Motion Capture Methodologies Workshop

Motion Capture Methodologies Workshop, 25th-26th June is hosted by University of Sussex and organised among others by Sally Jane Norman, as as part of the methodologies workshop series organised by UK higher education bodies AHESSC (Arts & Humanities e-Science Support
Centre) and JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), and in collaboration with the Motion in Place Platform Project. It is an interdisciplinary workshop providing a platform for knowledge exchange in the field of motion capture practice and research.

Many presenters will present related to this area information and projects, as well as motion capture resources and related software products will be available for demonstrations and project-oriented discussions. Among others, I will be presenting my project in progress; the Periodic Table of Movements (PTM). The workshop is free of charge but limited to 50 participants, therefore prompt notification from persons wishing to attend is needed. Extended information and the list of presenters is available at www.arts-humanities.net

"Maping Motion" at The Dundee Master Show

The long silence on the blogg has an explanation in my intensive work during the summer and the preparations for the finale show for "Maping Motion" at The Dundee Master Show from Media Arts & Imaging (University of Dundee).

From the July until the beginning of August 2009 I cooperate during the project with two visual artists: Joanna Stacewicz aka Deftoo and Marco Donnarumma aka S.A.D. This collaboration was essential for my work since the finale application is constructed in Pure Data. Marcos programming skills made it possible to further develop Pure Data patch I started during the Pure Data workshop in Dundee with help from Jamie Allen from Culture Lab. During second part of August I work on photo gallery for the documentation of actions and interactions during the MSC Show Exhibition as an continuously expanding photo gallery combined with a database system.
To accomplish that I get help from Blazej Pindelski programmer, graduate student from Computer Since program at the University of Abertay Dundee.

The finale output: "Shadow Dance" and "Many Frames" are up and running during MSc Show at Visual Research Center/ DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts)
Dundee UK. Visible From 12-19 September.

"Shadow Dance" – site-specific installation, based on audiences interaction with motion captured corporal movements projected on the screen, build in open source programming language Pure Data and presented as a compiled movement on one frame In web based gallery.

"Many Frames" – is production based on real-time webcam-captured movement presented with a time delay in many different frames at the same time. It is an ongoing investigation on movement’s patterns as well as it is a visual exploration over aesthetic values of singular movement....
Documentation and the research site has extended information: www.0timeline.net

Tools to play with

The last few months I dive in to the different tools searching for the best motion tracking possibility. Five days PD (pure data) workshop in Warsaw with Marco Donnarumma aka S.A.D (Thanks to Asia aka Deftoo since she organized) give me some good grounds to start of. As a part of my Screendance program at Dundee University I just have a workshop on Isadora led by Jaygo Bloom (Thanks for sharing!). Isadora is build on Pd´s framework. Both programs have a visual interfaces which apply to my way of working. Isadoras GI (Graphical Interface) is friendly constructed. For those interested in Isadora is good to mention that soon will be a conference and introduction workshop on 19, March 20 in Doncaster UK.

Back on the track: Mapping motion

From September 2008 I am a MA student at the University of Dundee on Screendance program.That may explain the temporary silence on this blogg. However I intend to continue with the short visual notes as a highlighted spots of my explorations on dance, performance art, audio visual real time performance and vj culture. That in relation to the physical movement and development of new technologies.

The short resume:
The point of interest in my work is on physical motion and human body as an interface.
My thesis: Mapping motion is a cartography of the idea, a “developer map” (game-design term which refers to a phase of investigation and experimentation). It is as a visual exploration, a library of physical movements navigated through graphical symbolic representations of physical motion.

The motivational parts of the investigations are questions which connect to my former experience as a dancer and performer: What is causing movements authenticity?
Haw to translate and augment physical movement it in to the digital environment whit out looses of emotional presence ? In the context of visual art, real time performance and game development I see the body and the physical movement as an excellent interface extending many senses for the performer, user or viewer.

The perfect scenario for me as a vj will be; to control the visuals by dancing:=) Vj-dancer? As a dancer; to augment the emotional state of movements by visuals. As a dancer and visual artist the perfect scenario vill be if the visuals react on the emotional presence of the movements.

In Motion med Korsakow

Presentation av projektet under Cinedans Festivalen i Amsterdam - Foto av Deborah Meibergen

Mediamatics under juni i år har arrangerat: "Workshop Interactive Dance Film @ Cinedans". Under intensiva 5 dagar har vi jobbat med Korsakow tool / eingine för icke linjer berättande. Tänk Kurosavas Rashamon med interaktiva moment! Det intressanta med verktyget är att den fungerar mycket bra med dans video och koreografi. "In Motion" mitt eget projekt var en omarbetning av ett film material från år 2000. Ett gammalt ide som fick luft under vingarna tack vare möjligheten till ett sökord system som Korsakow erbjuder. "In Motion" är en real tids baserad dance-video-mix. Mer om workshopen på Mediamatics egen sida

Tango Alter Ego

I många år har mina tankar snurrat rund koreografi baserad på dansarens möjligheter till interaktion med egna rörelse patterns, exempelvis i form av tidigare förinspelade videos samlade i en databas. Dagens teknik erbjuder antal möjliga lösningar. Idag öppnar sig möjligheter för real tid genererade ai avatars. Ganska mycket i mina egna improvisationer är influenser från Butoh, Tango och Flamenco med visuell inramning från spel och kanske en aning påverkad av Shorinji Kempo (kampsport) filosofi, det sistnämnda bara i förhållandet till hur interaktion mellan dansaren och dess projecerade alter ego förhåller sig till varandra. Några bilder från demo performance . Det mer en demonstration av den visuella atmosfären. Interaktions delen är ett pågående projekt.