Paper short abstract:

This study use motion capture technology to record, visualize and analyze the interactional gesture between a human dancer and a nonhuman object. The concept of body archive is discuss trough a continuum of movement modes emerging in the experimental and artistic installation.

Paper long abstract:

Ontological turns in the human sciences invite anthropologists to question the cultural perception of what it is to be human and identify oneself with reference to the nonhuman. Beyond ontological perspectives, Bioart questions the ontogenitic capacities of the subject in relation to her/his technical agencies and nonhuman forces. In this study of and through an experimental performance that observes the space between a dancer and an object, we postulate that the interaction between the dancer and the thread in suspension around him enfolds a continuum of movement modes. Using computer algorithms, the qualities between human and nonhuman are compared and converted into diagrams. These highlight both similarities and differences in order to make visible the space of negotiation between the human/non-human. Spectators are invited to help articulate the poetical and intersubjective relations of this human/non-human performance. In our final analysis, we will be exploring three variables within the installation: generative or repetitive, sensorial or artificial, human or nonhuman. Further, these three dimensions allow us to define an anthropology of movements based on six different modes: internal, codified, spontaneous, improvised, performative, unperformed.