'Immeasurable? The Dance in Dance Science' will aim to promote debate surrounding the interface between art and science.The cornerstone of this debate will question what can and cannot be measured in dance, from both scientific and somatic perspectives. Keynote speaker Sylvie Fortin, professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, will present Measurable? Immeasurable? What are we really looking for?
Other topics of discussion will include:
interesting article by Judith Mackrell in the Guardian on Merce Cunningham and some of the famous artits that have worked with him. i have to admit i'm still a Cunningham fan, in his 'youth' he was well ahead of his time and now, aged 86 he is still 'current'; thats quite a feat. the quintessential postmodernist producing modernist danceworks he still offers alot for others to learn from about being an artist.
you can read the article, 'the joy of sets' online.
]]>hugh macleod
the concept of viewing movement (gestures) as points in space rather was suggested as a means of moving from direct mapping to dynamic systems in sensor based performance systems. whilst i welcome the move away from linear topology (direct mapping) I'm not sure that arbitrary feature extraction of coarse movement traces will lead to more 'open' systems. i also think that the labels used needed looking at;
there was also a need to recognise that feature extraction of points in space without a reference model is not gesture recognition but gesture perception (or imposition). the segmentation movement without context or recognising the feature range of discreet and compound gestures will generate quantitative not qualitative data.
there was intermittent discussion of "how long does the subject linger on the edge of the volume..." (video and pdf , NYT review, village voice WNYC radio interview [real audio]). issues included a desire for the work to have been shown live and the reported $1.27 million spent on developing the motione technology. with troika ranch using EyesWeb and Isadora to achieve similar goals (generative visuals from qualitative data) the differences in cost and portability were interesting. if we want to extend and develop the use of performance technologies we must make them more assessable and portable, what ever happened to the e-merge software that was supposed to be made available?
the afternoon opened with a short performance of a work in progress by Heine Røsdal Avdal, who then went onto discuss his working process and aesthetic. glitch art and tecnologia povera (see arte povera) were the order of the day. it was good to hear heine place technology and 'flesh' on an equal level and to express (re-present) the failure of both systems within his work. issues uncovered included the location, size and shape of the projection plane, how far do we / can we engage the audience in the performance making process (whilst they are spectators).
Ed Burton from soda (interview from 2002) explained the development of sodaconstructor and the emergence of a sodaconstructor user group that took the tool beyond his expectations. apart from playing with sodaconstructor you should also look at the sodazoo and other soda projects. if you like sodaconstructor check out moovol.
igloo spoke about their experience of using motion capture over the last 10 years and hinted at a current project to develop an artwork using a game engine (the unreal engine). I'm really excited to see how this works out, not only to play the game but also mod the work to make choreographic machinima.
Johannes Birringer bemoaned the state of the art seeking hot interaction rather than the cold interaction we a currently presented with. He wanted more cultural engagement with technology and more expressive, full length works rather than 'works in progress' and 'technical sketches'. whilst i agreed with much he had to say i believe that some of the issues related to general arts practice rather than methods for developing arts uses for existing and emerging technologies
the need for new tools made by artists for artists (or arts based programmers) was clear. i hope that soon our reliance on tools made by people insensitive to arts needs will pass.
i finally got to meet Elizabeth MacKinnon who was attending with doncaster peers including Kate Sicchio, which made me wonder if Lucy Field and Article19 will work out a way for lucy to post video of her working process. Kate did such a good job documenting Playing Grounds it's a shame more dance artists don't follow her example. a greeting to everyone i met and i look forward to speaking with you again.
all in all a great day... thanks to all involved. hopefully next time i'm at an event and can blog i will deal with it a little better and get sort updates out on a regular basis (any idea of wi-fi at laban?)
]]>it's interesting to hear the conversations on dynamic systems, chaos, emergence, traces and gesture. there seems to still be much goundwork to cover in dance technology practice.
it occurs to me that wilst developing the models for my research i must allways remember to look at the alternative uses and how a differing mode of perception can facilitate new avenues of expression
]]>the problem of transferring my work for easy consumption by dance scientists, academics and artists is compounded by some rather dubious computer science (CS) movement theories. There is a common belief in CS that a global movement language exists which can be identified to describe al human motion. They hope to identify this language through pattern recognition and the statistical decomposition of human motion to discover the basic motor primitives or 'movemes'.
Yet human movement has no embedded meaning other than that imposed by the spectator or performer. Because the range of potential movement is so large (limited only by the constrains of the human body), movement techniques reduce the number of possible solutions to provide a usable classification. these classifications are not so much languages but dialects whilst their construction is systematic but subjective and essentially arbitrary.
a gesture recognition system trained to recognise features that match a particular dialect is not performing global recognition but probabilistic assessment of feature minima. each of these minima, when considered within another dialect or sub dialect could represent different, incomplete or invalid movemes. with many movement domains (eg. ballet, t'ai chi ch'uan, figure skating) being pluricentric the problem of identifying the feature minima of a gesture becomes more difficult. diglossia in a movement domain (variations between the technical and applied form) adds additional layers of complexity.
further more gestures are not always mutually intelligible, whilst a ballet dancer may recognise aspects of the salchow, lutz and axel (figure skating) their method of execution may not be technically understood (effect / affect divergence).
if CS is going to borrow from linguistics to classify movement it needs to pay more attention to the theories and practice of each domain rather than looking inwardly to speech and language processing or natural language processing. there is a clear difference between physical phenomena and their structuralist abstractions, it is this difference that most CS papers on gesture recognition fail to acknowledge alongside confusing effect and affect.
so whilst these basic concepts are nothing new to dancers the language and parallels drawn are unusual. what i hope to show is that we, as dancers hold valuable phenomenological knowledge about our practice that can be applied to a wide range of contexts.
science can learn from the arts, but only if it takes the time to listen
]]>as i near the first completed draft of my technical report i have stripped more and more conceptual developments to reveal my basic position with greater clarity. due to the lack of relevant texts i have eschewed the usual literature review, i expect this will cause problems
i had imagined that here, for the first time, i would not 'rock the boat' during my studies. oh well ...
the last four months have been a motive meditation; only now do i feel that i have somewhere to begin.
bastish.net
i have been considering a boustrophedic draft script for a document i am working on and to assist my day to day mark making. i hope to improve both the speed and legibility of my markmaking whilst creating a distinctive visual impression.
summer approaches, and the office is too dark, cool and quiet. it would be nice to have somewhere warm and bright to work, where the chatter is reassuring rather than disturbing. perhaps i should charge up my batteries and sit out on the grass.
preparing for the next stage.
kobayashi issa
listening to Tilopa; Kyotaku Live [buy]
]]>Furthermore the communication skills of students was somewhat lacking. Problems included running overtime, poor delivery, bad slide design and a poor conceptual theory.
Technical solutions should not be isolated from their contextual application. Without understanding how the solution 'may' be used (rather than only considering primary function) any resultant tools are of limited use.
The audience was exclusively CMP (afaik) it would have been interesting to have feedback from differing perspectives. I think that the lack of interdisciplinary actively in UEA limits both the quality of research and students educational experience.
CMP UEA has some very articulate staff (and students) it is important that activity within the school is integrated to promote development of novel work and ensure a high standard of general research. It was interesting to note staff comments on students from different groups.
One thing was very clear from the day, UEA needs a physics department again.
So what's next for me? Well the key tasks are implementing the notation, constructing test cases and making sure I remain creative. I also have my year review to undertake in the next few weeks.
]]>Syntactic parsing of Labanotation would be particularly useful when examining the dance archives. The application of suitably modified linguistic models might facilitate the deep visualisation of a choreographic corpus.
The visualisation of Labanotation beyond movement animation will be significant importance once Labanotation interlingua and a digital archive have been established.
I feel that the UK has yet to make a significant contribution to dance technology beyond performance applications. The development of deep visualisation technologies for dance would extend not only to dance tech and dance analysis but also dance science.
Will the dance community wait until it's too late to develop a fully integrated system, or rely on Computer Science to define the framework? Given recent history I expect so, but there is another way,but what UK institution has the vision to undertake such an unusual development?
As i noted in my pervious post, technical solutions should not be isolated from their contextual application. Deep dance visualisation (DDV) should be developed in a dance context with computational expertise. I would argue that outside of this context significantly novel and applicable research will be elusive.
so where and how to develop DDV, my first suggestion would be to align the research with dance science, performance, theory and notation. There a few institutions with such a mix, so perhaps a specific multidisciplinary group should be formed as an inter university project. Indeed, a collaborative approach would improve the profile and adoption of the finished product.
So, in the absence of a school of 'dance studies, science and mediation' i can only imagine the "DDV group" developing such technology. The remit of the group should be to produce a a tools for ddv that can be used by dance experts and novices, from secondary education to univertsity and professional practice.
i will return to this soon ...
]]>i would have liked (very much) to have attended (me)dia but am unable to, a prior engagement impedes travelling so far. if you attend i would like to know how it was.
on weds we have our postgraduate research day, as i was not selected to give a paper, i will be presenting a poster Affective – Esoteric, Motive Attribution: Æma [200kb pdf]. I'm not overly keen on posters, and this one is a little to wordy perhaps ... [update; fixed poster error]
it seems hard to explain why a movement notation requires more development time and theory than an abstracted movement shorthand. i stand by my convictions; radical change is therefore possible.
doug fox is back! so roll on over to the Great Dance Weblog [feeds: atom , audio , rss2] nice to see you back on-line doug. a shift in focus (or a nudge?) to dance in general rather than dance tech but it looks good so far. i hope that doug can secure some international artists for interview as the site progresses
]]>at times, there are too many thoughts in my head. it is simpler to pass solutions onto others, rather than deal with them myself. often months and years will pass before they are communicated, but this is no matter; good ideas have longevity.
summer is on it's way, more sitting outside in the sun working, playing and resting. a chance to explore the campus grounds extensively. i used to walk the campus a lot when studying at UL along the banks of the shannon and the surrounding land. great memories.
i recieve mails from the labantalk list, it's been rather busy of late and very interesting. if Labanotation and Motif notation are your thing you can subscribe by sending an email to listserver [at] lists.acs.ohio-state.edu the text of the message should read " subscribe LabanTalk YourFirstname YourLastname "
much time hs been spent refactoring my technical report. i'm not sure that technical report is the right discripton anymore but that's what it's called. i was asked if it could be made into a paper, it's a paper in itself, and reasonably detailed. i must put together my uni web page to serve it from when done. i will upload my other work there too.
i'm wondering if Laban have wireless acess and if it is an open network, i will have to find out. it would be kinda neat to blog live from some of the events i am attending / presenting at.
how long is the journey, does it start with the destination, what happens after?
i think yde are considering using one of my images, that would be good, exposure for my work is so limited.
i'm lost in thoughts ...
]]>The concept and idea are different. The former implies a general direction while the latter is the component. Ideas implement the concept. [Sentences on Conceptual Art]These paragraphs are not intended as categorical imperatives, but the ideas stated are as close as possible to my thinking at this time. These ideas are the result of my work as an artist and are subject to change as my experience changes. I have tried to state them with as much clarity as possible. If the statements I make are unclear it may mean the thinking is unclear. Even while writing these ideas there seemed to be obvious inconsistencies (which I have tried to correct, but others will probably slip by).
[Paragraphs on Conceptual Art]
in exploring the interface between the arts (dance) and science (computer) i realise that i often become unclear. this usually stems from a desire to explore the complex details rather than present my position. i am working towards clarity.
from the feedback on my presentation it seems that i also need to be clear about the reasons why a common interface between science and the arts should be found, and how this relates to dance and movement simulation. the presentation went well, here is an overview of my slides for esoteric motion texture [pdf 0.3mb]
when writing my undergrad thesis (50% choreography 50% theory) i was reviewing optical illusions and op art, my intention was to use 'composition by field' to generate optical illusions rather than the formal or emergent patterns we are used to seeing. i had a particular fascination with Bridget Riley initially just her monochromatic works before i came to appreciate the subtle richness of her polychromatic oeuvre. once i sat in the tate looking at one image for so long i had after images for about 20mins.
optical and perceptual illusions are once more a central theme in my work, both interpreting graphical notation and viewing 3d motion via a 2d display. the latter is very problematic, our bias for perceiving biological motion results in many false positives.
a utility aMong swAllows is theiR musiC. thEy produce it mid-air to avoid coLliding
i have been listening to Litany for the Whale for the last few days, it is in summer moments that i like to sit outside and listen to it whilst working and resting.
Marysia Zalewski's position of 'Theorising Through Practice' is at the heart of the fuller project. i'm very excited about what this project has to offer dance artists but, until i can talk about it openly [...].
]]>by-nc-nd Matthew Gough / South East Dance
if you need reportage style dance images of your work drop me an email. i photograph dance 'as it happens' rather than studio, or 'set' shots so if thats your need, i'm your man.
this week i have to give a short presentation at uea, given that i have a choice of topic i went with something i'm working on (possibly) for july. seeing as the audience is mainly out of my field/s i decided on expound on 'impulse - intention - action'.
it's only a 15min talk, with questions afterwards, so the above graphic is the talk in a nutshell. yet, i'm thinking of a more graphical treatment than my usual 'stand and talk'. don't worry, i'm not talking 'lame' powerpoint here but a beyond bullets approach. i'm powerpoint a novice so this is a chance to experiment.
Computer Interpretation of Labanotation within Graphical Dance Notation Scores - if you are going to ickl 2005 see you there. speaking of things laban, the new issue of dance theatre journal is out, articles of interest include
trio a: genealogy, documentation, notation
yvonne rainer
recording trio a in labanotation
joukje kolff
geometries of trust: some thoughts on manuel vason and photographic conditions of performance
dominic johnson
material for the spine: a three-way discussion
charlie morrissey, steve paxton and scott smith
material for the spine: a three-way discussion
charlie morrissey, steve paxton and scott smith
obviously i have a dual interest in the latter article, but i can't tell you how proud it makes me feel, a really positive boost to my week. if you are only going to read one article, then i would suggest the rainer contribution. if you are into your improv then 'material for the spine' is the only way to go.
so what's in store for the next year? to be honest i'm not too sure. my workload at uea is growing so perhaps that will mean less posting or more snippets of code and papers. who can tell..
i'm not entirely sure of the scope of people reading this blog, but if you have any questions for me, or suggestions of topic you would like to see me write on leave a comment or drop me a line (mpgough @ gmail.com) and i will see what happens.
you should also keep your eye on the always excellent motive (reason to move)and DA ... NCE blogs. if you need to track dance in the press try artsjournal dance. all the blogs have newsfeeds so you can keep notified of new posts. speaking of which if marc goossens can email me regarding talent 'changes the way brain works' i have some info you might be interested in. the more astute readers will recognised my shared interest from the brain body intelligence post.
keep your eyes on essexdance if you are into dance technology, if you sign up to the mailing list at dancetech.co.uk you can keep up to date with the training they offer and the numerous workshops and performances the hold / run. blog wise i would have to mention networked_performance and we make money not art for meditated performance.
the 24th biennial conference of ICKL is at LABAN, London from July 29 (Arrival Day) - August 5 (Departure Day) 2005. if you are into laban related stuff there are some great sessions, i'll let you know when you can read about the paper i am giving. i'm really proud to be presenting with some top flight researchers and academics. the paper will touch of aspects on of 'perpetual interpretation' ...
in the absence concrete syntax the process of interpreting 2D mark marking into 3D movement is highly problematic. the traditional method is to read each mark as a trace that must be followed precisely yet this construct ignores the difference between the perception and recognition of visual marks, and the differing functions of maps, traces and drawings.
for the purposes of interpreting abstract graphical dance notation, perception is of greater importance than recognition. The intention is to generate an interpretive response 'seeded' by the score rather than a re cognitive, repeatable set performance. Even if the same marks are repeated in a score recognition is not required as multiple acts of perception will fulfil the same role.
rather than viewing the visual marks as 'traces' of movement, we consider them to them as maps. As a movement map they have multiple points of insertion and extraction, where as a trace has a 'fixed' progression or path.
The map is open, connectable in all its dimensions, and capable of being dismantled; it is reversible, and susceptible to constant modification. It can be torn, reversed, adapted to montages of every kind, taken in hand by an individual, a group or a social formation. [Deleuze & Guattari]
with such a concept both topological [0.5mb jpg] and geographical [0.3mb gif] movement maps can be utilised for the re interpretation of conceived or realised movement.
... that was drawn from my notes for a technical report i'm working on, the report covers quite wide scope of my work. when it's done i'll post up a link / pdf as it's going to be kinda large. i hope that the report will clarify the placement of my work for those who are still a little unsure.
i still find my university context a little 'complicated', we have a school wide research seminar in may so maybe that will give me the opportunity to defend my position as well.
catch you later, and thanks for reading.
]]>In order to devise and evaluate the scripting notation we must gain a significant understanding of the ontology and epistemology of human movement practices. Whilst physical movement practices may not appear to have a rigorous scientific grounding, several key dance practitioners have established a praxis that has been validated by research in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, self-organization and emergence [7]. Considering the dance practitioners came to their conclusions some 30 years before the academic research, there is clearly a wealth of knowledge waiting to be accessed. Simulating movement is more than specifying the quantitative aspects of human biomechanics, we must detail the qualitative aspects human notion to achieve natural motion.
i have some papers on the horizon, and a short choreography project. it's almost the end of jan and time is running away... back to work...
]]>motion capture (mocap) records the visual impression of movement in 3D. the computer based movement notation (cbmn) records the 'motive drive' (dynamics, physics) of movement in 3D. where as mocap is fine for driving golems (avatars 1) in real time for animation, cbmn can be used for dynamic simulation.
two golems driven by (independent) mocap cannot engage in contact improvisation. not only is the data relatively 'fixed' but the lack of dynamic information means that the golems cannot interact physically. you could try to get round this by creating a large library of mocap clips that 'blend' together but the effect will still be visual rather than dynamic.
the 'realism' of mocap (even when just the markers) is due to our bias for perceiving biological motion [1,2] 2, we assume the dynamics involved or attempt to reconstruct them during our own simulation (learning) process 3. for this reason mocap is little better than multi angle video if we want to learn a movement sequence.
when we learn movement with a teacher they impart not only the visual effect /appearance of the movement, but the motive dynamics. cbmn describes both the visual and dynamic aspects of movement. as a dynamic movement notation cbmn has many advantages over mocap and video.
cbmn is a multi layered notation made up of a basic movement description, abstractions, and compound abstractions. even when using multiple compound abstractions the basic description can be used to 'tweak' the resulting movement. cbmn could be used by a wide range of people, there is no barrier apart from learning the how to combine abstractions (simple) or getting to grips with the basic description (harder).
it would be possible to implement existing notations with cbmn. this is a difficult process with motion capture, and would require massive amounts of motion data. with the cbmn approach it is much simpler to structure and manipulate the raw data to follow the rules of the donor notation. thus cbmn would simulate rather than animate the dance archive, recording the 'text' in 3d rather than the visual interpretation given by other digital methods.
motion capture was held up as the vital technology for virtual dance and motion in general. yet there are many motion capture rigs out there sitting idle, or being 'played' with. although motion capture seems like a great solution for digital dance, i'm not so sure. whilst it would help to speed up the notation process when encoding a technique a significant amount of extra information would have to be added to the system. it would be useful to add emg and eeg to mocap for more accurate translation to cbmn.
a few points,
one of the reasons i write this blog is that there is so little discussion or sharing of the nuts and bolts of dance technology theoreical practice. by sharing my work i hope to offer one way in which science and the arts are linked, and the relationship between theory and practice (practical theory).
1 i prefer the use of golem to avatar (other uses), the conceptual metaphor is more fitting.
2 models of biological motion manipulated by researchers may representation perception of stereotypes rather than inherent attributes see biomotionlab1.6 and the research pages.
3 see also in Calvo-Merino et al (2004) Action Observation and Acquired Motor Skills: An fMRI Study with Expert Dancers.
4 see also Physics and Dance
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