General Introduction: In the After-event of the Virtual

Abstract

Now that the shock of the virtual and the rise of our avatars and digital doubles has subsided towards a new normal of computational interference in all areas of life, it is an advantageous moment to reflect on the passage through the virtual and back to the real. As we live within a technologically immersed world, there is a desire and need to return to what can be perceived as real. However, we propose that this entails accepting that the virtual is part of the real, or, more correctly, that we live in the era of the ‘biovirtual’ which encompasses both together. In this book, we attempt to reflect on the aftermath of these shifts encountered in the maturing of a digital culture in areas of critical theory and artistic practices. Our primary frames of reference are: performance as cultural phenomenon; as a critical methodology; and as an aesthetic concern. The book contains practice-led research analyses of dance, theatre and live art, philosophical readings regarding the work of art and technology, and performance studies investigations of the subject in the space of technology. The subtitle of our collection, Through the Virtual, Towards the Real, indicates the historical moment we wish to explore, the ‘after-event’ of the digital, when the awareness that contemporary subjectivity is one that dwells within both the virtual and the real, each existing without dominion over the other, but are rather entwined and collaborative.