Chthulucene is a four-screen, 10-minute animation and motion capture video loop created in the Unreal Engine in collaboration with Kialea-Nadine Williams. This work portrays Williams through the lens of the monstrous feminine, exploring themes of transformation and metamorphosis. It explores new digital ideas of physicality and expanded corporality, examining the future of the human body and its behaviour in virtual worlds. Utilizing animation, motion capture, and dance, Chthulucene challenges conventional notions of gender and the post-human by presenting a hybrid body that transcends temporal constraints. Inspired by Donna Haraway's concept of the Chthulucene, this interdisciplinary piece integrates human, animal, and technological elements, redefining physicality in digital spaces. The work raises critical questions about self-representation in virtual futures and its impact on our physical reality, contributing to understandings of post-human identity, hyper-sexuality and the evolving dynamics of dance and performance in the digital age. Choreographically the physicality of the Chthulucene challenges Williams’ movement creation and choreographic vocabulary and her sense of self.
NTRO Output Type
- Curated Exhibition, Event or Festival
NTRO Output Category
- Curated Exhibition, Event or Festival : Exhibition/event
Place
Melbourne, AustraliaVenue
Brunswick Mechanics InstituteNTRO Publisher
https://nextwave.org.au/whats-on/cthuluscene-frameStart Date
2023-03-01End Date
2023-03-31Medium
Animation, motion capture, dance installationResearch Statement
Chthuluscene explores digital performance and post-human studies, addressing gaps in understanding digital technologies' impact on physicality and identity. Technically, it develops a motion capture pipeline with Unreal Engine at TrakLab, investigating animation and motion capture.
Chthuluscene intersects digital performance and post-human studies, revealing how digital technologies impact physicality and identity, redefining gender, physical forms, and the human body. It develops a novel motion capture pipeline with Unreal Engine, expanding methodologies in performance and digital arts, and demonstrating these technologies' transformative potential in envisioning future embodiments.
The work was displayed from dusk to dawn for a month, in a prominent street side position, it was also featured in the Body-Cites: Conversation Series #2 held at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute, and reviewed in the Centre of Projection Art's publication, Confluence. The FRAME 2023 Impact Report highlights the significance of such works, "offering a unique opportunity for deep engagement with dance and dance artists, distinct from traditional dance programming." Over the course of one month, the festival attracted around 16,000 attendees, further underscoring the work's impact and accessibility. The work was also featured in a paper accepted into the International Symposium of Movement and Computing (MOCO) at Uterich, Netherlands in May 2024.Size or Duration of Work
10 minitue loop of animation viewable from dusk to dawn each day for one monthAffiliation
Megan Beckwith, University of Melbourne
