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Authors:		Gilson-Ellis, Jools; Povall, Richard. Work-in-progress
Title:		The Secret Project
Keywords:		Work-in-progress Proposal
Abstract:		Production Note: Because of the impact on the stage space (a falling rice curtain, for example, takes quite a while to clear up -- see below) if this work is shown as part of a performance with other pieces, it should probably go last. Supporting Materials: fragments of the work can be found at http://www.timara.oberlin.edu/people/~rpovall/secret/secret.html. Some short video extracts of workshop work on the project are available now. More extracts will be available in late August on completion of our residency at The Banff Centre. The Secret Project is a large-scale performance currently in development, with anticipated completion in late 1999. It is a co-production of half/angel (Richard Povall & Jools Gilson-Ellis); the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), and the Firkin Crane (Ireland). The Secret Project centres its thematic material in the use of interactive technologies in the context of live performance.. The artists have been researching motion-sensing technologies and live performance for the past two years (Povall has been working with these technologies for six years). This proposal is to show several segments from the work in progress, and allow for discussion and critique immediately following the showing (preferably moderated by an independent person involved in creating the issue set for this conference). Using software developed at STEIM (BigEye and LiSA), we work with the interaction of choreographies and soundscapes, with a particular emphasis on the use of original text. These softwares enable a radical re-thinking of the body in physical and digital space, and the resulting questions about the nature of digital interactivity has fed our work technically and thematically. We are not so much attempting to control a virtual stage space as we are to extend the actual and metaphorical motion of the performers into sonic and visual landscapes. The relationship between performer and instrument, between the body and technology raise questions which are only heightened within the context of this conference. These softwares enable a radical re-thinking of the body in physical and digital space. Asking questions about the nature of interactivity in this way has fed our work technically and thematically. The thematic organisation of the piece around the notion of the 'secret' arose initially out of our work with interactive technologies, where there is often confusion about notions of "utterance" and "gesture" -- where the utterance of text can control movement, and movement control the utterance of text. We are interested in what these technologies conjure as 'secret', and how our secrets might bleed into such a performative tool. This shifting sense of the 'secret' as bodily / technological as well as cultural continues to orient our thinking in the making of this work. Technical Requirements: Х performance space with sprung floor and reasonable lighting plot (Drama City would be ideal for this) Х video camera (any colour camera will do, as long as it is not too old. Camera with S-Video output is preferred) Х tripod or ceiling mount Х stereo sound system of high quality Х PowerMacintosh with at least 32MB RAM, System 8, QuickTime 3, video in/out Х 17" (preferred) or 15" colour monitor Х Power Macintosh with at least 64MB RAM, System 8 Х 17" (preferred) or 15" colour monitor, video in/out Х small mixer (such as the Mackie 1202) Х video monitor Х video projection system

Gilson-Ellis, Jools. jools@ucc.ie University of Hull, U.K. JOOLS GILSON-ELLIS is a writer, theorist and performer, and has lectured in performance practice and theory at the Department of Drama at the University of Hull, and at Dartington College of Arts in the UK. She is currently a Lecturer in English (Drama) at University College, Cork (Ireland) where she is part of an initiative to develop practical courses in theatre. Recent artwork includes the choreographic installation Difficult Joys, and performances with AlienNation Theatre Company - Lively Bodies/Lively Machines (Chichester 1996) and Before Night Falls (Atlanta and Dresden 1997). Povall, Richard. Richard.Povall%oberlin.edu@sun2.mhs-relay.ac.uk Exeter College of Art & Design, UK.RICHARD POVALL is a multidisciplinary composer, researcher, and educator, currently Associate Professor of Computer Music and New Media and Chair of the Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) department at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (Ohio, USA). From 1995 - 1997 he was also Research Fellow/Senior Lecturer in New Performance Media at Dartington College of Arts in the UK, and is currently a Research Associate at the University of Plymouth. His recent work concentrates on small-scale and solo work using a variety of interactive media, and on new uses of interactive technology in performance environments. He divides his time between the US and the UK, and is published by Frog Peak Music (USA).


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