Abstract
While wondering about the importance of live performance and how it is different from virtual/on-line performances, I try to define Benjamin's aura and chew on ideas of authenticity, presence, community, and audience. This essay alternates between theoretical/practical examples (Ralph Ellison's notions of the cosmopolitan to Mahalia Jackson's love of performing in church to Reverend Billy to recent science on body maps and biomagnetic fields to the do-it-yourself technology provocateurs, The Institute for Applied Autonomy) and an anecdotal journal chronicling my solo performance tour of intimate spaces (cafes, backyard sheds, Brooklyn lofts, and the Edinburgh Fringe).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 418-437 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Text and Performance Quarterly |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2009 |
Keywords
- Aura
- Do-it-yourself
- Live performance
- Mapping
- Technology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Literature and Literary Theory
- Communication
- Visual Arts and Performing Arts