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Workshop called Costume Choreography II, Istanbul 2009

Diffus Design was invited to the “Amber08 body-process art festival” in Istanbul 7-16 November 2008 for running an international workshop and present the outcome that we named Costume Choreography II. The result of the workshop was an interactive dance performance shown at Talimhane Theatre in Istanbul for the closing session of the Amber festival.

Two dancers were wearing our special designed costumes in which we have embedded luminescent patterns. Also, they were wearing a set of ultrasound sensors. As the two dancers were moving on the scene, the sensors measured the distance between them and changed the pattern configuration. We defined 4 zones of proximity, each with their own set of pattern language.

 

Performative costumes

The idea of the workshop was to investigate the relation between body, movement, technology and costume. In many dance types (dervish, tango, waltz, Chinese ‘longsleeve dance’ etc) and specific choreographies like Oscar Schlemmers The Triadic Ballet, the relation between body, movement and costumes has been investigated. We were adding an analyzing input system connected to an expressive output system in order to enhance the core relation between body, movement and costumes within the history of dance.

In the workshop we introduced the participants to different ways of working with movement and technology in order to give them inspiration as well as a common ground to start from. The introduction was historical as well as contemporary and we also talked about the ways we are working with ‘wearable computing’ and interactive textiles in general. After that we introduced different kinds of sensors and systems that are able to analyse distance between to people, rotation speed, bending angle etc. Besides that we worked with different expressive methods of light, colour and sound. That way we builded up a vocabulary of expressions so the participants was be able to learn how to ‘perform the costumes’.

Credit
Design and concept: Hanne-Louise Johannesen and Michel Guglielmi (Diffus Design)
Collaborators: Asbjørn Holland Christensen, Interaction design, electronic devices + Tomomi Yamauchi, dancer and choreographer

Supported by: