Peng, Youhong (Friendred). 2024. Composing Embodied Experience and Agency - Designing a Framework for the Orchestration of ‘Machine’ Motion and Body Movement in Technologised Performance & Installation Art. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]

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Abstract or Description

The boundaries of performance and installation art (PIA) have become progressively blurred. The intertwinement of two fields is not only resultant from the emphasis of body and space in PIA, but also the continuous interventions of emerging technologies and interaction. In practice, they often share common attributes, but a partly unresolved challenge is to fully recognize and comprehend the reciprocal relationship between these interdisciplinary fields. By contextualising the fusion of PIA with emerging technologies, this thesis investigates dominant factors in both fields and explores novel methods to utilise technology as a medium to compose embodied experience. Firstly, I review a body of pertinent works that incorporate the body and machine as fundamental elements in the design of PIA. Secondly, I propose a novel humancomputer interaction (HCI) framework, accentuating the underlying relationship between performance and installation art within the context of current and future emerging technologies. The production of this framework is informed by the works of key theorists and practitioners including Don Idhe, Chris Salter, Karen Barad, Lucy Suchman, and Christina Höök, whose insights into technology, performance, and interaction play a pivotal role in framing the discussion. In developing the proposed human-computer interaction (HCI) framework, this study builds also upon existing research and frameworks by Luke Hespanhol, Steve Benford, Giulio Jaccuci, Martin Tomitsch, and Stuart Reeves, amongst others, integrating their insights on interactive environments, audience engagement, and technology-mediated experiences. The framework consists of four integral components; ‘Body movement’, ‘Machine motion’, ‘Intraaction and emergent agency’ and ‘Ubiquitous technology’ and is intended to be used to guide the composition of embodied experience within the realm of PIA. Thirdly, two proposed practical works are outlined, which are directly informed by the strategies proposed in the framework. The design, completion and exhibition of one of these proposed practice works is then presented, followed by an analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected throughout the exhibitions.

In my research, I have employed a holistic methodological approach that intertwines iterative design, ethnographic research, interviews, videographic analysis, practice-based research, and computer science/human computer interaction data collection and analysis to explore and evaluate the interactive art installation Moving Photon. This approach involves continuously refining the installation through iterative design, deeply understanding participant experiences via ethnographic methods, integrating my artistic practice as a method of inquiry and understanding and quantifying the experience. This multi-faceted methodology ensures a comprehensive understanding of the installation, bridging the gap between artistic creativity and systematic research. The analysis presented alongside broader qualitative analysis will finally be utilised to assess the effectiveness of the proposed framework and to refine it to a final, more comprehensive form.

This research contributes to the field in several ways. The first is the further recognition and integration of PIA with current emerging technology and interaction design as a catalyst in the ongoing fusion of these two fields. The second is a HCI framework that can be used by practitioners who aim to conduct works at the interface of PIA. This will further enable the affordance of body-machine relationships in the fusion of both fields, offering insights and methodologies in practice. Lastly, by examining performance and installation art from the angle of the spectator, this research helps to deconstruct and understand the interchangeable role of user and performer, as well as introducing novel strategies in the design of somatic, performative and immersive experience.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.25602/GOLD.00037882
Keywords:	Embodied experience; HCI; Human-machine relationship; framework; installation art; performance art; immersive experience
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Computing
Date:	31 October 2024
Item ID:	37882
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2024 11:27
Last Modified:	22 Nov 2024 11:33
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/37882

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