I Want to Touch You: Transreal Aesthetics in Virus.Circus
Symposium:
- ISEA2011: 17th International Symposium on Electronic Art
- More presentations from ISEA2011:
Session Title:
- Queer Viralities: Resistant Practices in New Media Art & Philosophy
Presentation Title:
- I Want to Touch You: Transreal Aesthetics in Virus.Circus
Presenter(s):
Venue(s):
Abstract:
Panel: Queer Viralities: Resistant Practices in New Media Art & Philosophy
Due to recent viral outbreaks, protective latex barriers must be worn at all times.
Skin to skin contact may result in viral contamination.
Failure to comply will result in a minimum of 10 years in a federal penitentiary.
Touching, and illness, are prohibited by law.
The virus must be contained.virus.circus follows the viral as a transversal line of inquiry that intersects with the militarization of medical authority, microscopic transnational migrations and global economic inequality. Consisting of an episodic series of performances using wearable electronics, soft sensors and live audio to bridge virtual and physical spaces, the performances explore queer futures of latex sexuality and DIY medicine amidst a speculative world of virus hysteria. The history of queer politics shows that the rhetoric of viruses such as HIV are used to control marginalized populations, while viruses such as H1N1 reproduce these structures of power. virus.circus asks how erotic affect can be a form of resistance to western medicine. Across episodes including virus.circus.touch, virus.circus.breath and virus.circus.probe, Mehrmand and Cárdenas have developed open source hardware and software to facilitate new forms of erotic expression.
New possibilities of embodied knowledge unfold through the sonification and visualization of biometric data including heart rate and R-R intervals, as well as data from an ultrasonic rangefinder bra, a pressure sensing choking collar, touch sensitive dress and a motion sensitive glove that controls a strap-on vibrator. Wearable electronic garments allow the performers to experiment with transreal embodiment, extending their physical bodies sonically and virtually. virus.?circus attempts to immerse the audience/participants in an alternate reality by creating a slippage of perception. Code switching between mixed and alternate reality, virus.?circus asks how we can use reality as a medium, resonating across a number of modes including public space interventions, performances in museums and galleries, and networked performances.