While many factors influence an arts scene, performance space shapes the scene in many discernible ways. Performance space is an integral part of the arts scene. Every artist, musician, actor and dancer must perform in order to participate in the arts scene. The spaces of these performances are often overlooked when considering how the arts scene functions or how to best support the arts in a community. Through interviews with owners and managers of performance spaces in Asheville, I determined how performance space shapes the local arts scene. I defined the arts scene as the quantity, variety and quality of art being displayed or performed publicly and the diversity and size of the artist and audience base. Based on this definition, I discuss aspects of performance space that influences the quantity, variety and quality of art and artists in Asheville, and the size and diversity of the audience base. I found that performance space was connected to the arts scene in many interesting ways. The availability of space influenced the number of performances and displays. A variety of space led to a variety of art forms, likewise, high quality space allowed high quality art to be performed. Each space impacts a part of the arts scene, and all together performance spaces shape the entire scene.

While many factors influence an arts scene, performance space shapes the scene in many discernible ways. Performance space is an integral part of the arts scene. Every artist, musician, actor and dancer must perform in order to participate in the arts scene. The spaces of these performances are often overlooked when considering how the arts scene functions or how to best support the arts in a community. Through interviews with owners and managers of performance spaces in Asheville, I determined how performance space shapes the local arts scene. I defined the arts scene as the quantity, variety and quality of art being displayed or performed publicly and the diversity and size of the artist and audience base. Based on this definition, I discuss aspects of performance space that influences the quantity, variety and quality of art and artists in Asheville, and the size and diversity of the audience base. I found that performance space was connected to the arts scene in many interesting ways. The availability of space influenced the number of performances and displays. A variety of space led to a variety of art forms, likewise, high quality space allowed high quality art to be performed. Each space impacts a part of the arts scene, and all together performance spaces shape the entire scene.

While large performance spaces fulfill important cultural, civic, architectural and artistic needs, few performing artists begin their careers playing in large halls. As in professional sports, the “minor leagues” play a critical role for professional performing artists by allowing them to both reach out to new audiences and hone their performance skills. Niche and emerging performing artists, therefore, rely on small performance spaces as their principal means exercising their craft. In addition to size, one important difference between large and small performance spaces is the criticality of the social experience. Small performance spaces are often informal, with entertainment being secondary to social functions - as in the case of the neighborhood coffee house, bar or restaurant that offers periodic performances in addition to their standard fare. The hybridization of social and performance functions offers a “ready-made” audience for niche and emerging performing artists, engendering the new and random audience-performer connections that are so critical to nurturing performing artists and the performing arts in general. The disparate social and attentive programmatic functions of these hybrid spaces offer a challenge to architects and designers. Providing a hybrid social/performance space that is optimized for niche and emerging performing artists is the central design problem that this thesis seeks to address.

This study is an inquiry into the architectural aspects of stage space, which is believed to be the materialization of visual relationships, with the claim that it is also the best illustration of the proposition that architectural discourse is affected by the changes in visual culture. The study is based on the assumption that changes in the conceptualization of architectural space have also been influenced from the shifts in the field of vision, which are the consequences of the changes in the social, political and economical circumstances as well as the developments in science and technology. Within the acknowledgement of three major shifts in the field of vision that have been identified by Jonathan Crary, the study focuses on a reading and assessment of twentieth century developments that differ from the traditional conception of space and ways of spatial representation. Being a key to reconsider architectural space production, the outcomes of these developments are read through the construction of stage and performance spaces. Stage space possesses knowledge about the making of architecture. This study is an attempt to demonstrate how stage space is in relation to or anticipates changes in conception of architecture. Because of its instant nature and flexibility, stage space can be seen as a tool for making experiments for possible changes in the conception of architectural space.

This dissertation thesis describes the phenomenon of audiovisual performance in different connotations. A substantial part is devoted to psychological survey into my own subconscious and subsequently to metaphorical processing of this introspection. An important part of the work is a resume of the general knowledge of the physical properties and its metaphorical application on mental and creative processes. This analysis and explanation of internal cognitive models are implemented in terms of the study of relationships, interactions based on cooperation or confrontation, but also the inability to grasp the objective reality from the subjective position due to the merged distinctions of real and fictional. The importance of audiovisual performance is also studied in linear perspective of history, in order to point out the general principle of repetition patterns, which reveals that audiovisual performances is an activity which is a necessary expression of life itself and not just the concept in the field of arts.

R. Murray Schafer (b. 1933, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada) is a seminal voice in Canadian music, due not only to the often controversial, but widespread international reception of his extensive spectrum of works, but also, due to his distinct approach to composition. Schafer’s Patria cycle (1966- ) employs unorthodox performance locales and contexts, a confluence of art forms and sensory experiences, and demands active audience participation, defining Patria as one of the most ambitious stage works. In this dissertation I explore two essential frameworks that are seminal in the discussion of Patria; firstly Schafer’s compositional processes, broadly defined, that come into play in Patria, and secondly, the performative and theatrical aspects in Patria. Through four ethnographic case studies, I suggest that the use of alternative performance spaces, participatory performance, and ritual performance foster an artistic and social environment that has the potential, if participants choose to fully engage in the experience, to alter participants’ perception of the importance of the environment, community, spirituality, and artistic and sensorial experience in contemporary society. In Chapter 1 I provide a discussion of Schafer’s concepts of soundscape and the theatre of confluence and how they are applied in Patria, and outline my research methodology, including my fieldwork experiences from working onsite during Patria productions from 2003 through 2007. In Chapter 2 I examine and contextualize four aspects of performance that reoccur throughout Patria and are specifically detailed in my four case studies: alternative performance space, participatory experience, and ritual performance. My four case studies, Chapter 3 The Princes of the Stars, Chapter 4 Asterion, Chapter 5 The Enchanted Forest, and Chapter 6 And Wolf Shall Inherit the Moon, argue that my participatory approach to Patria comprehensively illustrates how site, work, environment, and community interact, forming a distinctive performance experience.

R. Murray Schafer (b. 1933, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada) is a seminal voice in Canadian music, due not only to the often controversial, but widespread international reception of his extensive spectrum of works, but also, due to his distinct approach to composition. Schafer’s Patria cycle (1966- ) employs unorthodox performance locales and contexts, a confluence of art forms and sensory experiences, and demands active audience participation, defining Patria as one of the most ambitious stage works. In this dissertation I explore two essential frameworks that are seminal in the discussion of Patria; firstly Schafer’s compositional processes, broadly defined, that come into play in Patria, and secondly, the performative and theatrical aspects in Patria. Through four ethnographic case studies, I suggest that the use of alternative performance spaces, participatory performance, and ritual performance foster an artistic and social environment that has the potential, if participants choose to fully engage in the experience, to alter participants’ perception of the importance of the environment, community, spirituality, and artistic and sensorial experience in contemporary society. In Chapter 1 I provide a discussion of Schafer’s concepts of soundscape and the theatre of confluence and how they are applied in Patria, and outline my research methodology, including my fieldwork experiences from working onsite during Patria productions from 2003 through 2007. In Chapter 2 I examine and contextualize four aspects of performance that reoccur throughout Patria and are specifically detailed in my four case studies: alternative performance space, participatory experience, and ritual performance. My four case studies, Chapter 3 The Princes of the Stars, Chapter 4 Asterion, Chapter 5 The Enchanted Forest, and Chapter 6 And Wolf Shall Inherit the Moon, argue that my participatory approach to Patria comprehensively illustrates how site, work, environment, and community interact, forming a distinctive performance experience.

Sometimes, the place where a play is performed is as important as or more important than the play itself. The first known theatrical rituals were performed in spaces which came to hold deep religious significance. Many religious traditions regard certain places as sacred because of spiritually significant events which took place there, sometimes involving the presence of Deity. In an effort to build on that sacrality, sometimes religious cultures bring theatre to these spaces, which, in turn, tend to alter the nature of the theatrical event. This seems especially true in regards to theatre which presents a re-enactment of the events which originally sacralized the performance space. Creating a theatrical performance at the same space, and recreating the same event which made the space sacred in the first place, gives the theatrical event a reflexive quality which performances in a space designated for theatre do not have. The Passion of Osiris in Ancient Egypt and the celebrations and commemorations of the early Christian Church are two examples of theatrical reenactments of sacred events in sacred spaces. Although such performances have been uncommon since those of the early Christians, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers two comparable performances today (the Hill Cumorah Pageant and the Nauvoo Pageant); they are also reenactments of sacred events framed by the sacred spaces where they originally occurred. The main commonality of my focus is the sacred physical space which frames each of the performances as a sort of ethereal proscenium arch or a silent witness of sacred events.

This thesis is an investigation of the complex processes and relationships between the physical human performer and the technologically manufactured cyber-human counterpart. I acted as both researcher and the physical human performer, deeply engaged in the moment-to-moment creation of events unfolding within a shared virtual reality environment. As the primary instigator and activator of the cyber-human partner, I maintained a balance between the live and technological performance elements, prioritizing the production of content and meaning. By way of using practice as research, this thesis argues that in considering interactions between cyber-human and human performers, it is crucial to move beyond discussions of technology when considering interactions between cyber-humans and human performers to an analysis of emotional content, the powers of poetic imagery, the trust that is developed through sensory perception and the evocation of complex relationships. A theoretical model is constructed to describe the relationship between a cyber-human and a human performer in the five works created specifically for this thesis, which is not substantially different from that between human performers. Technological exploration allows for the observation and analysis of various relationships, furthering an expanded understanding of ‘movement as content’ beyond the electronic connection. Each of the works created for this research used new and innovative technologies, including virtual reality, multiple interactive systems, six generations of wearable computers, motion capture technology, high-end digital lighting projectors, various projection screens, smart electronically charged fabrics, multiple sensory sensitive devices and intelligent sensory charged alternative performance spaces. They were most often collaboratively created in order to augment all aspects of the performance and create the sense of community found in digital live dance performances/events. These works are identified as one continuous line of energy and discovery, each representing a slight variation on the premise that a working, caring, visceral and poetic content occurs beyond the technological tools. Consequently, a shift in the physical human’s psyche overwhelms the act of performance. Scholarship and reflection on the works have been integral to my creative process throughout. The goals of this thesis, the works created and the resulting methodologies are to investigate performance to heighten the multiple ways we experience and interact with the world. This maximizes connection and results in a highly interactive, improvisational, dynamic, non-linear, immediate, accessible, agential, reciprocal, emotional, visceral and transformative experience without boundaries between the virtual and physical for physical humans, cyborgs and cyber-humans alike.