The course will focus on the transformational impact of digital media on contemporary performance, addressing and analysing how technological developments of the last thirty years have reshaped the ways we make, spectate, narrate, and generally experience art. As part of this course students will critically and creatively explore how performance and art practice respond to the challenges and possibilities of our networked reality.

10 x 3-hour seminar sessions as scheduled on MyCampus

THEATRE4093

THEATRE4092

none

The standard assessments for this course are:

■ Essay 2,500 words - 60%

■ Group presentation OR Performance (20 minutes) - 40%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:

■ There is no alternative to the essay, but a flexible deadline can be offered as reasonable adjustment (students should follow the usual process for extensions).

■ Recorded individual presentation as alternative to group presentation.

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.

This course aims to:

■ develop a critical and conceptual understanding of online, intermedial and mixed-reality practices that change the status of participants and creators in a networked society. 

■ consider conceptually and theoretically the cultural and critical significance of innovation in digital art and performance practices. 

■ introduce students to theoretical, creative and practical perspectives that enable them to find appropriate new approaches to the exploration of digital art and performance.

■ Engage students with digital art methods by encouraging hands-on experimentation and collaborative activities with appropriate tools and applications.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ recognise and critique examples of digital performance based on the development of a chosen theoretical framework.  

■ articulate an understanding of the ways in which current technological developments impact upon art and performance practices and intersect with recent approaches to performance and critical theories. 

■ identify the specific concerns of the digital art and performance within twenty first century culture.

■ present in a clear, persuasive and creative manner their ideas about the role of 'the digital' in the arts and performance practice. 

■ present this knowledge and understanding through effective group work.

■ demonstrate an ability to undertake informed critical research on digital art practices and their associations with other art forms and disciplines.