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performances evoke a kind of hallucination that is predominantly visual to the
audience, but invisible to the biological body (the dancer) who is inhabiting that
shared space. Without perspective and glasses, the dancer is present physically,
temporally and geographically—but she is fundamentally disengaged from the
primary entry point to the “hallucination”—what can be seen.
More recently, Gibson has argued against digital dualism and in favour of a
“reality where atoms and bits interact and continuously influence one another” (Rey
2012
). The crux of Gibson's 'blended' reality, of Jurgenson's Augmented Reality
and even of our anecdotal engagement with digital devices, is the increasing shift to
a user-led experience. This goes back to the example of 'Librariness' as discussed by
Wanenchak; namely that the evolution to a digital repository no longer necessitates
a physical space, nor one that is limited by time of day, our physical proximity to
the building, or the availability of material.
What is intriguing, however, when we turn to intermedia dance performance,
is that the theatrical environment is, traditionally and fundamentally, not a user-
led environment. Theatrical experience demands what Coleridge famously referred
to as the 'suspension of disbelief,' and to allow the action to unfold in front
of us. The notion of the staged action as 'real' is crucial to an appreciation of
the art-form, but the structures that make for great theatre are often incompatible
with a user-led experience. Artworks that allow for users to engage with a certain
interface are increasingly available, but even these are often constructed within strict
parameters. You may, for example, be able to interact with a digital entity, and
therefore become part of a kind of circuit of movement and influence, but even that
experience may need to be controlled in terms of physical proximity, geography,
and of course, temporality. More often than not, artists such as Klaus Obermaier,
Gideon Obarzanek and Anarchy Dance Theatre present a circuit between biological
and digital bodies, which is then perceived, from the outside, by audience members.
The elements and guiding principles of that individual circuit may be transparent or
opaque.
The theatre has a long history of creating disjuncture in perspective between
performers and audience. Speaking of renaissance theatre, Baugh argues that
“(h)istorically, theatre technologies have come to represent powerful divisions
between artists and their audience—the proscenium arch and the enclosed secrecy
of the stage house clearly reflect this division” (Baugh
2005
: 200).
A similar division is enacted in digital performance in which a dancer 'drives' an
interactive system. In this situation, is there a fundamental difference between the
dancer's interaction between recorded media (e.g. video or still image projection)
and interactive media that respond in real-time to the dancer's actions? The situation
could be likened to watching an avid gamer simultaneously play a MMORPG on
one screen and watch a TV series, streaming on another screen. Both are streamed,
online experiences, yet engagement within a MMORG might be deemed more
immersive, since it responds to the player in real time, whereas TV, be it delivered
by radio transmission, cable or internet, might be deemed less physically engaging
since it does not respond to the veiwer's actions. Perhaps immersion for the player
is enhanced by 'active' participation, the engagement of multiple senses, touch and
