workshops
Troika Ranch offers a wide-array of workshop experiences. Some are designed as residency activities linked to our performances, others as standalone events that allow us to share our broad experience as creators of interactive performance. If you are interested in bringing us to your institition to teach a workshop, please contact us.
LIVE-I WORKSHOP 2013: THE MACHINE IS NOT SPECIAL
July 15-19, 2013 - Portland Oregon
DESCRIPTION
In days of old, a computer was an object of awe that had to be handled with great care lest it fail. Today, the computer is just a variation on a wrench or Swiss Army Knife: it’s a household tool used to fix something, to make something, to bash something, to locate something, to tighten something. It is a means to an end that can be wielded wildly.
That’s why this year’s workshop is expressly designed for physical performers – anyone whose primary expressive means is through the action of the body. Our idea is to use computer technology and algorithmic thinking to inspire new ways of devising and organizing movement, a network of digital constraints within which we want you to become a whirling dervish.
To that end, each morning begins with a two-hour movement exercise designed to closely mimic – in physical terms – the technological process that will be explored later that same day. In the afternoon, you’ll learn how make a technological implementation of that physical process in the software Isadora®. Everyone will end up with a very similar structural framework – a tiny “engine” of interaction.
Then, both individually and as a group, we will rigorously explore several questions: how does this technological system inform, dictate, change my movement choices? What conflicts do I feel between my body’s desire and the imposition of the system? Can I, or should I, subvert it?
Each day we will inject these interaction-engines with “fresh fuel”: new visual and aural material, altered action, rigorous rearranging, tender touches, and dramatic destruction.
By the end of the workshop you will have discovered the computer as a tool of intervention in your movement process, will have gained a bit of technical know-how, and – most importantly – will leave with a greater understanding of how digital systems can lead you to surprising compositional outcomes.
When: July 15 – 19, 2013, 10:00AM – 4:00PM Monday through Friday
Where: Studio 2, 810 SE Belmont Street, Portland, OR 97214
Fee: $750 (Includes a one-year license for Isadora)
- Applications due by May 3, 2013
- Selections will be made by May 17, 2013
- Non-refundable deposit of $250 received by May 31, 2013.
NOTE: Troika Ranch requires a minimum of 6 confirmed participants in order to hold the workshop. If less then 6 deposits are received by May 31, 2013, the workshop may be cancelled. Cancellation would be announced by June 3, 2013.
(For information on Portland housing, transportation and more, click here.)
APPLICATION PROCESS
Include one paragraph explaining why you are interested in attending the workshop and one paragraph describing the kind of work that you make. Briefly tell us about your level of expertise with computers. Please include your name, address, telephone number and email address.
Applicants must have a basic understanding of using a computer, i.e., opening and saving files, copying and pasting information, basic navigational skills, etc. Applicants must also have gone through the Isadora Tutorials 1-6 before the workshop begins.
Send applications to info [at] troikaranch [dot] org
A Note About the Selection Process: Please know that, beyond your application information, an important factor in choosing the participants is how the group fits together as a whole. When the skills of those participating vary too widely, it means that someone ends up either bored or overwhelmed. So please understand that if you are not chosen it is not a reflection on your abilities or your skills as an artist.
REQUIRED EQUIPMENT
Computers: We require that you bring your own Mac or PC laptop.
Macintosh Requirements: Intel based computer with a bus speed of 2.0 Ghz and 2.0 GB of RAM; Mac OS X 10.4.0 or greater; latest version of Apple's QuickTime. (G4/G5 computers will work, but they do not perform nearly as well as the Intel machines.)
Windows Requirements: Intel based computer with a bus speed of 1.8 Ghz and 2.0 GB of RAM; Windows 7, Vista or XP; latest version of Apple's QuickTime.
Video Camera: Some means of capturing live video is required.
- The best option is a Digital Video Camera: Video (DV) camera with a FireWire output. (Make sure you have the required cable to connect it to your computer.)
- A second option is to purchase a composite video-to-USB adapter like the Daystar Technology XLR8 Interview (Mac) or the Pinnacle Dazzle DVC-100 (Windows).
- A third option is to use a web cam, either an external USB model or the one that is built-in to your laptop; this latter option offers the least flexibility however.
Microphone: For those whose computers do not have an integrated internal microphone, an external microphone compatible with the microphone input of your computer is also recommended.
OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT
Sensory Systems: Users may also bring MIDI input devices or other sensory systems if they have prior skill in connecting and using those systems with their computer. Isadora can receive input from MIDI and Serial devices as well as software that supports the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol.
PAY ONLINE (ONLY FOR THOSE ACCEPTED!)
Click the button to pay for your Live-I Workshop online.