'A_live,
Movement Research by Laura Waltz.
Fellowship #8,
Academy for Theater & Digitality.
Concept, Movement Research, Embodiment:
Laura Waltz
Visual Arts:
Baris Pekcagliyan
Beka Tcharbadze
Alptuğ Çavuş - Talkingrocks
Music / Sound design:
Mac Tire - MacTire
Video editing:
Laura Waltz & Team
____
Warm thanks to the Academy for Theatre and Digitality, Mario Simon,
& KOPRODUKTIONSLABOR.
My project is an artistic/methodological movement research.
I am inspired by, and draw upon my background as pluridisciplinary artist, with a focus on dance, movement, and puppetry/object theater.
The aim of this research project is to take core principles of (analogue) puppetry animation and to translate them on the moving/dancing human body using motion capture techniques, in order to explore how this movement method can increase the experience of aliveness of 3D avatars, by making their movements more organic.
I'm interested in approaching 3D avatars as another form of body language with its specific dynamic and needs, which also implies other possibilities and limitations.
For this language, the human body acts as the vector as well as a translator. The fundamental principles of puppetry animation are considerably different from the human way of moving regarding impulses, dynamics, rhythm, accentuation, tension, stop/echoes of the movements, etc.
When these principles of puppetry are applied to the human body, and the resulting movements are used to animate an avatar, an act of translation occurs. It results in more precise movements and sequences, and the impression of ‘organic’ movement, because the avatars are established as ‘breathing’ and ‘alive’, which is the core of puppetry’s art.
Although this showing is the first creative response to my research; the frame became not only an explicative presentation of the project so far, but an immersive installation in its own right. It was important to me to create a unified, elaborate setting, and to invite the audience to feel immersed in an atmospheric ‘island’: connecting with senses, finesse of movements, beauty, breath and ultimately a deep exploration of aliveness through external bodies.
You will find more informations & documentation about the research itself, in the portal of the Academy for Theater and Digitality.
'A_live, is a video installation on 3 canvases about movements, impulses and breath interpreted by three different avatars, each one with its own texture and characteristics. It lasts approx. 8:30 minutes and is accompanied by live music. This showing is the result of my research, under the same name, which I pursued during my Fellowship at the Academy for Theater and Digitality in Dortmund.
The setting is composed as follows: Movement sequences, recorded using motion capture techniques, are projected on the three canvases. The embodiment of this exploration is interpreted by three distinct avatars, each with a defining feature. One avatar has a water texture, which has an ‘explosive’ capacity related to the strength and speed of the movement impulses. The second avatar is more ‘typical’: a humanoid shaped form, yet connected to a cloth which is reacting intricately and precisely to the avatar’s impulses, creating a ‘wind’ feeling as well as an extension of the breath’s embodiment. The third is made of particles which leave traces of light following each movement.
This non-linear environment is accompanied by a sound setting using underwater recorded sea sounds that are manipulated live electronically. The sound of the water is not necessarily evident yet the pulsations of the waves and their own rhythm and ‘breath’ is still palpable, creating an atmospheric soundscape which magnifies the organicness of the movements.
The emphasis of this visual experience is on the quality and precision of the movements, and the different impulses, explorations and nuances embodied by the avatars: How the different textures are reacting to those elaborated momentums, innovative way of moving and to the avatars breath are the leaders of this experience. Each texture with its respective features reacts in a different way to the impulses of the performer, creating various and specific visual echoes in harmony with one another.
The animation’s cameras are connected to the pelvis of the avatars, which is to say, to the core of the movements. In fact, it is important to note that absolutely no extra effects were added, and there was no need at the end to clean the files. The cleanliness of the movements, and the possibility overall to use ‘raw’ files in this way, are the direct results of the method I’ve explored and developed.
Thoughtful dramaturgical choices and precise editing creates an additional layer of choreography, from the timing of the appearance (and disappearance) of the sequences upon the canvases; the smoothness (and suddenness) of the transitions; the synchronicities and delays between the sequences which underline the specificity of the each movement or breath. We are invited to witness each avatar’s individual breath as well as experiencing a collective organic entity as it moves and breathes as one.
