Sixteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Humans have gone to great lengths to augment their bodies with wearable technology using commercial devices such as smart phones, watches, and jewelry. The presence of technology in the area of the performing and fine arts has shaped the future of how technology can be used to enhance existing performance practices including traditional folk performances. This research is concerned with creating a new digital musical instrument – a body instrument using built-in sensor systems for producing sounds and vibrations inspired by traditional folk performance practices. The work draws from a range of multidisciplinary practices including, sound and music, digital technology, costume design, body movement combined with traditional forms of folk or cultural practices. Creating and expressing sounds through the use of gestures and body movements can allow the performer/wearer to engage in a more interactive movement experience. Digitizing these movements can also lend to the preservation cultural heritage. These practices include inspirations from the Mevlevi or Whirling Dervishes of Turkey, Spanish Flamenco from Andalusia and traditional Eastern European (Hungarian) folk dance practices such as the csárdás. These garments/costumes are performed by those practicing these traditions in an aim to capture certain movements to which sounds or other functions such as controlling lighting will be attributed to. The experience is an embodied one; a new way of performing with sound that can entrance both the wearer and the audience.