O objeto desta dissertação de Mestrado é composto pela série Auto-Retrato Coletivo de Nardo Germano. Organizada artisticamente como repositório crítico de uma identidade coletiva seu tema central , a série constitui-se de auto-retratos híbridos entre o Indivíduo e o Coletivo, questionando a construção identitária marcada por estigmas sociais. As obras que compõem a série são: 1)Auto-Objeto; 2)Sujeitos; 3)Auto-Retrato por Metro Quadrado; 4)Cabeça Defronte; 5)Auto-Retr_Ato_Coletivo; 6)Especulares #7; 7)Corpo Coletivo; 8)AlterEgo; 9)ANDROMAQUIA on-line; e 10)Doe Seu Rosto/Give Me Your Face. A atual pesquisa artística dá continuidade a Auto-Objeto(1987), uma obra composta por painéis de auto-retratos sem negativo obtidos em cabine Fotomática, e articula-se a partir da digitalização de um conjunto imanente da obra Sujeitos(1987), colagens realizadas com auto-retratos acéfalos, recortes de textos, imagens e manchetes de jornal. Com o objetivo de, nesta fase, estabelecer novos contrapontos ao discurso monológico identitário oficial bem como ao conceito de uma autoridade do artista como autor que controla os sentidos da obra, a criação partiu da hipótese de que o investimento nos graus de abertura à recepção podem promover o dialogismo e polifonia almejados, com a inclusão da alteridade, das expressões e dos pontos de vista dos espectadores na noção de identidade coletiva veiculada nas obras, considerando os conceitos de obra aberta de Umberto Eco bem como de dialogismo e polifonia de Mikhail Bakhtin. A presente dissertação discorre sobre aquelas obras originais como paradigmas internos da criação e sobre as obras produzidas durante esta pesquisa artística, focando nas proposições dialógicas de poéticas abertas, bem como nas estratégias de participação e interatividade então implementadas, realizadas em ambiente real e/ou através dos meios tecnológicos. O texto explicita e reflete sobre as poéticas de abertura envolvidas na recepção, comprovando por fim a hipótese de trabalho. Em suma, no que tange aos resultados sobre o tema proposto, conclui-se que Auto-Retrato Coletivo promove um movimento contínuo de construção e desconstrução identitária possibilitado pela abertura poética aos espectadores que, convertidos em participantes e/ou interatores, cumulativamente renovam, expandem e problematizam a identidade coletiva, inscrevendo-a na dimensão Utópica de Identidades Abertas. / The object of this dissertation of Master\'s degree is composed by Nardo Germano\'s series Collective Self-Portrait. Organized artistically as critical repository of a collective identity its central theme , the series is constituted of hybrid self-portraits between the Individual and the Collectivity, discussing the construction of identities characterized by social stigmata. The works that compose the series are: 1)Auto-Objeto; 2)Sujeitos; 3)Auto- Retrato por Metro Quadrado; 4)Cabeça Defronte; 5)Auto-Retr_Ato_Coletivo; 6)Especulares #7; 7)Corpo Coletivo; 8)AlterEgo; 9)ANDROMAQUIA on-line; e 10)Doe Seu Rosto/Give Me Your Face. The current artistic research gives continuity the Auto-Objeto(1987), an art-work composed by panels of self-portraits without negative obtained at Photomaton Cabin, and organized through a process of scanning an immanent group of the art-work Sujeitos(1987), collages accomplished with acephalous self-portraits, cuttings of texts, images and newspaper headlines. With the objective of, in this phase, to establish new counterpoints to the monologic official speech about identity as well as to the concept of an authority of the artist as author that controls the meanings of the art-work, the creation worked with the hypothesis that the investment in the opening degrees to the reception can promote the necessary dialogism and polyphony, with the inclusion of the spectators\' alterity, expressions and points of view in the notion of collective identity in the art-works, considering the concepts of Umberto Ecos open work and Mikhail Bakhtins dialogism and polyphony. The present dissertation describes those original art-works as internal paradigms of the creation and the art-works produced during this artistic research, focusing in the dialogical propositions of open poetics, as well as in the strategies of participation and interactivity implemented, in real ambience and/or through the technological media. The text explicits and reflects the poetics of opening to the spectator involved in the reception, proving finally the work hypothesis. In short, with respect to the results on the proposed theme, the conclusion is that Collective Self-Portrait promotes a continuous movement of construction and deconstruction of identities, possible by the poetical openness to the spectators who, converted in participants and/or interactors, cumulatively renew, expand and problematize the collective identity, enrolling it in the Utopian dimension of Open Identities.

O objeto desta dissertação de Mestrado é composto pela série Auto-Retrato Coletivo de Nardo Germano. Organizada artisticamente como repositório crítico de uma identidade coletiva seu tema central , a série constitui-se de auto-retratos híbridos entre o Indivíduo e o Coletivo, questionando a construção identitária marcada por estigmas sociais. As obras que compõem a série são: 1)Auto-Objeto; 2)Sujeitos; 3)Auto-Retrato por Metro Quadrado; 4)Cabeça Defronte; 5)Auto-Retr_Ato_Coletivo; 6)Especulares #7; 7)Corpo Coletivo; 8)AlterEgo; 9)ANDROMAQUIA on-line; e 10)Doe Seu Rosto/Give Me Your Face. A atual pesquisa artística dá continuidade a Auto-Objeto(1987), uma obra composta por painéis de auto-retratos sem negativo obtidos em cabine Fotomática, e articula-se a partir da digitalização de um conjunto imanente da obra Sujeitos(1987), colagens realizadas com auto-retratos acéfalos, recortes de textos, imagens e manchetes de jornal. Com o objetivo de, nesta fase, estabelecer novos contrapontos ao discurso monológico identitário oficial bem como ao conceito de uma autoridade do artista como autor que controla os sentidos da obra, a criação partiu da hipótese de que o investimento nos graus de abertura à recepção podem promover o dialogismo e polifonia almejados, com a inclusão da alteridade, das expressões e dos pontos de vista dos espectadores na noção de identidade coletiva veiculada nas obras, considerando os conceitos de obra aberta de Umberto Eco bem como de dialogismo e polifonia de Mikhail Bakhtin. A presente dissertação discorre sobre aquelas obras originais como paradigmas internos da criação e sobre as obras produzidas durante esta pesquisa artística, focando nas proposições dialógicas de poéticas abertas, bem como nas estratégias de participação e interatividade então implementadas, realizadas em ambiente real e/ou através dos meios tecnológicos. O texto explicita e reflete sobre as poéticas de abertura envolvidas na recepção, comprovando por fim a hipótese de trabalho. Em suma, no que tange aos resultados sobre o tema proposto, conclui-se que Auto-Retrato Coletivo promove um movimento contínuo de construção e desconstrução identitária possibilitado pela abertura poética aos espectadores que, convertidos em participantes e/ou interatores, cumulativamente renovam, expandem e problematizam a identidade coletiva, inscrevendo-a na dimensão Utópica de Identidades Abertas. / The object of this dissertation of Master\'s degree is composed by Nardo Germano\'s series Collective Self-Portrait. Organized artistically as critical repository of a collective identity its central theme , the series is constituted of hybrid self-portraits between the Individual and the Collectivity, discussing the construction of identities characterized by social stigmata. The works that compose the series are: 1)Auto-Objeto; 2)Sujeitos; 3)Auto- Retrato por Metro Quadrado; 4)Cabeça Defronte; 5)Auto-Retr_Ato_Coletivo; 6)Especulares #7; 7)Corpo Coletivo; 8)AlterEgo; 9)ANDROMAQUIA on-line; e 10)Doe Seu Rosto/Give Me Your Face. The current artistic research gives continuity the Auto-Objeto(1987), an art-work composed by panels of self-portraits without negative obtained at Photomaton Cabin, and organized through a process of scanning an immanent group of the art-work Sujeitos(1987), collages accomplished with acephalous self-portraits, cuttings of texts, images and newspaper headlines. With the objective of, in this phase, to establish new counterpoints to the monologic official speech about identity as well as to the concept of an authority of the artist as author that controls the meanings of the art-work, the creation worked with the hypothesis that the investment in the opening degrees to the reception can promote the necessary dialogism and polyphony, with the inclusion of the spectators\' alterity, expressions and points of view in the notion of collective identity in the art-works, considering the concepts of Umberto Ecos open work and Mikhail Bakhtins dialogism and polyphony. The present dissertation describes those original art-works as internal paradigms of the creation and the art-works produced during this artistic research, focusing in the dialogical propositions of open poetics, as well as in the strategies of participation and interactivity implemented, in real ambience and/or through the technological media. The text explicits and reflects the poetics of opening to the spectator involved in the reception, proving finally the work hypothesis. In short, with respect to the results on the proposed theme, the conclusion is that Collective Self-Portrait promotes a continuous movement of construction and deconstruction of identities, possible by the poetical openness to the spectators who, converted in participants and/or interactors, cumulatively renew, expand and problematize the collective identity, enrolling it in the Utopian dimension of Open Identities.

The goal of this thesis was to reassess the relationship between the moving body and technology, and more specifically, to focus on recent perspectives in the performing arts which inscribe new manifestations and dynamics of cross-pollination between the somatic and technology. According to Dr. Andrea Davidson, 'Such research has rarely been formally identified with the specialised field of somatics' (2013, p.3). The thesis thus proposes to reflect on the experience and conception of the performative body in the link it entertains with technology. Investigating this relationship, it defines a new paradigm, that of an 'interfaced intercorporeality'. This paradigm is constructed with special attention to a different relationship revealed between the interface and the notion of a corporal potentiality or 'interval'. In particular, the thesis focuses on the concept of a 'collective body' based on this relationship and on practical research conducted within the framework of my research, along with the methodology that supported it. The research and creative work that are presented derive from experiments I conceived, conducted and participated in making. My analysis is thus based on direct experience. The relationship between the somatic and technology notably led me to focus on the notion of embodied cognition or 'bodily knowledge' and for this, to re-examine the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. As a consequence, this return to the experiential also required revisiting definitions given by the Greeks concerning the aesthetic as a reference to sensation and the ability to perceive. The thesis approaches the body as the ground and basis for creating work, as well as for testing the effect(s) that technology has on it. Experiments conducted sought to develop greater sensory and perceptual awareness in order to invest the relationship of somatics/technology in a dimension that could potentially constitute a transformation of self, of one's relationship to others and to the world. Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological existentialism formed the basis for explorations made to forge links between the somatic and technology. However, it is important to clarify that my intention was not to make an analysis of phenomenology per se. It was rather referenced as a means to explain the framework of my research in relation to lived experience, sensation, and specifically, to my creative approach involving new technologies. Merleau-Ponty's methodology includes subjective, first-person accounts of 'lived experience'. Third-person accounts, or so-called 'objective' positions, are also included. These accounts are then shown to evolve towards an ecosystem of interaction and movement in order to experience and test the production of theory and practical experimentation involved in the methodology I adopted. The thesis incorporates knowledge from several disciplines, but principally from the field of dance and technology. Highlighting sensorial and perceptual phenomena related to the transformation of the body through technology and subjective experience, it takes into account an interdisciplinary perspective that is linked to this problematic. The thesis begins with an introduction to phenomenology in which the concepts and positions of Merleau-Ponty are outlined, including those of anti-dualism, the lived body, the ontology of the body, corporeality, intercorporeality and the flesh. Chapter 1 looks at the evolution of this philosophical movement throughout history and continues with a history of the body in phenomenology, an analysis of certain applications of phenomenology in the field of dance and subsequently, in the specific field of dance related to technology. Chapter 2 comprises a literature review. It also presents the bases of reductionist thinking, the proposition of a return to integrative thinking and issues concerning instrumentalisation, the double and the complexification of the self. It further examines the history of ideas surrounding the relationship between the body and technology, notions of the real-virtual-actual and a history and problematics of the interface. It concludes with a presentation of theories on the notions of potentiality, the interval and real-time. Chapter 3 presents my artistic background, an historical overview of the trends and principal ideas that have influenced my work, as well as an examination of the field of dance and technology from the point of view of its history and more recent developments. Chapter 4 is dedicated to an analysis of the research methodologies employed in the practical research for this thesis and identifies related issues. An analysis of problems encountered with existing methodologies notably highlights a need to invest in other methodological modes for practical research of an interdisciplinary nature. The chapter continues with a presentation of some of the methodologies currently used in the field of dance related to technology. The principles underpinning the specific creative research methodology I experimented with are then presented, proposing an adaptation of the aforementioned methodologies in order to respond to the dynamics of collective research of an empathic nature that are specific to my approach and also in order to invest in the link between the somatic and technology my project proposes. This proposition modestly attempts to respond to the lack of methodologies observed in the field of artistic practical research. A discussion of the experimentation involved in the practical research for the thesis is made in Chapter 5. Two creative experiments are analysed. Their aim was to investigate and develop a collective physical body composed of five dancers in constant contact, whose movement and relationships create what I call a 'collective sound body'. This collective entity produces sound in real-time which is simultaneously spatialised. The analysis takes into account the ways these two bodies are interdependent and constantly interrelated. Schematically, the first experiment served as a basis on which to found principles related to the collective body, while the second experiment developed them. The chapter further outlines creative strategies that were employed to test principles of self-organisation linked to sensation and stemming from the somatic techniques employed. It also returns to some of Merleau-Ponty's main concepts that were implemented and tested in performative experience: intercorporeality, the lived body, the dynamic of continual transformation and the principle of coexistence. Lastly, Merleau-Ponty's investigation of sensation and perception and his concept of sensory chiasms are related to the experiments' multisensory exploration and theme of intersubjectivity which are then proposed as leading to the possibility of intercorporeality. Chapter 6 forms the conclusion and seeks to identify new knowledge generated in the thesis. Essentially articulating another vision of the performative body as developed through its contact with technology, the findings, both practical and theoretical, bring to light a different understanding of the body rendered through a dissolution of psychophysical borders in the development of the performative model I called the 'collective body'. The thesis further proposes that the 'collective body' and its evolution as the 'collective sound body', open up the path to a new approach to interfaces and further, to what I propose as a theory of interfaced intercorporeality. This research aims to reintroduce the body and its specific intelligence in the understanding and building of relationships that can be renewed. The technology used in these experiments was considered as a physicality and the activator of a reconfiguration of sensory-perceptual processes that the thesis argues can lead to the final paradigm of 'interfaced intercorporeality' it proposes.