Mediation in Motion: Performing Permanent Presence

Christophe Collard

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingMeeting abstract (Book)

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Pioneering scenographer Adolphe Appia once stated that "The art of stage production is the art of projecting into space what the original author was only able to project in time." Encapsulating the entire technical dimension of a theatre production, the notion of 'scenography' could arguably be placed on equal footing with the dramatic text as object of analysis and stepping stone for further conceptualization. Especially when adopting a historiographical posture, as it entails the entanglement of human beings with technological devices while foregrounding history's own essentially mediated character.
In more concrete terms, addressing the process of writing history arguably yields insight into the various signifying systems and methods that bring it into being. Tackling signification from the angle of theatre scenography, consequently, reveals the act of 'meaning making' in its broadest sense as an immanent, collective entanglement of material enunciations that operate on, shape, and transform the world in real time. The proposed perspective thus provides a platform to reflect upon the principle of a 'permanent present' by dramatizing a 'process-metaphysics.'
As a "prototype of imagination" on behalf of its hypermedial capacity to integrate a boundless array of other media, theatre to Derrick De Kerckhove represents a rare "try-out space for new experiences and reflexions." It is in this capacity, consequently, that the pairing of architectural innovators Diller+Scofidio with NYC-based theatre troupe The Builders Association conceived of Jet Lag (1998), an "adventurous cross-media performance" (Wehle, 2002) combining live action, live and recorded video, computer animation, music, and dramatic text with two historical characters. The first of these faked his progress in an around-the-world sailing voyage before committing suicide after realizing he was drifting in circles, while the second flew across the Atlantic 167 times in a period of six months and ultimately likewise collapsed from travelling in a permanent present.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPlay / Perform / Participate - Intermedial Intersections
PublisherUniversiteit Utrecht
Volume2
Publication statusPublished - 16 Apr 2015
EventPlay / Perform / Participate - Intermedial Intersections - Utrecht, Netherlands
Duration: 16 Apr 201518 Apr 2015

Conference

ConferencePlay / Perform / Participate - Intermedial Intersections
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityUtrecht
Period16/04/1518/04/15

Keywords

  • scenography
  • mediation
  • historiography
  • presence
  • hypermediacy
  • The Builders Association
  • Diller+Scofidio

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