UCI's Beall Center Lets Visitors Take the Stage and Dance with Technology
5.5.04 - Visitors entering the "Active Space" exhibition at UC Irvine's Beall Center for Art and Technology will step into an interactive, yet unwired, theater - where visitor becomes performer and the slightest movement causes a computer-mediated reaction of sound and projected images. The exhibition runs May 13 through 22.
"Active Space: Interactive Videodance" was created by Lisa Naugle, John Crawford and Frederic Bevilacqua. Naugle is an associate professor of dance at UCI and a Calit² academic participant, an experimental choreographer and a leading member of the fast-growing dance and technology field. Crawford is a UCI lecturer and digital media artist, interactive performance director and software designer. He and Naugle originated the Active Space concept in 1995. The two have worked in the Beall Center for the last two years developing and refining the technology behind the Active Space. The sound environment was created by Frederic Bevilacqua, a physics engineer who researches motion analysis and technology development for performance arts at IRCAM, a Paris-based institute for scientific research of avant-garde music and sound.
The “Active Space” project uses a video-based motion tracking system to continually sense and measure the quantity and characteristics of people's movement. These measurements are analyzed over time to create interactive video and audio accompaniment to the movement, combined in real time with the live video feed and clips from a library of animations and music. The resulting "music video" is projected on screens and walls, allowing visitors to interact with the imagery they have helped create. Participants can dance with the projections, star in their own performance art show or "play" the space like an instrument.
Expert users of the "Active Space" - dancers and choreographers - will showcase its artistic potential during scheduled "Interactive Videodance" performances. These professional performances will be 7 p.m., May 12-15 and 20-22 with matinee performances at noon on May 15 and May 22.
The Donald R. and Joan F. Beall Center for Art and Technology is a research and exhibition center that explores new relationships between the arts, sciences, and engineering, promoting new forms of creation and expression using digital technologies. Located at UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts, Beall Center hours are noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1-5 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is free and open to the public. Free tickets will be issued for the performances. Please call (949) 824-4339 for tickets and more information.
