Performance as social practice

Starting point for these outputs is a large scale research project in collaboration with the Zurich University for the Arts and the Kunstmuseum Thun, looking at a redefinition of Social Sculpture (Joseph Beuys/ Bazon Brock, 1970) as a functional device re-deployed to expand the art discourse into a societal discourse. Although Beuys‘ version of a social sculpture involved notions of abstruse mysticism and reformulations of a national identity these were never-the less part of a social transformation that shifted and re-arranged power relations. Following Laclau and Mouffe in their contention that democray is a fundamentally antagonistic process and contesting Grant Kester’s understanding of a ethically based relational practice, this work is alignes itself with Hirschhorn’s claim to an aesthetic practice within communities, following the possibility to view a socially based practice from both ends of the ethics debate, whereby ethical aspects fuels the aethetic to “create situations that are beautiful because they are ethical and shocking because they are ethical, thus in turn aesthetic because they are ethical” (O’Donnell). This project sets out to engage in activities which interact with surrounding communities and evoce new imaginations of site, thereby understanding site as a catalysts for subjective emergences. Performance is tested as a site for social practice. Archival research into local audio/visual resources, such as the Swiss Radio Archive, the Swiss Military Film Archives and zoological film archives of the Basel Zoo, was instrumental to the navigation of this work, under theme of crisis, catastrophy, landscape, fallout, in order to create a visual language for an active performance site. Commissioned by the Kunstmuseum Thun in collaboration with the University for the Arts in Zurich as part of a year long exhibition programme, (other artists are Jeanne Van Heeswijk (NL) and San Keller (CH), ) this project brings together a series of different works in a new performace installation. The performance process includes a performance workshop with 30 school children from local Swiss schools and their teachers, which was conducted publicly in the museum spaces. It enabled the children to engage with an unexpected set of tribal and animalistic behaviours, looking at situations of flight and rescue, resulting in a large performance choreography orchestration without an apparent conductor, it includes a collaboration with renowned Swiss zoologist, Prof Klaus Zuberbühler(University of St Andrews) and the Colonal General Haldimann commander of the military base in Thun. The installation included 2 static video images, shot in an around spectacular local cave site (Beatus Caves) including 3 children. The project will culminate in an edited edition of the Oncurating Journal, (issue no, tbc, in 2012) including interviews and essays from project collaborators. (Army Commander General, Thun, Jörg Hess, performance script, Timothy Long, and others)

Filmljudets funktioner i krigsfilm : En audio-visuell analys av Apocalypse Now och Saving Private Ryan

I denna uppsats har filmljudet i krigsfilmerna Apocalypse Now och Saving Private Ryan undersökts. Detta har gjorts för att försöka bidra med ökad förståelse för filmljudets användningsområde och funktioner, främst för filmerna i fråga, men även för krigsfilm rent generellt. Filmljud i denna kontext omfattar allt det ljud som finns i film, men utesluter dock all ickediegetisk musik. Båda filmerna har undersökts genom en audio-visuell analys. En sådan analys görs genom att detaljgranska båda filmernas ljud- och bildinnehåll var för sig, för att slutligen undersöka samma filmsekvens som helhet då ljudet och bilden satts ihop igen. Den audio-visuella analysmetod som nyttjats i uppsatsen är Michel Chions metod, Masking. De 30 minuter film som analyserades placerades sedan i olika filmljudzoner, där respektive filmljudzons ljudinnehåll bland annat visade vilka främsta huvudfunktioner somfilmljudet hade i dessa filmer. Dessa funktioner är till för att bibehålla åskådarens fokus och intresse, att skapa närhet till rollkaraktärerna, samt att tillföra en hög känsla av realism och närvaro. Intentionerna med filmljudet verkade vara att flytta åskådaren in i filmens verklighet, att låta åskådaren bli ett med filmen. Att återspegla denna känsla av realism, närvaro, fokus samt intresse, visade sig också vara de intentioner som funnits redan i de båda filmernas förproduktionsstadier. Detta bevisar att de lyckats åstadkomma det de eftersträvat. Men om filmljudet använts på samma sätt eller innehar samma funktioner i krigsfilm rent genrellt går inte att säga.I have for this bachelor’s thesis examined the movie sound of the classic warfare movies Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan. This is an attempt to contribute to a more profound comprehension of the appliance and importance of movie sound. In this context movie sound implies all kinds of sounds within the movies, accept from non-diegetic music. These two movies have been examined by an audio-visual analysis. It's done by auditing the sound and picture content separately, and then combined to audit the same sequence as a whole. Michel Chion, which is the founder of this analysis, calls this method Masking. The sound in this 30 minute sequence was then divided into different zones, where every zone represented a certain main function. These functions are provided to create a stronger connection to the characters, sustain the viewers interest and bring a sense of realism and presence. It seems though the intention with the movies sound is to bring the viewers to the scene in hand, and let it become their reality. To mirror this sense of realism, presence, focus and interest, proves to be the intention from an early stage of the production. This bachelor’s thesis demonstrates a success in their endeavours. Although it can’t confirm whether the movie sound have been utilized in the same manner or if they posess the same functions to warefare movies in general.

User-centered design and evaluation of an interactive visual-haptic-auditory interface : a user study on assembly

Utilizing user-centred system design and evaluation method has become an increasingly important tool to foster better usability in the field of virtual environments (VEs). In recent years, although it is still the norm that designers and developers are concerning the technological advancement and striving for designing impressive multimodal multisensory interfaces, more and more awareness are aroused among the development team that in order to produce usable and useful interfaces, it is essential to have users in mind during design and validate a new design from users' perspective. In this paper, we describe a user study carried out to validate a newly developed haptically enabled virtual training system. By taking consideration of the complexity of individual differences on human performance, adoption and acceptance of haptic and audio-visual I/O devices, we address how well users learn, perform, adapt to and perceive object assembly training. We also explore user experience and interaction with the system, and discuss how multisensory feedback affects user performance, perception and acceptance. At last, we discuss how to better design VEs that enhance users perception, their interaction and motor activity.

Calibration of audio-video sensors for multi-modal event indexing

This paper addresses the coordinated use of video and audio cues to capture and index surveillance events with multimodal labels. The focus of this paper is the development of a joint-sensor calibration technique that uses audio-visual observations to improve the calibration process. One significant feature of this approach is the ability to continuously check and update the calibration status of the sensor suite, making it resilient to independent drift in the individual sensors. We present scenarios in which this system is used to enhance surveillance.

Media independent knowledge indexing and retrieval

Composing a multimedia presentation may require creation or generation of suitable images and video segments, as well as animation, sound, or special effects. Obtaining images or video sequences can be prohibitively expensive when costs of travel to location, equipment, staff, etc, are considered. Those problems can be alleviated with the use of pictorial and video digital libraries, such libraries require methods for comprehensive indexing and annotation of stored items and efficient retrieval tools.

We propose a system based on user oriented perceptions as they influence query formation in image and video retrieval. We present a method based on user dependent conceptual structures for creating and maintaining indexes to images and video sequences.

A comunicação como barreira à inclusão de alunos com deficiência visual em aulas de óptica

O presente artigo representa uma continuidade dos resultados apresentados em Camargo e Nardi (Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física 29, 117 (2007)). Encontra-se inserido dentro de um estudo que busca compreender as principais barreiras para a inclusão de alunos com deficiência visual no contexto do ensino de física. Focalizando aulas de óptica, analisa as dificuldades comunicacionais entre licenciandos e discentes com deficiência visual. Para tal, enfatiza as estruturas empírica e semântico-sensorial das linguagens utilizadas, indicando fatores geradores de dificuldades de acessibilidade nas informações veiculadas. Recomenda, ainda, alternativas que visam dar condições à participação efetiva do discente com deficiência visual no processo comunicativo, das quais destacam-se: a identificação da estrutura semântico-sensorial dos significados veiculados, o conhecimento da história visual do aluno, a destituição da estrutura empírica audiovisual interdependente e a exploração das potencialidades comunicacionais das linguagens constituídas de estruturas empíricas de acesso visualmente independente. Conclui afirmando que a comunicação representa a principal barreira à participação efetiva de alunos com deficiência visual em aulas de óptica e enfatiza a importância da criação de canais comunicacionais adequados como condição básica à inclusão desses alunos.

Eficácia do programa de remediação auditivo-visual computadorizado em escolares com dislexia

TEMA: programa de remediação auditivo-visual computadorizado em escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento. OBJETIVOS: verificar a eficácia de um programa de remediação auditivo-visual computadorizado em escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento. Dentre os objetivos específicos, o estudo teve como finalidade comparar o desempenho cognitivo-lingüístico de escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento com escolares bons leitores; comparar os achados dos procedimentos de avaliação de pré e pós testagem em escolares com dislexia submetidos e não submetidos ao programa; e, por fim, comparar os achados do programa de remediação em escolares com dislexia e escolares bons leitores submetidos ao programa de remediação. MÉTODO: participaram deste estudo 20 escolares, sendo o grupo I (GI) subdivido em: GIe, composto de cinco escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento submetidos ao programa, e GIc, composto de cinco escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento não submetidos ao programa. O grupo II (GII) foi subdividido em GIIe, composto de cinco escolares bons leitores submetidos à remediação, e GIIc, composto de cinco escolares bons leitores não submetidos à remediação. Foi realizado o programa de remediação auditivo-visual computadorizado Play-on. RESULTADOS: os resultados deste estudo revelaram que o GI apresentou desempenho inferior em habilidade de processamento auditivo e de consciência fonológica em comparação com o GII em situação de pré-testagem. Entretanto, o GIe apresentou desempenho semelhante ao GII em situação de pós-testagem, evidenciando a eficácia da remediação auditivo-visual em escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento. CONCLUSÃO: o estudo evidenciou a eficácia do programa de remediação auditivo-visual em escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento.

Contextos comunicacionais adequados e inadequados à inclusão de alunos com deficiência visual em aulas de mecânica

This article is inserted in a study aimed at the identification of the main barriers for the inclusion of visually-impaired students in Physics classes. It focuses on the understanding of the communication context which facilitates or hardens the effective participation of students with visual impairment in Mechanics activities. To do so, the research defines, from empirical - sensory and semantic structures, the language to be applied in the activities, as well as, the moment and the speech pattern in which the languages have been used. As a result, it identifies the rela tion between the uses of the interdependent audio-visual empirical lan guage structure in the non-interactive episodes of authority; the decrease in the use of this structure in interactive episodes; the creation of educa tional segregation environments within the classroom and the frequent use of the interdependent tactile-hearing empirical language structure in such environments.

Contextos comunicacionais adequados e inadequados à inclusão de alunos com deficiência visual em aulas de termologia

This article represents a continuation of the results of a research presented in Camargo and Nardi (2007). It is inserted in the study that seeks to understand the main student’s inclusion barriers with visual impairment in the Physics classes. It aims to understand which communication context shows kindness or unkindness to the impairment visual student’s real participation in thermology activities. For this, the research defines, from the empirical - sensory and semantics structures, the used languages in the activities, as well, the moment and the speech pattern in which the languages have been used. As result, identifies a strong relation between the uses of the interdependent empirical structure audio-visual language in the non-interactive episodes of authority; a decrease of this structure use in the interactive episodes and the creation of education segregation environments within the classroom.

Contextos comunicacionales adecuados e inadecuados para la inclusión de alumnos con discapacidad visual en clases de física moderna

This article is inserted in a wider study that seeks to understand the main inclusion barriers in Physics classes for students with visual impairment It aims to understand which communication context favors or impedes the visually impaired student participation to the impairment visual student’s real participation in Modern Physics activities. The research defines, from the empirical-sensory and semantics structures, the languages used in the activities, as well as, the moment and the speech pattern in which those languages have been used. As a result, this study identifies a strong relation between the uses of the interdependent empirical structure audio-visual language in the non-interactive episodes of authority; a decrease of this structure use in the interactive episodes; the creation of education segregation environments within the clasroom and the frequent use of empirical tactile-hearing interdependent language structure in these environments. Moreover, the concept of «special educational need» is discussed and its inadequate use is analyzed. Suggestions are given for its correct use of «special educational need,» its inadequate use, giving suggestions for its correct use.

Ensino de Física para alunos com deficiência visual: o processo de ensino-aprendizagem nos ambientes escolares das salas de aula regular e de recursos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)