Abstract
In this thesis I propose a Dramaturgy of Metaplasticity. Metaplasticity is the dynamic and relational system consisting of body, mind and environment, an extended idea of neuroplasticity which suggests that change can be achieved in the body through the manipulation of the environment. This is enacted by drawing attention to the embodied self’s co-creative dynamic with its immediate environment.In both the written thesis and accompanying artistic portfolio, I explore different approaches to creating immersive audio environments. The audio portfolio documents the case-study of Worldbuilders, a project created for people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Worldbuilders aims to provide participants with an artistic and transportative way to engage with their changing bodies, as well as tools to address potential PD related mobility issues. It offers an enriched audio environment, accentuating rhythm and motor imagery for the audience participant to practice activities that potentially stimulate neurological motor pathways damaged by PD.
Through a process of collaboration with the Parkinson’s disease affected body, and by using embodied cognition and enactive theory as active agents, the thesis offers practical insights in how to curate an artistic audio space that works with the body’s own enactive sense-making systems.
In this research I propose a co-created imagined space within which participants engage as themselves rather than through embodying a character. Their subjectively felt sense of self is maintained through using 2nd point of view narrative address (i.e. “you”) combined with a sustained 1st person perspective of unfolding sensorimotor, interoceptive and environment imagery. Layering spatialised sound, voice instructions, story elements, rhythms, and other sensorimotor cues, the portfolio audio pieces experiment with ways of supporting the audience participants in feeling ownership of the imagery.
Dramaturgy of Metaplasticity highlights the use of action constitutive elements, the impact of story on positionality, the potency of interoceptive sound design on perspective. The artistic portfolio also offers a set of dramaturgical tools to guide creators in working with the body’s multiple interdependent sense-making systems. Through the portfolio tools and written thesis, this project offers a starting point in exploring a Dramaturgy of Metaplasticity, suggesting that facilitating a sense of ownership of imagery is a crucial component of future metaplastic dramaturgical approaches.
Portfolio:
Audio Stories: The Phone Call (25 min), Forest Walk (15 min), The Cave (35 min)
Walk With Me App. Audios x 7 (2-3 min)
Practice Audios x 4 (6-12 min)
Additional Data:
Video: Project overview (2 min)
Website: content
| Date of Award | Dec 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Sponsors | Northern Ireland Department for Communities & Future Screens NI |
| Supervisor | Paul Stapleton (Supervisor) & Jimmy McAleavey (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- dramaturgy
- spatial & immersive audio
- Parkinson's disease
- motor and mental imagery
- embodied cognition
- enaction
- story structure
- metaplasticity
- practice research
- body & imagery ownership
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