Foetus - The Performance

Foetus, is an un-seen and highly innovative concept of new media ‪art‬ where humanity and technologies are interlaced through the wonder of ‪‎pregnancy.

We delve into the blossoming interdependent relationship between the mother and the baby and how this generates undiscovered powerful and creative energies.
We want to focus on the state of interdependency between the mother and the child in the foetal stage, in which the foetus develops and reacts to the outside world through the mother, and subsequently, on the autonomy of a physiologically structured child, which coincides with the final creation (also artistic).

The format is structured in two phases:

One day of dance based workshop with pregnant women at different stages of pregnancy

A performance that will see the pregnant women that took part in the workshop, performing on stage with the experiences gained from these two days of study, a dance performance will convey the live motion coming from within the brain and belly turning into expression and dance; an invitation to physical transformation, new notion and vision.

The Workshop

The concept is to explore how a woman manoeuvres physically and psychologically through the progression of pregnancy, drawing on the journey from acceptance through to submergence. We will delve into the blossoming interdependent relationship between the mother and the baby and how this generates undiscovered powerful and creative energies.

The tumultuous ups and downs and the generative force of pregnancy are turned into expressions of dance.

– Exploring the newness and uniqueness of this time of transition
– Who I am, who I am going to be
– Enhancing self awareness of their physical transformation
– Finding the positive balance between maternal instinct and sexuality.
– Tapping into new notions and visions
– Channelling overwhelming emotions and express them with body language

The Performance

The performance shows a mood can be reflected on the body actions and how these generate impulses and responses to another body inside it, a set of elements in continuous progression that influence and overlap one another, creating a powerful and creative energy.

Technology:

The use of technological devises positioned on the performer’s body, as Electrocardiogram and Fetal ultrasound Doppler, generate real-time graphics and sounds and control playback properties and create a set of elements in continuous progression that influence and overlap one another creating an experimental audiovisual performance.

The audiovisual performance sees the acquisition of two independent signals

1: ECG – electrocardiogram – heart’s rhythm and electrical activity of the performer

2: Fetal Ultrasound Doppler detecting the fetus’s heartbeat

The two devices will transfer data to the laptop wireless

The software Processing captures the performer’s electric heart impulses. These inputs will be transferred via OSC protocol to a audio editor software.

At the same time the sounds coming from the ultrasound Doppler, positioned to the performer’s belly are sampled, are sampled and analyzed with OMAX, a program which analyze the audio spectrum and from it obtains the morphological metric trends.

All the detected information are captured and elaborated in real time, creating a sound weaving made of both concrete and synthetic sounds produced by the information coming from the ECG.

One become two hearts beating on stage; working together to give birth to a sensational moment of internal and external fusion. The rise of a new life becomes symbolic in showing the endless evolution within our universo.

The Show has been shown in London at

Richmix in December 2015, as part of the Women of Mass Destruction platform.

MAURO POLITO, DONATO PANACCIO_Audio Visual Performance

TESSA RYAN, EMILY PLUMRIDGE, JAYNE WALLING_Performers

KERRY STAMMERS_Co-chorepgrapher

DYANA GRAVINA_Director

At the Leyden Gallery in March 2017.

FEDERICO ORTICA_ sound design – live electronics

ANDREA MARCHI_ (video) – program/interactive design

DYANA GRAVINA_ Director

KERRY STAMMERS_Performer