Welcome to the website of PIX-ART (Performative Investigations into eXtended and Augmented Reality Technologies).
PIX-ART is researching the idea that extended reality (XR) technologies increasingly affect the way people act, interact and understand themselves, others and the world. PIX-ART’s primary aim is to develop a new scenographic theory appropriate to the emerging world of XR. This primary aim is driven by exploring four reserach questions:
- How can we begin to map a taxonomy of XR performances (XRPs) that will help reveal new types of agency brought to the performance arena by interactive, digital XR technologies?
- What are the new material qualities of XR, in terms of techniques and products, and how do they influence author–audience relations?
- How are existing performance studies pedagogies affected by the emergence of XR technologies, and how can educators respond to this emergence?
- How can learnings from the first three questions be integrated into a new theory of performance and scenography studies?
The focus of PIX-ART is to contribute to the development of a new practical and cultural language of XR Performance that will:
- facilitate new, innovative working processes by supplying performing arts practitioners with new modes of expression,
- furnish audiences and art-going publics with a better understanding of XR performances and help raise interest in the artform generally, and
- develop practical techniques and a robust theoretical foundation that can be integrated into educational frameworks, ensuring support at an institutional level.