kaleidoscopic instincts

Dancers windmill their arms in front of a video loop with a soft purple wash across the screen

Summary

Katie O’Loughlin developed work in the Motion Lab at ACCAD during the three years she studied for her MFA in Dance. She specialized in interdisciplinary making while connecting dance choreography and technology to make intermedia performances. k : instincts emerged from the many classes, creative projects, and research threads that Katie engaged with, including Interdisciplinary Seminar, Dance Film I and II, Devising Experiential Making Systems, and Choreography Workshop, all of which offered opportunities to collaborate with other artists, technologies, and interdisciplinary ideologies. k : instincts was performed by seven dancers in the Motion Lab in February 2023, as completion of her MFA project. Katie held the Graduate Research Associate position in the Motion Lab for two calendar years, assisting in classes, rehearsals, productions, and documentation.

“My primary goal in creating k : instincts was to work with both technology and dance in the entirety of the process, negotiating the hierarchies of technology in the performative setting and noticing how technology influences the creative process, and thus the performative outcome. The process of k : instincts was a powerful learning journey in my artistic practices as it gave me access to new technologies and to communities of artists who intersected with the work in both small and large ways. This work supported my interest in the role and influence of technology in the performative outcome, and it drew forth some of the hierarchies that show up in the relationship between performance and production. This process also launched an interest in audience interaction and participation that I hope to explore in more depth in my future work. Lastly, k : instincts reminded me that I am committed to a humane rehearsal process that creates a safe, curious, playful, and inclusive space for all beings involved.”

Project Description

A hand hold a frame that distorts and flips the image of the dancer inside of it who it swirling their arms

kaleidoscopic instincts is an intermedia dance performance exploring ever changing perceptions of reality through embodied experiences in technological landscapes. in this performance, technology will be a non-hierarchical entity through the live adjustment of lighting, sound, and projections instead of as a stagnant cue, as a method to integrate production elements as a live performer and not a mysterious, behind-the-scenes force. the performers navigate their relationship to the cameras, to their digital selves, and to each other while the audience is asked to shift their attention, blur their focus, and reposition their body in context to their surroundings.

Two women, one sitting and one standing, pause in stillness as choatic light blur swirl around them

we consider how we see, how we are seen and how we represent others being seen. we consider agency in how we are seen. we consider what we find to be real and fake within ourselves; within those around us. we consider the possibility of infinite perspective, of multiple truths, of complex and multifaceted existence. this new work is holding space for the human body to hold multiple perspectives at once; to find its groundedness in the infinite; to exist in continual change.