Kinesonic Embodiment
The guiding hypothesis of the echome project is that sound and movement interaction can give rise to a trans-sensorial experience, which involves a close binding between auditory perception and kinesthetic sense. This section presents a series of films, created with dance artists Sophie Alder and Sandrine Monin, which provide a scaffoldin gfor working with echome, or a similar system, in a studio environment and towards building a skill set that can render kinesonic experience available for creative expression and/or as a tool for performance making. The videos document activities for solo, pair and group work, gradually building in complexity.
1. Introduction
These videos show a set of creative explorations which emerged out of the work that Sophie Alder, Maria Kapsali and Sandrine Monin undertook with echome. In four intensive workshops we explored different ways of cultivating a form of kinesonic experience. Our aim was to activate a process of moving that unfolds in relation to listening and an experience of listening which is constantly informed by the sounding that the body produces through its movement.
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2. Beginning I
This video presents an introductory activity using one sound and one sensor. It brings attention to the perceptual and kinetic strategies that are often employed when a system for sound and movement interaction is used for the first time.
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3. Beginning II
This video presents a short movement exploration with one sensor and one texture based sound. It charts a progression from the establishment of an excitatory gesture and its development into a kinesonic thread: a movement phrase with a beginning middle and end, the beginning of which excites the sound and the duration of which matches the duration of the sound.
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4. Progressing I: Working with one non-sounding partner
This video shows a simple way for structuring an activity for two partners. The aim of the activity is to develop the listening skills of both partners and a receptive attitude that approaches sound as a vehicle for organising their movement as well as for interacting with each other.
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5. Progressing II: Working in a group
This video shows a moment from a group improvisation where all movers wear sensors. The clip brings attention to two things: it shows the way non sounding partners can also drive the improvisation and demonstrates the way sound and movement can create a kinesonic web: a dynamic framework that has an identifiable contour, spreads across the movement of different bodies and becomes manifest in a visual, kinesthetic and sonic register.
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6. Dialogues – Working with two or more sensors
This video shows a simple way of working with two sensors at the same time. Since two sounds can be produced at the same time, the mover can experiment with different strategies for integrating them within the same movement pattern. The clip shows two possibilities, each one featuring a different placement of the sensors and different sounds.
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7. Dialogues – Meaning making
The video shows the way the relationship between the movement of the body, the position of the sensor and the characteristics of the sound can enable the emergence of a composite meaning, which cannot be reduced to either the sound or the movement. This can manifest for the mover or an external observer in the form of internal imagery and associations and it can feed back into the movement and sound exploration.
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8. Dialogues - Working with two alternating sounds
A common tendency when working with wearable sensors is that the mover’s attention is directed to the body part that wears the sensor. This body part then often leads the movement. This video documents an activity that goes against this tendency by instituting a constraint: the mover has to find ways to activate the sound not through the part of the body that wears the sensor but through the rest of the body.
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9. Dialogues: Working in pairs
Another way to develop the activities further is to work in pairs. This video documents one activity that can be done in pairs, and includes physical touch and weight bearing. Different relationships may develop between the partners and the sound can serve as a medium through which the relationship can unfold.
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