HARMONIC DISSONANCE

Can we capture the essence of human connectedness; the elusive sense of “oneness” that lies above and beyond the mere physical presence of another human body?

In HARMONIC DISSONANCE– SYNCHRON(ICIT)Y, Dikker + Oostrik (Suzanne Dikker, Neuroscientist at NYU & UU and Matthias Oostrik, Interactive media artist) collaborate with Arnoud Traa (Sound designer and composer) and ICK to investigate human synchronicity and synchrony through artistic and scientific inquiry. Dancers and visitors wear EEG devices that measure their brainwaves while they interact with audio-visual reflections of their movements. This allows the research team to explore how motion synchrony (coordination, mirroring, unison, anticipation, resonance, play, etc.) may lead to a sense of togetherness, to synchronicity of the mind.

HARMONIC DISSONANCE - SYNCHRON(ICIT)Y is a performative art/science research based on fragments fromEmio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten’s repertoire. In the paradigm of the artistic signature of Emio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten, Synchronicity is defined as a “dual utopia”, an aim, an ideal, whereby a qualitative relation of being “one body” is aimed for, which is clearly distinguished from merely dancing in unison.

Decomposing synchrony and synchronicity:

HARMONIC DISSONANCE - SYNCHRON(ICIT)Y presents the findings from a three-day workshop at ICKAmsterdam in 2018, aimed at defining synchrony and decomposing it into its primary parts. These notions are used for further investigation and exploration into achieving the “dual utopia” of synchronicity.

 

                                                                  CONCEPTUAL CLOUD

The research in progress has been performed by ICK dancers Arad Inbar and Sedrig Verwoert at the opening event of “Doornburgh Buitenplaats voor Kunst en Wetenschap” on 21. September 2018 and during the BNM Fest on 18.December 2018 in Marseille (FR). In 2019 a performance and workshop with Suzanne Dikker and Suzan Tunca took place in the context of the Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab (RASL) symposium Transdisiplinary Compositions – Contemporary Challenges. A presentation about this research was given at the ICK Fest 2019.

Harmonic Dissonance / Synchron(icit)y at AHK ID-Lab17-21 February 2020.

During the first workshop in 2018 the relation between the dancers and the interactive technology was foregrounded. In 2019 the analysis of the experience of synchronicity between the dancers was explored by discerning and naming different movement intentions, such as distinguishing between moving together as “one body" and moving simultaneously. 

During this third research week at ID-Lab, we investigated the triangular relation between the dancers, the technology and the audience and on how experiences of synchrony and synchronicity are mirrored in the experience of the spectators.   

Daily classes DS/DM were given to all participants and one day was dedicated to presentations by participants (from among others Erasmus University College, ASCA UVA, VU Amsterdam) around the theme of synchrony/synchronicity.

A public presentation was given on 21.2.2020 performed by ICK Next dancers Hiroki Nunogaki and Isaiah Wilson.

InSync:Experiment during the opening ICK Space for Dance Art September 2021  

In a one-week pressure cooker creative process we explored the following research questions from the worlds of dance, neuroscience and interactive media: 

RQ1: How can scientifically rigorous experimentation be integrated in a novel immersive performative experience that unlocks yet undiscovered perspectives on live and technologically-mediated human connectedness? 

RQ2: How can the intuitive, yet elusive, dichotomy between “togetherness” and “simultaneity” be embodied, conveyed, and measured? 

RQ3: How can an interactive audio-visual environment translate “objective” data streams (brainwaves, heart rate, movement) into intuitive storylines for performers and viewers the like? 

The resulting performative experiment was performed by Victor Swank and Beatrice Cardone during the opening of  ICK Space for Dance Art in September 2021.