Genesis: Genetic Research & Digital Visualization in the Performing Arts Newsletter II |
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'Genesis' is a research project aiming to emloy digital tools in order to increase the accessibility of high quality performing arts content and of the process of its production, with the ultimate aim to advance research and documentation. The project studies and records all the stages of the creative process, from initial conception to stage completion. The research is based on two case studies: the rich and complex work of two internationally acclaimed stage directors, Romeo Castellucci and Dimitris Papaioannou. |
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In the past four months the 'Genesis' project has conducted exhaustive archival research and studied the primary creative material (drafts and successive editions of the dramatic work, directors’ notebooks on staging and choreography, audiovisual material etc.) in conjunction with other factors (reception, critical-aesthetic evaluation, revision or re-enactment of artistic work). Read below about the outcomes of our work! |
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Romeo Castellucci, Genesi. From the museum of sleep: Creative material (1999) |
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Dimitris Papaioannou, Transverse Orientation: Creative material (2020) |
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The full documentation of the primary creative material is the first necessary step in our quest to gain access to the creative process. Analyzing this material contributes towards understanding of the stage language and the idiosyncratic poetics of the acclaimed stage directors, Romeo Castellucci and Dimitris Papaioannou. Through consecutive field trips to the premises of the archive of Romeo Castellucci and Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, we have managed to lay the foundations of genetic analysis, a new, groundbreaking field of research in performing arts studies. The first gift of the new year was the opportunity to visit the archive of Dimitris Papaioannou and to start working on its valuable contents! |
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'Genesis' focusing on Genesi Romeo Castellucci’s Genesi. From the Museum of Sleep is considered one of the most significant performances of the 20th century. Having as its ultimate theme the creation and the end of the world and encompassing both theological references and contemporary historical events, this performance stresses the fundamental contradiction of the human condition: on the one hand generation and creation, and on the other genocide and destruction. The 'Genesis' project focuses especially on the gradual emergence of this masterpiece. |
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Editing the manuscripts Our team is currently in the process of editing Romeo Castellucci’s notebook and scattered note pages from the emblematic Genesi. From the Museum of Sleep. Romeo's notebooks are deeply personal, full of sketches and handwritten notes, and the use of software (e.g. OCR) to automatically convert the manuscript into text is often impossible! |
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Transverse Orientation: rehearsing, recording and testing |
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During rehearsals, Dimitris Papaioannou tests his ideas, reveals his intentions, and enters into creative osmosis with other artists (such as the sculptor Nectarios Dionysatos) and performers of his team as well as with the production collaborators. |
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At the present stage, we are studying the notes and the performing material from the rehearsals of Dimitris Papaioannou’s new production Transverse Orientation. The duration of the recorded material is more than 1000 hours! |
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Dimitris Papaioannou’s Archive: Documentation, Digitization, Innovative Research and Promotion |
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We are extremely happy to be able to share with you our new project, “Dimitris Papaioannou’s Archive: Documentation, Digitization, Innovative Research and Promotion”, operating under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and hosted by the University of the Peloponnese. |
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The aim of this new project is to document contemporary cultural heritage through processing, documenting, digitizing, and displaying the archive and artistic work of Dimitris Papaioannou. |
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The 'Genesis' project is led by Assistant Professor Eleni Papalexiou, who has put together a team of accomplished and experienced researchers from Greece and abroad, with collaborating institutional partners the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Antwerp, and the University of Rennes 2. |
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