Reading Thecla describe briefly the workshops and discussions she
participated in this summer has brought me to a point I have been pondering
hard on these days which is the relationship between those who are trained
(are training) in the physical knowledge of dancing, that daily ritual of
class and rehearsal which tends to take up all of one's energy and time...
leaving little for facing the sort of learning curves presented by these new
technologies we are all embracing... and those who are trained in the use
and implementation of hardware and software to carry out some of the highly
detailed and difficult technical chores necessary for the experimentation we
want to see happening.
What sort of relationships do people out there have and are they fruitful
ones? Can comparisions be made with what might be considered traditional
relationships in performance between, say, composer and choreographer;
lighting designer and choreographer; scenic designer and choreographer;
etc. Probably not, because the borders and boundaries are no longer so clear
and digital technologies (and thought) have resulted in an explosion of
technical possibilities... which suggests others types of relationships...
more dynamic and collaborative and problematic and frightening.
I have been reading about the Bauhaus recently and looking at Gropius's
'masters of form' (the artists) and 'workshop masters' (the craftsmen) -- a
situation he created in order to force 'art' and 'technology' together.
History shows that this situation rarely turned out the way he had hoped it
would... but the Bauhaus represents, I believe, a point in history similar
to one we face today. There was a similar sense of urgency and the unknown
about the relationship between society and technology, humans and machines,
and arts and sciences which we are feeling today. It does seem to me that we
are 'forcing' some of these things together -- the internet and dancing;
computers and choreography; etc. -- but, I am all for it. We are in need of
a redefinition of art at the end of this century (the main project of
Documenta this year) and this inevitably means that we don't know what it's
going to be or what sorts of relationships between collaborators will emerge
as the most dynamic ones.
Regards,
Scott
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Scott deLahunta and Susan Rethorst
Writing Research Associates, NL
Sarphatipark 26-3, 1072 PB Amsterdam, NL
tel: +31 (0)20 662 1736
fax: +31 (0)20 470 1558
email: sdela@ahk.nl
http://huizen.dds.nl/~sdela/wra (WRITING RESEARCH ASSOCIATES)
http://www.art.net/~dtz (DANCE AND TECHNOLOGY ZONE )