The Cell Phone Camera and Performance
This is an edited version of an entry that was originally posted on the Digital Bridges to Dance website in 2018.
Last week, I attended an outdoor concert for one of my favorite bands, where it was the first time I had ever seen them live. Throughout the concert, I had an internal conflict about whether or not I should focus on staying present “in the moment” or pull out my cell phone and start taking pictures and video recording so that I could save memories of the event, like many of my fellow concertgoers were doing. For me, the documentation of live performances with my cell phone camera has become an integrated part of experiencing the performance itself. The need to capture what was happening live with my phone was a part of being there in the moment. I was left with questions post-show: How do I take in and capture a moment if not through a camera? How can enjoying a live performance become an embodied experience for me?
Naomi and I have been exploring different ways to record movement over the last few weeks and the most common tools that we use to document our dancing are the cameras on our phones. Through pictures and videos, we can record what we look like and the noises we make. The space between what we actually perform in our dances and what we play back on the screens of our phones is an intersection between liveness and mediatization. In his book, Liveness, Philip Auslander argues that these intersections started as early as the sending of the first telegram message and have continued through the advent of television. Live events and their media based representations are not complete opposites, but often interconnect in performances like the jumbotrons at sporting events. Cell phone cameras are tools that can mimic the video and audio effects of our live dancing.
However, by only depending on pictures in videos, a lot of sensory information that is gathered during interactions with our environments is lost. A video does not tell you what the temperature was like outside or which way the wind was blowing in relation to us. Pictures can not capture the itchiness of the grass we step in or the humidity surrounding performers and spectators. While cell phone cameras are commonly used recording devices, they are far from perfect when it comes to accurately capturing a moment.
When documenting liveness, what are the alternatives to cell phone cameras, and do they involve more or less technology? In a solution that involves more technology, a list could be created of types of data that need to be recorded and reproduced to fully recreate a live event. These measures could then be recorded by different technical tools at the moments of live events. With less technology, putting the information into our bodies through embodied exercises could serve as a more accurate record.
While cell phone cameras are not perfect at capturing live performances, they are the best tools that we currently have. Throughout the summer, Naomi and I plan to continue our exploration of recording movement and encouraging environmental awareness through both technological and embodied approaches.
Works Referenced
Auslander, Philip. Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture. London: Routledge, 1999. Print.