Digital Scenography: 30 Years of Experimentation and Innovation in Performance and Interactive Media

This book explores how digital media has transformed performance practice over the last 30 years, surveying and analyzing ground-breaking experimental performances to highlight the richness and shortcomings of digital culture. It argues that contemporary scenography is largely propelled by and dependent on digital technologies and represents a fertile domain for unbridled creativity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

This captivating book delves into the realm of digital media theory, shedding light on contemporary perspectives on expanded scenography as a spatial practice. It conducts a comprehensive survey and in-depth analysis of a diverse range of groundbreaking experimental digital media performances, spanning a remarkable 30-year genealogy. By showcasing these performances, the book aims to illustrate the profound impact that the advent of digital technologies has had on performance practice. The selection of performances is based on their ability to uniquely evoke the distinct characteristics of digital media, thereby exposing both the richness and limitations of digital culture.

O'Dwyer posits that contemporary scenography is predominantly driven and reliant on digital technologies, constituting a vast and fertile domain where unbridled creativity can explore innovative techniques and push the boundaries of knowledge. The 30-year genealogy encompasses works by renowned artists such as Troika Ranch, Stelarc, Klaus Obermaier, Chunky Move, Onion Lab, and Blast Theory. In addition to employing a wide range of performance analysis and aesthetic theory, the book incorporates insightful interviews with artists and their perspectives, enriching its content.

The volume opens up significant aesthetic, philosophical, and socio-political themes to underscore the profound influence of digital technologies on scenographic practice and the flourishing of experimental interdisciplinarity. Ultimately, this book serves as an exploration of how evolutionary advancements in technology shape human cognition, behavior, artistic production, interpersonal interactions, and the construction of meaning and identity.

Weight: 354g
Dimension: 157 x 233 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350232754