Event #1: The Works of Toni Dove

Toni Dove

On April 19th, I attended an Art|Sci DMA lecture by Toni Dove, a New York-based artist and pioneer in the field of interactive cinema. During the lecture, Dove started off by describing her work with interactive narrative since the 90s, and how she experiments with experimental theater as well as film-making. She went on to introduce some of her more noted pieces, such as 'Spectropia: A Ghost Story on the Infinite Deferral of Desire', and 'Lucid Possession'. They are all created from a feminist standpoint with hints of science fiction and unlike any other art pieces I have seen before because the performance incorporate both pre-made films as well as movement of the artist at that moment. Dove demonstrated how she manipulates the films during her performance using a computer interface. I found it particularly fascinating to see how her hand gestures are able to control the speed and presentation of the movies. This is a perfect example of how art and science can collaborate to create a new art form, one dubbed as "cyber-theater" by Dove based on its interactive nature.  A computer program is responsible for translating the artist's motions into instructions that can control the film. 

A sketch of one of her pieces

Although the work she presented are quite intriguing and unusual, I found it strange that she was unable to present a reasonable answer when asked about the purpose and motivation behind her work. To me, art is not only a way for people to express their emotion but more often, one to portray an idea and present it to the public. Throughout her lecture, Dove never addressed the reason behind creating such pieces and even when prompted, failed to explain in a way that I and several others could understand. While I acknowledge that one does not need to have a reason to create art, I am very curious about the means she used to obtain the sponsorship for the creation of these pieces when so many research projects developed for the betterment of the society are forced to shut down every year due to lack of funds.

That being said,  I highly recommend Dove's lectures and performances. It is wonderful to see how the collaboration between art and science has give birth to a myriad of art forms that would otherwise never have existed and I look forward to attending more similar lectures.

Toni Dove and I

A Showing of 'Lucid Possession'