The Digital Shoals: On Becoming and Sensation in Performance

Abstract

This essay explores digital modes and methods of performance, suggesting that the forms engendered by such work point to a potential site of confluence for research, scholarly expression, and aesthetic work in the Performance Studies field. At issue is the politics of performance, defined in terms of what philosopher Jacques Rancière calls the “distribution of the sensible.” In so doing, I revisit Wallace Bacon's metaphor of dangerous shores, extending it to account for performance in digital environments.

Keywords:

• Digital Performance
• Medium
• Becoming
• Sensation
• Friction

Notes

1. For multitude as a global political concept, see Michael Hardt and Anonio Negri.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael LeVan

Michael LeVan is Senior Instructor in Communication and Affiliated Assistant Professor in Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of South Florida