Biological
dynamics in performance space (bio-performance)
Yiannis
Melanitis,
38
Kynigon str, N.Kifisia, PC 14564, Athens,
Greece
Performance
artist, MA Digital Arts,
Phd
Fellow at the School of Architecture, Athens, Greece
Collaborator
at the Sculpture Deptm., Athens School of Fine Arts, Athens, Greece
e-mail:
melanitis@hotmail.com
http://www.oocities.org/melanitis2004/Garden1.html
In this paper I attempt to
investigate biological dynamics in the field of performance space. I use my term
'bio-performance' [1] in an effort to describe
performance procedures
deriving from genetics. In a large-scale performance work entitled "The
Garden" ( partially performed in Athens, 2005, videofile:
http://www.oocities.org/melanitis2004/Gardenvideo.html),
the music interpretation of the genetic sequence (antenappedia gene) of a
mutant fruitfly
consists the environmental
sound (background layer).
A dictionary definition
[http://www.wikipedia.org] of the term 'genetic algorithms' is that they are
"typically implemented as a computer simulation in
which a population of
abstract representations (called chromosomes) of candidate solutions (called
individuals) to an optimization problem evolves toward
better solutions. Traditionally, solutions are represented in
binary as strings of 0s and 1s, but different encodings are also possible. The
evolution starts
from a population of
completely random individuals and happens in generations. In each generation,
the fitness of the whole population is evaluated,
multiple individuals are
stochastically selected from the current population (based on their fitness),
modified (mutated or recombined) to form a new
population, which becomes
current in the next iteration of the algorithm."
Though,
in what way such representations may be used in the artistic process? Perhaps
an innovative way to use genetic algorithms is when they operate
within
a work without -at least in the first case- been so evidently noticed even if
they formulate the structure of the work. [Heraclitus r. 54:
An
unapparent harmony is stronger than an apparent one.] [2]
Concerning
"The Garden" and "The Diffusion of The Elements"
performances, space is not considered to be 'a place of action'. Instead of
this, we might
consider
it as a field with inputs and outputs where interactivity interlinks the
assortment of the elements. As explained later, technology concealed inside the
elements
aims to provide an interconnection between various space qualities.
The music
evolution procedure paradigm used (explained below), is that of 2 genetic pools
interchanging data (inheritance (the notes stay for some time in
pool
1) mutation techniques inspired by evolutionary biology such as inheritance,
mutation, natural selection, and recombination (or crossover).
Every
performance involves an agent, acting within a spatial configuration serving as
its container. Their interaction triggers the "event". This threefold
set
of "agent-space-event" is dynamic and perpetually interactive: it
develops in time by means of formal modifications. The event, i.e. the
interaction
between
the agent (figure) and its spatial configuration (environment), occurs as a
kind of mutation- hence the performance proceeds in an evolutionary
mode:
a series of figural and spatial changes which is represented by sequences of
their transformations.
"Might
not the dancers be real puppets, moved by strings, or better still, self
propelled by means of a precise mechanism, almost free of human
intervention, at most directed by remote
control ?" Oscar Schlemmer
The
distinction between geometrical and functional space in performance theory was
emphasised by Oscar Schlemmer in his works and lectures at the
Bauhaus.[3] Geometrical space refers to
linear constructions and orbital dancing methods, whereas functional space
invokes the response of the agent.
Schlemmer's
"Dance in space" and "Figure in space with Plane Geometry and
Spatial Delineations" performances, intended to transform the body into
a
"mechanised object" operating into a geometrically divided space,
pre-existing the performance. Moreover, the proposition for the remotely
controlled
dancer
of the mechanical ballet might serve as an endeavour to reform the body into a
receptor of information that comes from the container space. Hence,
movement
is precisely determined by the information from the environment.
Fig.1.
Oscar Schlemmer, "Slat Dance".
Fig.2.
"Figure in Space with Plane Geometry and Spatial Delineations."
Fig.
3.The dance from the film "Vita Futurista",1916, by Marinetti, Balla,
Corra.
The
Futurists proposed the system of human-machine and their interactions as the
model of new aesthetics. They manifested an expansion in time and
space for the body that emerged from the
power and the glorification of the machines.
Umberto
Boccioni, in his manifesto named "Absolute Motion + Relative Motion=
Dynamism 1914", writes: "Absolute motion is a dynamic law inherent in
an object.
The
plastic construction of the object must here concern itself with the motion
which an object has within itself, whether it be at rest or in movement?
Relative
motion is a dynamic law which depends on the object's movement. It is quite
incidental whether we are talking about moving objects or the
relationship
between moving objects and non-moving objects. In fact, there is no such thing
as a non-moving object in our modern perception of life."
Marianne
W. Martin in "Machine Aesthetics and the Dehumanization of Art" :
"Marinetti hoped that the artist would overcome his physical limits and
'merge'
into the infinite of space and time' and initiate 'the mechanical kingdom'
supplanting 'the animal kingdom'. Appropriately enough, Marinetti also
envisaged
the accompanying evolution of a new being, an immortal superman who will be
'mechanized' with replaceable parts.' " [4]
2.
PERFORMANCE PROPOSAL
Bio-performance,
a theory based on the conception of the "analogical body" (as
opposed
to digital), attempts to re-establish the corporeal status of experience
de-depending the body from the domination of simulations or virtual allusions.
Performance
has to be defined as the dialectical mechanism between body and context. The
concept of performance is based on interaction, in the sense that the
body
of the performer is dynamically -and non-reversibly- transformed by the
environment, as well as the environment is transformed by the movements of the
performer.Interaction
occurs and evolves because the body does not have an overview of the context.
Hence the body needs to move. Movement in turn,
causes
transformation of the spatial configuration as well as of the body itself, a
perpetual process. The question then becomes what are the operations for these
alterations?
Do they fall into patterns and/or other regularities? Here is the point that we
have to reverse the question. We do not have to leave the body move
voluntarily,
but the genetic algorithms might provide a grid for their trajectories in
space, so these patterns are varieties inside our evolutionary pathway.
Fig.4. Drawing from the Bauhaus.
From
information systems to bio-information processes- the invasion of information
on the body.
Within
the borders of bio-capitalism, biotech is formalising nature into molds,
mechanising organic systems, applying informatics in the bio-organic level.
Placed
within this framework, information is transformed to bio-information which is
mechanically imposed on the body, potentially altering its
developmental
perspective. As P. Rabinow claims in his essay titled "Artificiality and
Enlightenment: From Sociobiology to Biosociality" [5]: " the
object
to be known- the human genome- will be known in such a way that it can be changed.
This dimension is thoroughly modern; one could even say that it
instantiates
the definition of modern rationality". Genetic information, due to its
complexity, provides a source of transforming the body into a complex system
which
brings about unpredictable outcomes.
If a
performance theory aimed to present the body as a bio-analogic system, all
representations and interactions should be replaced by competitive systems and
evolutionary
processes.
A
substantial discrimination between the geometrical space of Oscar Schlemmer and
bio-performance may be observed in their relationship with the body :
Schlemmer/Bauhaus
|
Virtual
Reality performances |
Bio-performance
|
space=
soft {As Schlemmer puts it: "a
space filled with pliable substance in
which the figures of the sequence of
the dancer's movements were to harden
as a negative form." The
body of the dancers obtain an 'object'
quality, moving in a
rather predictable way. [3] |
The body
"disappears" and is
remotely
controlled. Its feedback
is determined by external
information or through
interactions. |
body=
soft, malleable. The body should
have a "liquid space" movement
within space. |
In
the bio-performance, the information is perceived from the outside, processed by
the body and exported to the initial source (the environment) [6] .
Environment
though, is a complex concept, that may include self-derived parts or functions
of an organism which can potentially be activated in relation
to
it. (e.x some genes within an organism may be part of a gene's environment
)[7]. In this sense, performer and environment become comparable entities.
The
concept of the performer owning an altering body whose form is perpetually
dissolved and recomposed, leads us to consider performance as an
organism.[8]
The technique of this transformation is realised by emphasizing its
bio-analogical responses.
Schematic
of the performance space
Fig. 5, Diagram for the spatial arragment of the Garden performance. Below, Fig. 6.,
the ancient Greek Theater diagram with Orchestra, Theatron[
"theater," lit. "place for viewing,"
from theasthai "to behold" (cf. thea "a view," theates
"spectator") + -tron, suffix denoting place)],
Skene and Parodos.
Fig. 7. Schlemmer's stage diagram for Gesture
Dance,Bauhaus, 1926
Chorus
and the sound synthesis of the performance
'Music
is sound, that is, movement. The goal is to bring sound itself to life.'
Xenakis,
in Balint Andras Varga, Gesprache mit Iannis Xenakis, trans. Peter Hoffmann.
p.62
ancient
drama |
Chorus
of the ancient drama |
narration/singings/dance |
bio-performance |
Chorus
of 3 women |
singing:
aischrologia (=abuse words) |
Transformations
through codifications (encoding letters inside the notes)
Encryption
of the word "BACH" inside the fugue from J.Sebastian Bach at the last
work Art of the Fugue/Die Kunst Der Fuge.
The
third theme of the unfinished four-part fugue starts with the sequence from
Si-La-Do-Si minor ("BACH")
Fuga_a_3_Soggetti_Contrapunctus
14.aif ________________
Fuga_a_3_Soggetti_Contrapunctus
14.aif(Fragment 6:00-6:03)____
Less
visible in Contrapunctus 4____
Contrapunctus
4(bar135-136) played by the viola
Also
in Contrapunctus 11, at the satrt of the anti-theme with eights (after the
initial fugue theme) and finally forms the 3rd theme of the fugue
Genetic
algorithms (real-time DNA transcription) in the Garden performance
The
sound synthesis consists of three sound layers:
1.
the background 'environmental' synthesis, based on the DNA
sequences of the mutant fruitflies. sound file (through MAX/MSP) [file: backgr3.aif]
2.
the ??male?? foreground synthesis based on the thermal
scanning of space. Thermal outputs are transformed to skirl real-time sounds
(through MAX/MSP) [file:Thyrsus20050528takeB.aif]
3.
the female chorus, consisting of seven women which periodically sing a
synthesis based on the names of the 4 DNA bases (adenine (A), thymine (T),
cytosine (C) and guanine (G)) resembling
female abuse, as women practised in ancient Thesmophoria. [file: femaleChorus1.aif]
The series by which the four proteins appear in time, is the DNA chain. The
DNA chain is transcribed to syllables (parts of the names) of the four
proteins. Each singer sings one phoneme at a time.
One of
the most striking mutations in Drosophila is the conversion of antennae into
legs by the gain-of-function dominant mutation, Antennapedia.
Fig.
8. HOMEOTIC TRANSFORMATIONS involving the Antennapedia Complex (ANTC)
Adult
fly heads: wild type, antennapedia (antennae transformed to 2nd thoracic legs)
and a double mutant proboscipedia/ antennapedia
(antennae
to 2nd thoracic and proboscis to 1st thoracic legs).
Music
Fly
The
DNA of a fly (894 bases) is used as a base for the production of music. A
specific algorithm was designed for the interpretation of the DNA code.
This
music piece is then arranged to aesthetic preference and transformed to a new
DNA sequence which becomes a representation a "music" fly.
This
new organism could even be produced /in the lab as new organism /or as a
computer model.
The
894 bases of the antenappedia gene:
1
atgacgatga gtacaaacaa ctgcgagagc atgacctcgt acttcaccaa ctcgtacatg
61
ggggcggaca tgcatcatgg gcactacccg ggcaacgggg tcaccgacct ggacgcccag
121
cagatgcacc actacagcca gaacgcgaat caccagggca acatgcccta cccgcgcttt
181
ccaccctacg accgcatgcc ctactacaac ggccagggga tggaccagca gcagcagcac
241
caggtctact cccgcccgga cagcccctcc agccaggtgg gcggggtcat gccccaggcg
301
cagaccaacg gtcagttggg tgttccccag cagcaacagc agcagcagca acagccctcg
361
cagaaccagc agcaacagca ggcgcagcag gccccacagc aactgcagca gcagctgccg
421
caggtgacgc aacaggtgac acatccgcag cagcaacaac agcagcccgt cgtctacgcc
481 agctgcaagt
tgcaagcggc cgttggtgga ctgggtatgg ttcccgaggg cggatcgcct
541
ccgctggtgg atcaaatgtc cggtcaccac atgaacgccc agatgacgct gccccatcac
601
atgggacatc cgcaggcgca gttgggctat acggacgttg gagttcccga cgtgacagag
661
gtccatcaga accatcacaa catgggcatg taccagcagc agtcgggagt tccgccggtg
721
ggtgccccac ctcagggcat gatgcaccag ggccagggtc ctccacagat gcaccaggga
781
catcctggcc aacacacgcc tccttcccaa aacccgaact cgcagtcctc ggggatgccg
841
tctccactgt atccctggat gcgaagtcag tttggtaagt gtcaaggaaa gtga
There are only four different bases and thus only four
different nucleotides. The four bases are adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine
(C) and guanine (G).
Genes are sections of DNA, in which the neucleotides are
viewed in groups of three called "triplets" or "codons".
Each codon "codes" for a particular
amino acid (amino acids are glued together to make
proteins.)
Antenappedia
protein sequence:
MTMSTNNCESMTSYFTNSYMGADMHHGHYPGNGVTDLDAQQMHHYSQNANHQGNMPYPRFPPYDRMP
YYNGQGMDQQQQHQVYSRPDSPSSQVGGVMPQAQTNGQLGVPQQQQQQQQQPSQNQQQQQAQQAPQQL
QQQLPQVTQQVTHPQQQQQQPVVYASCKLQAAVGGLGMVPEGGSPPLVDQMSGHHMNAQMTLPHHMGHP
QAQLGYTDVGVPDVTEVHQNHHNMGMYQQQSGVPPVGAPPQGMMHQGQGPPQMHQGHPGQHTPPSQNPNS
QSSGMPSPLYPWMRSQFGKCQGK
Foreground
synthesis
Music
is derived from the thermal scanning of the performance space (a FLIR
thermal camera was used for this reason, connected to a computer
running MAX-MSP)
while the protein sequence rows through real time music
transcription:
Fig. 9.Thyrsus-Cyclops diagram
(assembled in collaboration with composer V. Kokkas): DNA is used to shape
noise waves thus creating the acoustic
environment.The current DNA base
creates a ramp which drives the parameters of FM1 and FM2.
Nine triangle wave generators which
are controlled by the chromatic codes of the thermal image captured by the
camera. The main performer was
appearing in my first sketches as bird-like mutant,[fig. 10] so the
parameters of this system are adjusted to yield timbral (in greek=ixoxromatiki)
texture which is a synthetic model of
the birds' voice. [see natural birds' voice in diagram, fig. 11]
Fig.10.
Drawing by Yiannis Melanitis, first thoughts on the male performers??
image, ballpoint pen on paper,
2004
Fig.11. sound
wave diagram of the Blue Jay
_the
music of the thyrsus is based on the song of the bird Blue Jay [Thyrsus20050528takeB.aif]
_the
sound wave diagram of the Blue Jay is also triangle shaped
_sound
sample of Blue Jay: [blueJaySound.mp3]
<http://www.oocities.org/melanitis2004/Garden5.html>
??The
Garden?? is an interactive environment for 4 performers and a three-member
female chorus
Fig.
11.??The Garden??, Image stills and video:
<http://www.oocities.org/melanitis2004/Gardenvideo.html>
In
the ensuing evolutionary steps of the work ??The Garden??, a work partially
performed, being under a transformative process itself, genetic algorithms
will
define its basic parameters (from agents trajectories till bodily prosthetic
forms.) Genetic algorithms are not merely guidelines for formalistic
interpretations;
more essentially, they should function as a ??source of metaphors to remodel
life, aiming, in partial, to reveal the area that comprises
the
??parental scheme??, the initial philosophical idea concealed under the external schemes,
before the metaphors, still before the first, the inceptive transfer?
As
Derrida says,[9] in all human words, a materialized scheme had been parently
stamped and all the words, when they were new, they represented a certain
perceptible image...the inevitable materialism of the vocabulary? Whist in ??The
Garden?? the place of vocabulary coincides with the genetic base
sequence,
our concern are not the coding transformations ; more extensively our aiming is
in the approximation of the initial, non-transferable concept?
For
the future collaborations and the definition of the genetic algoritm, through use of simulation computer
program for the fruitfly tests: Bouzaklas
Ioannis,
Geneticist, BSC in genetics MSC Molecular Medicine, Phd Medical School of
Athens, ioannis@enternet.gr
References.
1.
Highlights magazine , November 2004, issue 13 on "Technology",
interview with Christina Polychroniadis,entitled "Bio-performance"
2.
Socratis Gikas-Iason Evangelou, Presocratic Philosophers, Savalas publications,
Athens 1995.
3.
Oscar Schlemmer's notes, RoseLee Goldberg, Performance Art, Thames and
Hudson,
1988.
4.
Futurist Art and Theory, 1909-1915, by Marianne W.Martin, Oxford Press, 1968,
page 130.
5.
Paul Rabinow , in his article "Artificiality and Enlightenment: From
Sociology to Biosociality", refers to Gilles Deleuze's book "On the
Death of
Man
and Superhuman", which presents "Man as a distinctive being, who is
both the subject and the object of its understanding, but an understanding
that
is never complete because of its very structure."
6.
Mae-Wan Ho, "The New Age of the Organism", A&D, volume 70, No 3,
June 00. page 48. "The whole is thus a domain of coherent activities,
consulting
an autonomous, free entity, not because it is separate and isolated from its
environment, but precisely by virtue of its unique entanglement
of
other organic space-times in its environment."
7.
Douglas J. Futuyma, Evolutionary Biology, third edition, Sinauer Associates,
Massachusetts, 1998, Glossary, see: "environment".
8.
Mae-Wan Ho, "The New Age of the Organism", A&D, volume 70, No 3,
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maximised,
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J. Derrida, ?White Mythology?, Hestia editions, trans. By G. Faraklas.
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