Cycle One

My main project involves creating an interactive performance where both sound and visuals dynamically respond to the performer’s moves. To achieve this, I have developed a Max patch that translates numerical data into sound, utilizing input from Mediapipe. Additionally, I have initiated the development of the visual components that will react to the performance in real-time.

For the upcoming second cycle, my efforts will be concentrated on further developing and refining both sound visual components. Concurrently, I will also focus on enhancing the auditory aspects of the project to ensure a seamless and engaging user experience.

In the third cycle, my attention will shift towards thorough troubleshooting and fine-tuning of the entire system. The goal for this phase is to address any technical challenges that emerge and enhance the overall performance quality, ensuring reliability and effectiveness during live interactions. This structured approach ensures that each aspect of the project is developed with precision and integrates flawlessly to produce a compelling interactive experience.


Cycle 1

Naiya Dawson

For my cycle 1 project I started to play with and create patches that I can have as my foundation for the rest of my cycle projects. I used the live drawing actor in isadora to create what you see in the images and videos above. Working with live drawing was very fun because there are so many ways you can manipulate the actor and add different effects to it. I first worked on how to set up the live drawing actor then I took some time and went through the different affects I could add to see what I would like. I used affects like swirl, color, kaleidoscope and more. After I found all the effects I liked I worked on taking a video of the live drawing so I could present my work with out actually having to move the mouse and create the live drawing on the spot. Taking videos of the live drawing in isadora was successful because I was able to layer some videos and see the drawings I was able to create. I used the capture stage to movie actor to create the videos and then I create a new isadora patch so that I could just have the videos in each scene. This helped me optimize my work and make it easier to present.

Thinking about the start of my cylce 2 project I want to take what I have and make it interactive. I want to start working in the motion lab to get ideas on what I can do and how this will be projected. I have also been thinking about adding music and seeing if there is a way I can have music interact with live drawing or maybe the videos of the live drawing.


Cycle 1: Depth Sensor and Choreography

Regarding the cyclical projects for the rest of the semester, my goal is to create video projection in Isadora to support my MFA thesis project which will be presented in February 2025. I am choreographing a group ensemble piece that is centered upon the idea of intercultural encounters. I currently am viewing the piece as a moving palimpsest which refers to a manuscript where text has been effaced and rubbed out to write new text. This allows for ghosts or hauntings of previous text to be seen and witnessed alongside something new. Metaphorically, this reads to me as intercultural encounters where people’s life experiences intersect, conflict, merge, and bubble.  

I have been obsessed with the idea of a moving projection that tracks slow subtle movement and wanted to try this in cycle 1. I initially had a lot of ideas for the video that I wanted to project from a top-down projector. It ranged from textural video to gestures to excerpts of my dancers moving in the space. Due to the short amount of time that we had for cycle 1, I chose to focus primarily on developing a patch in Isadora that utilized a depth sensor as a form of tracking. Regarding the video that was projected, I ended up working with a clip of plastic overhang waving in the wind. In Taiwan, these rows and rows of plastic are utilized as an outdoor car cover or for an outdoor swimming pool.  

I spent a large chunk of my time playing with video effects. I knew that I wanted to abstract the image and desired to create a sort of otherworldly feel from the projection. Other time was spent figuring out how to use a depth sensor and have the projection track a body in space. The exploration started with a simple shape tracking to eventually having the whole projection track a body. Below is a video of the different scenes that I created. 

Choreographically, I imagine that the sensor will be tracking dancers from the top (bird’s eye view), so focusing primarily on their heads as they moving in the space. I have been working on a section of choreography that draws from ideas of processions. This emerges from my memories of watching temple processions in the streets of Taiwan but take a more hybrid creature approach. The video below is an example of what this looks like at this moment in the creative process 

In our feedback session, I was glad to hear that the abstraction of the video was landing with viewers. I found it fascinating that it felt kind of microscopic to people and was still tethered to ideas and aesthetics of this world. This reframing was very helpful for me to think about the intentional hybridity that I want to play with aesthetically. I really appreciate the feedback on softening the edges of the projection and playing with how color might fade in, grow, and fade out throughout. Looking towards cycle 2, my goals include taking the depth sensor and projection into the Barnett Theatre and seeing what it actually looks like from a top-down perspective, while still continuing to adjust the video effects. In cycle 2, I think it might be helpful to share a performance of this so that I can see what the full effect truly is in space with sound, projection, and dance.