The Weird Giggle: Attending to Affect in Virtual Reality
Abstract
Within the poetic digital space of Virtual Reality philosophical and cultural narratives collide. Do artistic experiments in VR provide the ultimate freedom for our development as a species or plunge it into passive reception of pure violence ? This article aims to chart a path through a small slice of thought and affective experiences of VR on the basis of a practical application of phenomenological reflection and the somatic movement practice Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT). The practical experiences of VR to be discussed are based on one particular VR artwork: MAN A VR by Gibson / Martelli. Affect, by way of phenomenology, bridges virtual reality and embodied lived experience. The result is an expansion of the somatic register of VR.
Keywords
Virtual Reality, Affect, Somatic, Phenomenology, Skinner Releasing Technique
Author Biography
Susan Kozel
Susan Kozel is a Professor with the School of Art and Culture at Malmö University (Sweden). She works at the convergence between performance, philosophy and responsive digital technologies. Previous publications include Closer: Performance, Technologies, Phenomenology (MIT Press 2007), while current research takes a political turn towards Affective Choreographies and Performances of Encryption.
Ruth Gibson
Ruth Gibson is a Creative Fellow with the Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE) at Coventry University (UK). She is a visual artist and choreographer, working across disciplines to produce objects, software and installations in partnership with artist Bruno Martelli as Gibson/Martelli. Ruth is a certified teacher in the somatic practice Skinner Releasing Technique.
Bruno Martelli
Bruno Martelli is a visual artist. He transposes sites creating ambiguous topographies exploring the relationship between natural & artificial. Exhibitions include: Venice Biennale, Barbican Gallery, Detroit Institute for Art. Collaborating with Ruth Gibson as Gibson/Martelli, they recently won the Lumen Gold Prize. His VR work was recently exhibited at Gazelli Art House, London.