Cybernetic Sensory Interactions: Somatic perception and feedback systems in early modern cultural audiences

Language: English

The religious performance and theater of Renaissance and Baroque are constituted by their emphasis on spectacular elements, visceral features, and intense stagings. Still, rarely the direct and embodied influence of those aspects on the contemporary audience are discussed, abstracting the individual experience.

In this presentation, Aska Mayer will introduce the interdisciplinary framework of somatic perception and feedback to the analysis of early modern European theater and performance, with an emphasis on the role of costumes and effects. Applying somaesthetic methodology as well as recent theories on costumes as a form of somatic augmentation, we will explore how contemporary research on the human body and its cybernetic enhancement can inform and extend research on historical phenomena.

Read more about the lecture series in this blog post.

The lecture will take place online via Teams. Please click on the button below to register for the event. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us via sekretariat.imareal@plus.ac.at.

Picture: © Elisabeth Gruber