— introduction —
In this thesis I would like to reflect about the possibilities of using digital media – multimedia – to transmit sensory experiences originating in a physical space to other spaces, different from the original and whose distance can vary from a few meters to thousands of kilometres. I would like to thread these thoughts together starting from a personal experience and extrapolating this specific episode to artistic works of the 21st century that might help me in the production of a new piece.
In this study of space and communication -always having in mind that is coming from an artistic perspective- I will borrow some concepts from philosophical literature to define what space is: particularly based on Kant’s thesis about space as an “a priori” concept (Kant, I., 1787 Critique of Pure Reason) that has to be experienced in a sensorial way in order to approach its (as far as possible for human feeling) comprehension.
From becoming in the sensorial aspect of space, I would like to complement this reflection with the concept of “lugarización”, which I obtain from the identity studies of the Spanish geographer Francisco González Cruz, where he defines it as “a process that a place undergoes to maintain its identity…” (González Cruz, F. 2004 Lugarización, Globalización y Gestión Local) and whose development is not antagonistic to the process of globalisation but rather they operate in a dialectic way in the definition of identity.
Here I will also take some concepts offered by the French philosopher Peter Szendy from his book “Of stigmatology. Punctuation as Experience” (Szendy, P. 2013), which can provide some tools to put into practice this definition of identity of a place through artistic experience: asking ourselves what are those constitutive elements of a space that can be presented as points or allow the “punctuation” of the place.
I will also address the problem of communication in these artistic spaces by taking some examples of works whose genesis lies in this phenomenon, which can be broadly categorised into three: those whose communication is part of a script-score (between performers); those whose communication is between the audience and performers; and those whose communication is between improvisers.
Towards the end of the study, the role that technologies can play as mediators of the artistic discourse that aims to link physical spaces will also be problematised. Without going too deep in the reflection of the philosopher Marshall McLuhan about the medium and the message (McLuhan, M. 1967 The Medium is the Massage), the basic question will be whether the technology-medium can play a passive role in the result of any communicative act.
Moreover in the understanding of technology as a channel-medium which will always present several filters: both from its material limitations as well as its political and ideological limitations.
With all this in mind, this work should provide more than a very specific answer or a very determined way to proceed in the realisation of artistic works that take place simultaneously in different physical spaces, questions and concerns about the reason and the meaning of communicating distances in our artistic practice.
The question about spaces -and understanding the temporal dimension as a constitutive part of spaces thanks to physical and philosophical studies of the 20th century- allows me to conclude this essay with a sort of “epilogue”, where I explain why I avoided talking about the temporal phenomenon in the punctuation of space and proposing alternatives for the use of digital media in artistic works from a political perspective, as the phenomenon of spaces can be approached by understanding, studying and respecting the human dimension that inhabits or has inhabited them.