BIG DATA

Though it won't debut for nearly a year, many at the University of Illinois are already deeply involved in the February 2010 restaging of Trisha Brown's 1989 dance piece "Astral Convertible." Visiting artist Thecla Schiphorst, a pioneer in merging computing and the performing arts, will work with Illinois artists and technologists throughout 2009 and 2010.

The Illinois team includes the departments of dance and theater, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, the Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies, and edream. edream is the University of Illinois' new digital arts and media institute.

Dancers in the original production of "Astral Convertible" tripped motion sensors—not unlike those used to keep your garage door from closing when it shouldn't—to set off lights and electronic sounds. For the new Illinois production, dancers will wear miniature sensors embedded in their costumes and connected to a wireless network to interact with the video, lights, and music. Elements on stage will also respond to the dancers and interact with one another.

This experience of the body being "physically materialized more and more directly through technology," as Schiphorst calls it, is at the heart of her work and "Astral Convertible."

"The New York Times called the original production 'startling, stunning, and exciting to look at.' We intend to create the same impact with this production. With such a broad collaboration across campus and visiting artists like Thecla, we're going to deliver," says John Toenjes, the music director of Illinois' dance department who is leading the "Astral Convertible" production.

"A growing number of people at Illinois are fusing art, technology, science, and the humanities. It's what edream is all about—bringing together genuinely interdisciplinary efforts, brokering collaborations, and helping people who work in creative digital arts to deliver their artistic vision to campus and the community," says Donna Cox, edream's director and a member of the Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies' Creativity and Computing theme.

"How exciting to have one of our first collaborations on campus include so many leading lights!"

While visiting campus in April, Schiphorst will also take part in the annual HASTAC conference as a member of a panel on new media and ubiquitous arts. She will also present a talk, "Technologies of an Embodied Self: Exploring Skin, Sensuality and Performance," as part of the College of Fine and Applied Arts' Lorado Taft Lectureship on Art. The lecture will be held at 5:30 pm on Wednesday April 22, 2009, in Krannert Art Museum auditorium.

Schiphorst's visits are supported by the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts' Frances P. Rohlen Visiting Artists Fund and Lorado Taft Lecture Fund, the Department of Dance, and the Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies.