Gestural Publics is a two-part project that involves the creation of a dance performance and an online motion capture (mocap) archive. The project engages with the limitations and potentials of motion capture technology by using “stock” motion (generic, pre-recorded motion capture clips available online) as choreographic material. By repurposing and transforming stock motion, the project interrogates issues of identity, agency, and conformity embedded in motion capture technology.

The performance will build from sequences of stock motions in digital software that dancers will physically interpret. These computer choreographies are exacting and unforgiving, yielding discrepancies and ‘glitches’ from the dancers through which digital gestures can be transformed. The overall choreographic trajectory of the work will demonstrate this transformation from the rigid replication of normative gestures to glitched, fluid, and queered alternatives to what the computer proposes. The resulting performance will show these transformations in an interactive, multimedia landscape, where dancers’ live motions will influence the morphing animation of digital avatars.

The development of the dance performance will provide a collection of mocap data for an archival website, which will offer a performative alternative to existing motion capture repositories. Reflective of the performance, the website will offer a range of motion—from generic clips and poses to uniquely expressive micro-choreographies. Website visitors will be able to download the motion capture data to create choreographies and character motion in 3D animation and game development software.