Transcript Document

Digital Representations of
Performing Arts
AHDS Performing Arts & HATII,
University of Glasgow
http://www.ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/
http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/
eScience Institute
http://www.nesc.ac.uk/esi/
Overview and Objectives
• A theoretical framework for examining
digital representations of performance
• Current state of digital representations for
performance in the UK HE community.
• Understanding the challenges of
representation
“A work of art born on the stage lives only for
a moment, and no matter how beautiful it
may be it cannot be commanded to stay
with us.”
(Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 1948)
Performance is ephemeral.
It is studied through representations, or
evidence.
Stages of performance
• Pre-text (  subtext)
• Process
• Performance Text
• Post-text
• Context (  subtext)
From:
Five Centuries of Scottish Music
(http://www.ahds.ac.uk/performingart
s/collections/five-centuries.htm)
From: Stagework (http://www.stagework.org)
From: Designing Shakespeare
(http://www.ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/collections/designing-shakespeare.htm)
Two reviews from the Times Digital Archive (accessed through
http://infotrac.galegroup.com) and Financial Times http://www.ft.com
A framework for digital representations of
performances
Performance as
‘text’
Pre-text
Process
Performance
text
Post-text
Context
Subjectivity and
agency
Performance as product of
society
Examples of digital representations
Performance as
‘text’
Subjectivity and
agency
Performance as product of
society
Pre-text
PDF of musical
score
Miller’s preface to
The Crucible
Comparison of dance
notations across
time/cultures
Process
3D models showing
ideas for set
designs
Scanned image of a
director’s notes on
the script
Scanned newspaper
clippings which led to a
devised work
Performance
text
Digital video of a
performance
Interviews with
audience members
Motion capture data which
was used to transmit a
dancer’s movements over a
network
Post-text
Scholarly analysis
of the mise-enscène of a play
‘Word of mouth’
publicity
Newspaper review of a
concert
Context
PDF of a glossy
programme from a
West End musical
Statistics on
whether ‘A-list’ stars
increase box-office
take
Text detailing the compulsory
dress code for orchestra
musicians
Existing digital resource provision in the UK
(see AHDS Performing Arts Scoping Study:
http://www.ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/pubs/scoping-study-2006.pdf )
Performance
as ‘text’
Subjectivity
and agency
Performance
as product of
society
Pre-text
Process
Some
resources
Performance
text
Post-text
Context
Most
resources
Desired digital resources
Performance
as ‘text’
Subjectivity
and agency
Performance
as product of
society
Pre-text
Process
Performance
text
Post-text
Context
Most
soughtafter
types of
digital
resource
Overview
The characteristics of digital collections affect the
methodology of study of those collections.
Many existing digital resources provide contextual evidence
and are suitable only for a material or historical theoretical
model of study.
Digital resources for which there is a particularly high
demand:
• Evidence of the performance text
• Materials documenting the creative process
• Resources which encourage a semiotic/textual or subjective
analysis of the evidence.
As if it wasn’t complicated enough…
• http://slfront.blogspot.com/
Digitally representing you…