A critical study of physical participation in Blast Theory's Can You See Me Now?

Abstract

This article will explore how avant-garde artistic practices in the field of mixed reality performance, namely pervasive games such as Blast Theory's 2003 Can You See Me Now?, critically engage with the proliferation and implementation of virtual technologies in everyday life. I will argue that there is a cultural shift resulting from the global, massive implementation of these technologies towards a virtualisation of everyday life performance and a progressive re-calibration of sensitivities away from the immediate material and physical domains of experience. Throughout this article, neuroscientific theories will be used to provide insight into the role of the audience/participants in Can You See Me Now? The intersection of neuroscientific theory and performance analysis will thus serve as a methodology for exploring different paradigms and modes of engagement with mixed reality performance.

Keywords:

• mixed reality performance
• neuroaesthetics
• hybridity
• participation

Notes on contributors

Piotr Woycicki is a Lecturer in Theatre and Performance at the University of Aberystwyth. His research interests concern the intersections between political and aesthetic theory, particularly the work of Lyotard, Deleuze, and Rancière and contemporary intermedial performance practice. His publication record includes articles and an upcoming book Post-cinematic Theatre and Performance (Palgrave Macmillan 2014). He is an active member of the Intermediality Working Group within the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR). He has also collaborated as composer and deviser with the UK-based intermedial company Imitating the Dog and director Pete Brooks on a number of international projects.

Notes

1. See http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/can-you-see-me-now/ Accessed July 7, 2014.