RE-BECOMING HUMAN: Restoring Critical Feeling through Ludic Performance by Heidi J. Boisvert A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major Subject: Electronic Arts Approved by the Examining Committee: __________________________________ Robert Nideffer, Advisor __________________________________ Michael Century, Member __________________________________ Ben Chang, Member __________________________________ Mei Si, Member __________________________________ Susan Sgorbati, Member Rennselaer Polytechnic Troy, New York July, 2015 (For Graduation, August 2015) © Copyright by Heidi J. Boisvert All Rights Reserved ii CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………ix ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...xi Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 1. Stimulus Confusion………………………………………………………………….17 2. Amputating the Biological Self………………………………………………….....24 2.1. Overview…………………………………………………………………….....24 2.2. Perennial Conflict between Autonomous Technology & Human Agency…………………………………………………….………………………..25 2.3. Epistemic Shifts & The Six Waves of Technological Innovation……………..33 2.4. Legacy of Cybernetics…………………………………………………………43 2.4.1 Erasure of the Body………………………………………………………..43 2.4.2. Regulation of Emotions…………………………………………………...48 2.4.3. Canalization of the Senses………………………………………………...49 2.5. Discursive Seriation in Cybernetic Shaping of the Popular Imagination……...54 2.6. Socio-Cultural & Neurobiological Impacts of Intelligent Technology………..60 3. Positive Disintegration……………………………………………………………..75 4. Recuperating the Biological Self…………………………………………………..84 . 4.1. Overview……………………………………………………………………...84 4.2. Artistic Intervention as Counterpoint to the Cybernetic Paradigm……………89 4.2.1. Modernism, Kinetic Art, Situationsists & Gestural Abstraction………….90 iii 4.2.2. E.A.T. Fluxus, Happenings, Cybernetic & Behavioral Art, Biosignal Performance & Post-Modern Dance……………………………………………..92 4.2.3. Affective Turn in New Media, Virtual Reality & DanceTech…………...102 4.3. Theories of Mind, Technological Innovation & Emerging Artistic Intervention……………………………………………………………………….113 4.4. Disrupting the Sixth Wave & the Cybernetic Counter Renaissance……………………………………………………………………….119 4.5. Ludic Performance: A Response to the Molecular Biomimetic Turn……………………………………………………………………………….126 4.5.1. What is Ludic Performance?......................................................................127 4.5.2. Biomedia…………………………………………………………………129 4.5.3. Performative Gesture ……………………………………………………131 4.5.4. Socio-Collaborative Play………………………………………………...136 4.5.5. Defining Characteristics of Ludic Performance…………………………139 5. Presence of Being………………………………………………………………141 6. Case Study: [radical] signs of life……………………………………………...150 6.1. Overview…………………………………………………………………...150 6.2. [radical] signs of life………………………………………………………152 6.2.1. Inspiration………………………………………………………..152 6.2.2. Ideation…………………………………………………………..157 6.2.3. Implementation…………………………………………………..183 6.2.4. Insights…………………………………………………………...206 7. Case Study: Beware of the Dandelions…………………………………………227 7.1. Overview…………………………………………………………………...227 7.2. Beware of the Dandelions………………………………………………….228 iv 7.2.1. Inspiration………………………………………………………..228 7.2.2. Ideation…………………………………………………………..235 7.2.3. Implementation…………………………………………………..245 7.2.4. Insights…………………………………………………………...246 8. Imaginative Glance Forward……………………………………………………….248 8.1. Overview…………………………………………………………………...248 8.2. Future of Ludic Performance, Fluid Reality & the Internet of Things…….248 8.3. Designing Empathy Engines for Social Change…………………………...255 9. Conclusion:.…………………………..…………………………………………….263 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………..268 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Variety of Theories, Andrew Feenberg, Questioning Technology (1999)…….29 Figure 2: Waves of Innovation, Knowledge Monopolies & The Cybernetic Paradigm, Heidi Boisvert & Michell Zappa (2015)………………………………………………....36 Figure 3: Gordan Pask, Musicolor (1950)……………………………………………….92 Figure 4: Michael Noll, Gaussian Quadratic (1963)……………………………………94 Figure 5: Roy Ascott, Change Paintings (1959)………………………………………...96 Figure 6: Hans Haacke, News (1969)…………………………………………………....97 Figure 7: E.A.T., 9 Evenings (1966)……………………………………………………..98 Figure 8: Jeffrey Shaw, Legible City (1989)……………………………………………103 Figure 9: David Rokeby, Very Nervous System in Postdam (1993)……………………104 Figure 10: Diane Gromala & Yacov Sharir, Dancing with the Whirling Dervish (1994- 99)………………………………………………………………………………………106 Figure 11: Simon Penny, Fugitive in Progress (1996-7)…………………………...…..108 Figure 12: Catherine Richards, Virtual Body (1993)…………………………………...111 Figure 13: Stelarc, EVOLUTION (1982)……………………………………………….122 Figure 14: Marco Donnarumma, Nigredo (2014)………………………………………124 Figure 15: Chris Salter, Just Noticeable Differences (2009-10)………………………..125 Figure 16: Xth Sense Schematic for [radical] integration, Marco Donnarumma & Heidi Boisvert (2103)………………………………………………………………………....160 Figure 17: [radical] feature extraction mapping to visual & audio system, Marco Donnarumma & Heidi Boisvert (2013)…………………………………………….…..161 Figure 18: Wireless Xth Sense Transmitters & Receivers, MJ Caselden (2103)……....163 Figure 19: FILTER interfacing with Xth Sense, Doug Van Nort (2103)………………170 Figure 20: GREIS interfacing with Xth Sense, Doug Van Nort (2013)………………..172 vi Figure 21: Level 2 AI Creature Processing Tests, Raven Kwok (2013)……………….175 Figure 22: Level 3 Projections of Stochastic Patterning, Raven Kwok (2013)………...176 Figure 23: Mock Up of Front & Back Projection, Allen Hahn & Heidi Boisvert (2013)…....……………………………………………………………………………...177 Figure 24: Back Wall: Polygonal Bodies, Heidi Boisvert (2013)……………………...179 Figure 25: Speaker Configuration, Doug Van Nort (2013)…………………………….181 Figure 26: Layout of Rules, Pauline Jennings & Heidi Boisvert (2013)……………….187 Figure 27: Layout of Trajectories, Pauline Jennings & Heidi Boisvert (2013)………...188 Figure 28: Level 3 Autonomy & Hacking Potential, Pauline Jennings & Heidi Boisvert (2013)…………………………………………………………………………………...189 Figure 29: Original Gesture Mapping to Musical Parameters, Marco Donnarumma (2012)…………………………………………………………………………………...190 Figure 30: Sensor Placement on Each Dancer (2013)………………………………….192 Figure 31: Mock Up of Performance & Audience Area, Allen Hahn & Heidi Boisvert (2013)…………………………………………………………………………………...194 Figure 32: Moving Screens & Reflecting Pools, John Umphlett (2013)……………….196 Figure 33: Audience Interaction with AI Creatures (2013)…………………………….198 Figure 34: Lighting Plot, Allen Hahn (2013)…………………………………………...201 Figure 35: Initial Costume & Sensor Armband Sketch, Amy Nielson (2013)………....203 Figure 36: Armband & Transmitter Configuration, Amy Nielson & Heidi Boisvert (2013)…………………………………………………………………………………..204 Figure 37: Patching Xth Sense Receivers into Audio Interface, Marco Donnarumma (2013)…………………………………………………………………………………..205 Figure 38: Virtuality & Semiotic Square, N. Katherine Hayles (1996), recreated by Heidi Boisvert (2012)………………………………………………………………………...223 Figure 39: “Play as Process” Co-Design Session with Complex Movements (2014)……………………………………………………………………….………….229 vii Figure 40: Emblems of Biomimetic Organizing Principles, designed by Wes Taylor (2014)…………………………………………………………………………………...231 Figure 41: Beware of the Dandelions Script – Narrative Structure, Heidi Boisvert (2014)…………………………………………………………………………………...238 Figure 42: Mapping Spatial Content Triggers to the Pod Architecture (2014)…….……………………………………………………………………………..240 Figure 43: Testing Unity Projection Mapping in Mini Development Pod, Carlos Garcia…………………………………………………………………………………...246 Figure 44: Set up for Seattle Premiere (2015)………………………………………….247 Figure 45: Punchdrunk, Sleep No More (2011)………………………………………...250 Figure 46: Fulbright, Gone Home (2103)……………………………………………....251 Figure 47: Jennifer Kanary, Labyrinth Psychotica (2011-4)…………………………...256 Figure 48: Chris Milk & UNICEF, Clouds Over Sidra (2015)………………….……..258 Figure 49: BeAnotherLab, Gender Swap (2015)………………….…………………....260 viii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my family. Without their emotional, physical and financial support I would never have made it through this program. My mother, Nansi Boisvert, has been a powerful and guiding force in my life. Friend, colleague and editor extraordinaire, she kept me going this past year. She is the true scholar of the family and my role model. Her anticipatory research in the early 1990s on shame as a motivating force behind human behavior and creativity spurred my own fascination with the subject. I am also grateful to my father, Joseph Boisvert, who continually reminded me to keep it simple and focus, my sister, Billie Jean Osgood, who has always been my emotional anchor and my nephew, Gavin, who reminded me to play and be spontaneous again. His abundant joy is energy for the soul. I also want to express appreciation to my advisor, Robert Nideffer and committee members, Michael Century, Ben Chang, Mei Si and Susan Sgorbati who stayed with me through this long and circuitous process. Susan’s interdisciplinary inquiry into emergence has been a source of inspiration for my art practice. I would like to extend a special thanks to Tomie Hahn who played a pivotal role in my change of focus and reminded me of the importance of the body as a site of wisdom and re-inscription. Other members of the RPI community I am