IMPACTS
Transformative Technologies :
Into Ever Evolving Articulations in the Performing Arts
Transformative Technologies: Into Ever Evolving Articulations in the Performing Arts explores the intersection between traditional performing arts and digital technology that not only takes traditions into a new light but also pushes the potential of how we experience them, using the innovative technological means that are available to us.
We seek to not only produce one iteration of a performance but to generate a novel, sustainable tradition that involves collaborations between the many traditional performing arts dispersed around the globe and the cutting-edge digital technologies that become available to us every month/year. This project is not about using technology to leave traces of our many past traditions. It is the use of technology to create a new tradition that will pave the way in the performing arts and digital technology for the decades, or even centuries, to come.
While the use of technological means has been limited to innovations in sound and lighting in the performing arts on stage, As a prequel to this proposed project, we had already begun incorporating AR to traditional performing arts. The Ancient Lion and Modern Man (Nov. 2020 - Dec. 2022) fused the traditional lion dance of Okinawa, Japan with AR, and for Hyper Moment (Dec. 2021) we had a classical ballet dancer perform on stage amidst AR and CG spaces.
We have self-developed an AR system for these which is ready for appropriation and the digital technology we intend to further develop is AR, VR, CG, and AI. In Hyper Moment, for example, there was the ballet dancer and a CG cameraman physically on the stage. We then reconstructed that stage in VR and simultaneously projected the CG construction from the live-feed camera into the backdrop. We created a superimposition of the physical stage and dancer, the VR space, and CG scene.
There are over 8,000 indigenous arts in Japan, likely nurtured from the nation being an island and beliefs in animism. However, sadly these arts —— especially the performing arts and dance —— are surely fading with the changes in our societies. I have been seeking out these dwindling arts that exist in the periphery of the field of Japanese traditional performing arts.
So far, we have worked with performers of the traditional lion dance, classical ballet, Okinawan Ryukyu dance, tap dance, and street dance. Currently, we are expanding our scope to include other Japanese traditional dances such as the Awa Odori of Tokushima prefecture and the Eisa, another Okinawan folk dance (scheduled Feb./Mar. 2024).
Our self-developed AR system is ready to be appropriated, and as traditional performances disappear, our objective is to discover them by further expanding collaborations with both domestic and foreign regional theatres and initiatives. By fully utilising the ever-evolving technologies available, these traditional performances will be brought into a new light, and our way of appreciating them will also evolve. Transformative Technologies will show the progression of traditional performances that dances in tandem with innovations in technology.
Today, there is an urgency to revolutionise the production and experience of performing arts, and digital technology is the key for this change.
Furthermore, while this project seeks to uncover the disappearing traditional/regional performances and dances that are dispersed throughout the world, bringing digital technology to the fore will undoubtedly generate new conversations in how we appreciate performances which were, as until recently, simply on stage.
Technology should be used as main tools for artistic expression; its potential is far too great to simply "support" what is "on stage". As technology evolves, we will actively incorporate them into our project (eg. we used 3D modelling and printing to create the new lion masks and costumes). In addition to our own AR system, revolutions in processing speeds and softwares have enabled more complex, real-time responses that synchronise with our physical undulations, suitable for this project.
In attempting to preserve and revitalise the disappearing or little known regional traditions in dance, the project engages in sustaining the valuable creations and encounters that entail in their productions and legacies. However, as an evolving project that is not about producing one iteration of a performance, the project will also metamorphose together with the technologies used. As such, we believe it addresses No. 9 (Innovation and Infrastructure) and No. 17 (Partnerships) of the UN’s SDGs.
Not to mention the actual audience/viewers of the production, the target audience will also be all the professionals in the field involved in the collaboration (creators, dancers, performers, musicians, stage technicians, theatres.) Online and offline presentations of the performances will inevitably involve a diverse range of staff as well as viewers.
We also plan to organise a couple of educational workshops for the local public, designed for teenage students, during the collaboration.
This initiative spans between collaborations on both local and global scales and also institutional (counterparts) and civic levels (audiences). The core team members will consist of producers, choreographers, and also engineers and programmers from firms with expertise in developing AR and interactive CG technology. We hope to realise cross-national collaborations of these expertise and, thanks to the internet, believe that partnerships that go beyond borders of many kinds can be achieved.
More information about The The Ancient Lion and Modern Man
Full-length, Online streaming version - 67min
An artistic group in Tokyo created by director Hitoshi Taguchi and the choreographer Makiko Izu. Their aim is to divert the idea of “here and now” by carefully planned sensory impressions based on the relationship between bodily sensations and technology. The group carries out projects for museums, theaters, art festivals and various other opportunities across Japan and abroad. Their art transgresses generations and goes far beyond the boundaries of art.
CV of GRINDER-MAN
Wind Ueno BLD. 5F 5-13-4, Taito-ku Ueno, Tokyo Japan 110-0005
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