Introduction | Background Work | Expressive Processing | Conclusions and Future Work | Bibliography

Introduction

This work follows up from of previous experimental projects by the author, whish address the idea of human processing and how personal limits can be used as a characteristic which can empower valuable and unique ways of expression.
In “Expression’s limits” a translucent confined space, was contained by much larger space of an auditorium crating a tension between magnitudes. Inside this enclosed box a performer struggled to interpret music trough very small and limited movements. The result was a particular expressiveness of micro-movements. This original and interesting stylistically way of expression could not have been achieved without the imposed physical constraints.
Instead of processing human movements using motion capture or any other computer gesture recognition method, “Human processing”, proposed a paradigm ware a performer is the one to process the data provided by the computer. The performer translates audiovisual information, through his emotions, to expressive gesture and movement. “Human processing” approaches the external reality and the way it constrains our personal experiences and memories, as well as, the way that memories, including the body memory, limits our corporal expressiveness.
The present proposal the “Expressive Processing” project approaches these same ideas framed by another dimension of human cognitive feedback.
In this case the performer is in fact “processing” his own interior image and letting go of the consciousness of his own body to become conscientious of his unconscious being. 
This is a form of body displacement, and simultaneous materialization of unconscious inner facets.
Furthermore, to express the concept of this new project, instead of using real-time technology in performance (as in “Human Processing”), or not using technology at all (as in “Expression’s limits”), Expressive Processing focus on a production and post-production process in order to create a final a video art piece.

| A Project by Helena Figueiredo: hfortuna[at]final.upf.es; hfigueiredo[at]porto.ucp.pt |