Intangible Body

“Intangible Body” is an experiment in motion capture of dance choreography and fabric. The project will result in a short video that is created via motion capture composited with video footage of a dance performance by a veiled dancer. This is the first in a larger project on embodied gesture and movement for virtual environments.

This project offers an opportunity to connect research on movement for virtual environments with practices of gesture, media, and gender in the Muslim world. Working with a dancer who performs under an abbreviated name in order to avoid state surveillance, the project draws parallels between sousveillance and the anonymity produced via the motion capture process and between veiling as a gendered and policed activity and “veiling” as a technocultural practice of character animation.

Project Contact: Emelie Mahdavian

Project Collaborators: Michael Neff, Kriss Ravetto