臺灣博碩士論文加值系統

The relationship between the body and the screen is the overarching idea for Palmer Mathews’ MFA thesis concert. Through dance choreography and video design, he explored the concept of digitalizing the human body in the context of social media, specifically looking at its effects on how people build relationships. In the process of developing this piece, the creator and the performers reflected upon their relation to technology and social media, and experimented with how to portray these relationships creatively through dance performance.

Palmer Mathews developed the work Playground by investigating the fundamental human desire to love and to be loved. He was interested in how social media has impacted the way people build and maintain intimate relationships. This piece focuses on the influence of dating apps, and the emotional, psychological, and physical consequences they have on their users. Palmer Mathews believes these apps epitomize the extremes of social media, and mark a fundamental shift in the way people build relationships with one another.

Chapter 1 introduces the context in which the work was developed, including the creative motivation, movement concept, and academic context. Chapter 2 explains the methodology behind the creative process, discussing the movement creation and development. Chapter 3 analyzes the creative structures and gives interpretations of significant moments in the choreography, specifically focusing on the relationship between the body and the screen. Chapter 4 discusses how all other creative elements in the work were synthesized to create the overall effect, including video, lighting, sound, and costume design.

Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Creative Motivation 3
Movement Concept 8
Academic Context 10
Scholarly Research 10
Choreographic Context 14
Chapter 2: Methodology 19
Emotional Expression 19
Group Choreography 21
Solo Choreography 25
Chapter 3: Choreographic Analysis 27
Video Projection 27
Text 32
Immediacy 38
Chapter 4: Artistic Collaboration 44
Video Projection 44
Music Design 47
Light Design 48
Costume Design 53
Artistic Creation as a Reflective Practice 55
Works Cited 58

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Bodensteiner, Kirsten. Photograph. The Kennedy Center, 3 Oct. 2019.

Gardner, H., & Davis, K. (2013). Apps and Intimate Relationships. In The App Generation: How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Goldman, Danielle. “Ghostcatching: An Intersection of Technology, Labor, and Race.” Dance Research Journal, Vol. 35, no. 2, 2003, pp. 68-87. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/30045070.

“How Americans Get Their News.” Americanpressinstitute.org, 17 Mar. 2014, https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/how-americans-get-news/

Huan, Zhang. To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain. 1995. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/291990.

Iqbal, Mansoor. “Tinder Revenue and Usage Statistics.” Businessofapps.com, 4 May. 2022, https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tinder-statistics/.

Jacobs, Ellen. “When Merce Cunningham Took On a New Collaborator: The Computer.” The New York Times. 1 Sept. 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/arts/dance/merce-cunningham-computer-LifeForms.html.

Miller, D., et al. (2016). Does social media make people happier? In How the World Changed Social Media. London: UCL Press.

“My Body of Art - Zhang Huan on Mountain.” Phaidon.com, https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2015/october/15/my-body-of-art-zhang-huan-on-mountain/

Stier, Michael. Photograph. The New York Times, 1 Sept, 2020

Valkenburg, P. & Piotrowski, J. (2017). Social Media. In Plugged In: How Media Attract and Affect Youth. New Haven: Yale University Press.