eVokability: The Walking Project

Project director: Sarah Drury
Performers: Shelley Barry, Lezlie Frye, and Cathy Weis
Interactive programmer: Seth Erickson
Hardware design: Charlie Hoey
Catalogue editor: Carol Marfisi

How do different movers with different bodies work with the idea of “walking”? Performers use wearable devices and interactive media to approach this basic emblem of human autonomy.

 

Transit
by Shelley Barry

 

From Mobility to Movement
by Lezlie Frye

 

Standing Noise
by Cathy Weis

 

Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Co-Sponsored by the Temple Institute on Disabilities.

eVokability: The Walking Project is a performance piece that explores ideas and images surrounding the notion of “walking,” vis å vis the body with disabilities. Performers wear Costumes embedded with sensors that track the shape and force of physical gesture, using these dynamics to generate live media projections that amplify their movement. We have been working with each performer to technically “tailor,” her sensor-based Costume to her body and her movement. Each Costume functions as a media "instrument" that the performer plays: a virtual extension of the body, a narrative prop. Carol Marfisi, disability studies scholar and staff member at the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, participated in the collaborative development of the eVokability Costume in 2004-2005. For The Walking Project, the current cast of performers continues this process, developing a series of solo pieces that comprise a full-length show.

The development of the eVokability Interactive Costume Prototype was made possible by generous support from the Temple University Junior Faculty Research Initiative and the sponsorship of the Temple Institute on Disabilities. The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University is one of the 67 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Through training, technical assistance, services and supports, research, dissemination, and advocacy, the Institute is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities in their pursuit of interdependence, contribution, and inclusion.