLab in London, Ontario, an arts-based public studio that investigates multi-sensory artistic modalities in the creation and presentation of art by and for people of all abilities. David will demonstrate the potential of haptic devices in the intersection of sound and vibration in performances. https://www.vflvibrafusionlab.com/about.html

Florian Grond (Project Collaborator  | Researcher | E2IAN) is an Associate Professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, media artist, and sonic interaction designer. His research interests are participatory design in the context of disability, the arts, immersive media, and assistive technology. Florian will present binaural and immersive technologies to the group. https://centreforsensorystudies.org/florian-grond/

Armando Menicacci (Project Collaborator | Researcher | SIT), director of research and development at Scènes interactives technologiques is a researcher, artist and teacher.  His work takes the form of visual, performative and editorial productions revolving around the relationship between the arts, expressive physicality and technology. Armando will present telepresence and video mapping technologies to the team. https://studiosit.ca/equipe/#toggle-id-1

Melissa Park (Project Collaborator | Researcher | E2IAN) is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University uses a combination of research creation, participatory and ethnographic approaches to  understand transformative processes across and between neurodiverse experiences. Melissa will present immersive techniques to the group. https://www.mcgill.ca/spot/melissa-park

 

Hybrid Presentation

The project will be launched on Friday August 25th @ 16h30 ET at Eastern Bloc with a hybrid in-person and virtual broadcast of the results of the first meeting and a presentation of the artists, the research plan, and technologies for the laboratories. For more information please see the Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/629254292636550

 

The Partners

The project has been made possible through a partnership between Postmarginal, les Scènes interactives technologiques, Eastern Bloc, and VibraFusionLab, and is currently funded by the Conseil des arts de Montréal. Associated research partners include the Centre for Circus Arts Research and Knowledge Transfer (CRITAC) and E2IAN (Tracing Ephemeral Experiences, Immersive Technologies/Techniques Aesthetics and Neurodiversity) and Kokoro Dance (KW Studios.