Coming Up Next!
Thresholds:
Art, Science & Neurodiversity
June 2
Minneapolis | The Parkway Theater
Tix $14 Advance, and $17 at the Door.
An evening of film, performance, and dialogue exploring the diversity of sensory processing through the lenses of art and science. The event will include two short films and a live performance featuring the Twin Cities’ very own Michael Wolfe, who identifies as a “black, queer, performance artist with autism,” offering insight into his daily life and inner world. Neuroscientist Guadalupe Astorga will talk about her research on the neurodiversity of visual perception, and Wolfe & Astorga will both share insights about their unique processes.
Thresholds
Director and choreographer Beth Graczyk, composer Aaron Gabriel, neuroscientist Guadalupe Astorga, and actor Michael Wolfe have a budding new collaboration born out of the desire to work cross-disciplinary within science, social justice, disability awareness and art. We propose to explore the diversity of human consciousness through the boundaries of perception.
Our aim is to explore sensory processing through the creation of sonic, visual, and kinetic experiences that invite an audience to explore their individual perception. Reflecting in different ways these individual and collective sensitivities back to the audience to create greater awareness of the diversity of perceptual processing amongst us.
Thresholds is developed in parallel with a clinical research project and pilot award from Rockefeller University. This research lead by neuroscientist Guadalupe Astorga from the Gilbert lab has teamed up with scientist/dance artist Beth Graczyk to create an interactive web-based experiment which focused on collecting data on visual processing for neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals.
Instructions: Track the moving figure. Notice where your eyes go, and how they are distracted or attracted towards the moving figure with the shifting background and foreground. How does sound affect your eyes and tracking of the figure?
Meshes of a Figure is a first exploration for the project Thresholds, an ongoing collaboration which explores sensory processing through sonic, visual and kinetic experiences and through the lens of neuroscience. Through these explorations Director and Choreographer Beth Graczyk, Composer Aaron Gabriel, and Neuroscientist Guadalupe Astorga aim to create greater awareness of the diversity of perceptual processing amongst us.
Choreography and Video by Beth Graczyk
Composer Aaron Gabriel
Visual Overlays Beth Graczyk & Guadalupe Astorga
Meshes of a Figure was filmed at Center for Performance Research with production by Pioneers Go East Collective. Lighting design Philip Treviño, movement video by John Burkland.