Swimming Upstream is an original work written, directed, and designed by Ilana Marks. The script tells the story of a gay sperm on a journey through the female body. A fully produced workshop performance occurred in the Oscar Brockett Theatre as part of The University Co-op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival. The performance of an excerpt from the script incorporated live actors, puppetry, multimedia, and music, and transformed the audience members into sperm involved in the ultimate game of chance. The purpose of this work was to explore and develop a personal creative process of storytelling. This thesis documents the process that Ilana employed to create Swimming Upstream. She focuses on the incorporation of audience interaction into performance, looking to the work of performance artists, such as Julian Beck and Richard Schechner. In addition, she addresses the variation between the process and the final product, and the factors of the process that cultivated the disparity between the two. / text

Den här expositionen visar mitt projekt från utbildningen Master i skådespelarkonst 2021-2023 på SKH i Stockholm. Uppsatsen heter "När vi ses" och den performativa delen "Hur gör vi med publikinsläppet?" Jag har som skådespelare och clown jobbat i många olika rum och med många olika publiköverenskommelser. Allt från scen-salong situationer där publiken vet exakt hur de ska bete sig och hur deras deltagande ser ut, till att spela för endast en person i en sjukhussäng eller i en liten roddbåt, där deltagandet tydligt måste förhandlas och kommuniceras. Jag har mött vuxna som är världsmästare i teateretikett, men inte kan svara på en fråga om den ställs från scenen, och jag har mött barn som är sjövilda förstagångsbesökare som har en intensiv dialog med oss på scenen. Jag är intresserad av dialogen mellan skådespelare och publik och av publikens delaktighet. Vilka normer och överenskommelser regleras det av? Hur påverkar rädslan att göra fel, bryta mot normen, upplevelsen av scenkonstverket? Begränsar den rädslan för skam det som är möjligt på teatern? Jag har också undrat över vilka roller publiken kan ha, vad i ett verk som kommunicerar denna roll, och om publiken kan byta roll i samma verk. I "Hur gör vi med publikinsläppet?" kan du läsa om arbetet med Eva och Margaretha, två halvmasker som båda är skådespelare men i vars konstnärsskap publiken spelar väldigt olika roller. / The essay is called "When we meet" and the performative part "How do we let the audience in?" As an actor and clown, I have worked in many different rooms and with many different audience agreements. Everything from stage-salon situations where the audience knows exactly how to behave and what their participation looks like, to playing for only one person in a hospital bed or in a small rowing boat, where participation must be clearly negotiated and communicated. I've met adults who are world masters of theater etiquette, but can't answer a question if asked from the stage, and I've met children who are wild first-timers who engage in intense dialogue with us on stage. I am interested in the dialogue between actors and audience and in audience participation. What standards and agreements are they regulated by? How does the fear of making a mistake, breaking the norm, affect the experience of the performance? Does that fear of shame limit what is possible in the theater? I have also wondered what roles the audience can have, what in a work communicates this role, and whether the audience can change roles in the same work. In "How do we let the audience in?" you can read about the work with Eva and Margaretha, two half-masks who are both actors but in whose artistry the audience plays very different roles.

This thesis explores the role of interaction design in elevating the solitary experiences of music listening by infusing them with the joy and connection typically found in the communal music setting of parties. Drawing upon historical and cultural contexts, the research investigates how music acts as a medium for social interaction and emotional expression, from its political implications in Berlin's techno scene to its power to unite people in clubs and concerts. The project began with a focus on enhancing DJ-audience interactions and evolved into exploring how these dynamic communal experiences could inform the design of solitary listening experiences on digital platforms like Spotify. The research employs a mixed methodology combining auto-ethnography, in-depth interviews, and testing to develop and refine six interfaces that embody the joy of communal music experiences. These interfaces aim to recreate the sense of togetherness and emotional engagement often lost in solitary music consumption. The findings highlight that joy is a deeply personal and context-dependent phenomenon, influenced by the nuances of social interactions and individual emotional states. This insight guides the design of interfaces that adapt to and enhance the listener's emotional landscape. The project contributes to interaction design by challenging conventional design approaches that prioritise functionality over emotional resonance, aiming to serve as inspiration for designs that value emotions as central to the interaction experience. It also proposes future research directions focusing on the ethical implications of emotionally driven design and the potential for these interfaces to foster deeper connections in an increasingly digital world.