Performance Beyond the Human: Atmospheres and Posthuman Imaginaries
Research Team
Dr Sofian Audry
Dr Alice Jarry
Dr Katharina Niemeyer
Dr Louis-Claude Paquin
Danny Perreault
Collaborators:
Dr Edwige Armand
Dr Florence Millerand
Funding
FRQ-SC
Dr Sofian Audry
Dr Alice Jarry
Dr Katharina Niemeyer
Dr Louis-Claude Paquin
Danny Perreault
Collaborators:
Dr Edwige Armand
Dr Florence Millerand
Funding
FRQ-SC
Photo: mXlab
This project explores new forms of performance that bring together human, machinic, and living non-human agents, including algorithms, robots, and microorganisms. These emerging practices involve collectives beyond the human that interact on stage, redefining notions of presence, agency, and relationality. By rethinking the roles of both human and non-human participants, the project opens new perspectives on artistic creation and the imaginaries these interactions generate.
The project occupies a unique position at the intersection of several fields. First, it is situated within the domain of expanded scenography, integrating interactive and immersive technologies into creative environments. It also engages with artificial creativity through approaches based on emergence, adaptation, and small datasets, while connecting machines with living entities such as microorganisms, plants, and active biomaterials. Drawing on critical biodesign, the project advances the development of environmentally responsible biomaterials. Finally, by constructing dynamic relationships among different types of agents to create embodied aesthetic experiences, it examines our relationship with the world and proposes new posthuman imaginaries.
The concept of atmosphere lies at the heart of this exploration, understood in both its physical and aesthetic dimensions. Physically, the atmosphere refers to the gaseous envelope surrounding a planet, where processes such as photosynthesis and the greenhouse effect occur—phenomena that are fundamental to life (the biosphere) as well as to technological development (the technosphere). Aesthetically, atmosphere becomes a metaphor for the complex relationships among human and non-human agents, providing a space for exploring shared moods, affects, and forms of perception. It takes shape through the creation of immersive collective experiences in which light, sound, and material textures produce unprecedented sensory environments.
The project occupies a unique position at the intersection of several fields. First, it is situated within the domain of expanded scenography, integrating interactive and immersive technologies into creative environments. It also engages with artificial creativity through approaches based on emergence, adaptation, and small datasets, while connecting machines with living entities such as microorganisms, plants, and active biomaterials. Drawing on critical biodesign, the project advances the development of environmentally responsible biomaterials. Finally, by constructing dynamic relationships among different types of agents to create embodied aesthetic experiences, it examines our relationship with the world and proposes new posthuman imaginaries.
The concept of atmosphere lies at the heart of this exploration, understood in both its physical and aesthetic dimensions. Physically, the atmosphere refers to the gaseous envelope surrounding a planet, where processes such as photosynthesis and the greenhouse effect occur—phenomena that are fundamental to life (the biosphere) as well as to technological development (the technosphere). Aesthetically, atmosphere becomes a metaphor for the complex relationships among human and non-human agents, providing a space for exploring shared moods, affects, and forms of perception. It takes shape through the creation of immersive collective experiences in which light, sound, and material textures produce unprecedented sensory environments.
The project adopts an iterative and cyclical methodology that innovatively incorporates non-human agents into the analysis of creative processes. By combining agile methodologies with design thinking, it brings together reflective and ethnographic perspectives to investigate the interactions among artists, audiences, and non-human entities.
The project's expected outcomes include an eco-sensitive immersive performance in which humans, machines, and living organisms participate within an environment integrating volumetric light, bioacoustic sound, and cosmic data. The work proposes a sensitive alternative to dominant narratives surrounding artificial intelligence and astrobiology by imagining forms of interspecies coexistence grounded in listening, reciprocity, and co-creation. The project also seeks to develop innovative creative tools, including software, robotic systems, and technologies for interacting with living organisms, in order to support adaptive artistic collaborations unfolding in real time.
Ultimately, the project seeks to expand the boundaries of performance by proposing new modes of artistic creation that include and connect human and non-human agents. By mobilizing the concept of atmosphere as both a catalyst and a dynamic medium, it reimagines our relationships with other forms of agency and with the environments we inhabit. Through the integration of artistic, theoretical, and methodological perspectives, the project promises to open new pathways for research-creation and for the exploration of possible futures.
The project's expected outcomes include an eco-sensitive immersive performance in which humans, machines, and living organisms participate within an environment integrating volumetric light, bioacoustic sound, and cosmic data. The work proposes a sensitive alternative to dominant narratives surrounding artificial intelligence and astrobiology by imagining forms of interspecies coexistence grounded in listening, reciprocity, and co-creation. The project also seeks to develop innovative creative tools, including software, robotic systems, and technologies for interacting with living organisms, in order to support adaptive artistic collaborations unfolding in real time.
Ultimately, the project seeks to expand the boundaries of performance by proposing new modes of artistic creation that include and connect human and non-human agents. By mobilizing the concept of atmosphere as both a catalyst and a dynamic medium, it reimagines our relationships with other forms of agency and with the environments we inhabit. Through the integration of artistic, theoretical, and methodological perspectives, the project promises to open new pathways for research-creation and for the exploration of possible futures.
