• Trans-Participation in the Infosphere

    Author(s):
    Joseph Dunne (see profile)
    Date:
    2019
    Group(s):
    CityLIS, Digital Humanists, Library & Information Science, Performance Studies
    Subject(s):
    Theater, History, Theater--Political aspects, Library science, Information science
    Item Type:
    Conference paper
    Conf. Title:
    DocPerform 3: Postdigital
    Conf. Org.:
    City, University of London
    Conf. Loc.:
    London
    Conf. Date:
    16th May 2019
    Tag(s):
    infosphere, Immersive Theatre, Audience Participation, Theatre and history, Theatre and politics, Library and information science, Digital culture
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/6w53-s312
    Abstract:
    The real world, as we experience it today, is intimately connected with technological mediation. Drawing on theories of post-humanism, onlife, the infosphere, and audience participation, this paper addresses how the cultural, social and political beliefs of participants in immersive theatre can be trans-ed. The relationality inherent in the term trans- refers to the complex web of connections participants navigated and created in the performances Operation Black Antler by Blast Theory and Hydrocracker and One Day, Maybe by dreamthinkspeak. The dramaturgies in both pieces were experienced as a network of bodies, times, historical and national narratives. In this paper I will explore how trans- offers a strategy of performative political discourse where (sexual, gender, racial, etc.) identities become dramaturgically fluid and unfixed, and if such a mode of participation can effectuate a form of dialectic that is contingent on participating in acts of empathy rather than of conflict. A corollary to this process can be found in Luciano Floridi’s conceptualisation of contemporary technological environment, which he terms the infosphere (2014). The production and dissemination of media acts as the diffuse infrastructure of the infosphere and replicates our presence across platforms and communication networks. The compulsion to connect with realities and experiences outside of our everyday life allows us to stretch our real self and play identities as a means of establishing empathetic relations with histories, ideas and people; this is the core principle of trans-participation. I contend that audience participation in the context of the infosphere and onlife – where the digital and the real worlds become a seamless experience – complicate rhetorically crude conceptions of post-truth and fake news by allowing people to play identities drawn from media.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Conference proceeding     Show details
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    4 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
    Share this:

    Downloads

    Item Name: pdf trans-participation-in-the-infosphere-docperform-3-paper.pdf
      Download View in browser
    Activity: Downloads: 77

    Back to Deposits