DOGSIC - An Interspecies Performance

 

Dogsic is a neologism born from the meeting of the words “dog” and “music”since the performance involves the potential of the animal's body within a musical system.

The project uses the power of music to establish a relationship between two different species at the moment of the performance, creating an ever-different piece of music.

The active side of the work is focused on the dog's sense of touch in order to recall the element of tactility which is getting increasingly lost in the contemporary way of living due to digital technology.

In the Dogsic context, the direct contact of the animal's body with the floor (where the sensors are placed) triggers a reaction in the system. The fact of physically touching the ground, being on Earth, produces an effect on the surroundings as opposed to the social networks context where the interactions with the digital environment are ephemeral. This aspect is enhanced by the incorporation of the dogs' voices into the musical piece thanks to their amplification.

While the dog's movement and the barks refer to the sense of tactility, the manipulation of the sound done by the human part of the system serves to establish a communication with the animal and, conceptually, to go back to the tangible dimension that characterizes human beings.

The project aims at recreating the dimension of the here-and-now where the audience is focused on what it is happening in the three-dimensional environment at the moment of the performance.

The outcome of the project is a piece of music played by two or more dogs and conducted by a human being, where the creation of a musical communication between the two species wants to represent a step back to the tangibleness of living beings in the contemporary hyper-connected reality.    

 

The project was presented at Funkhaus Berlin during the dBs Music performance week on the 3rd and 4th of May 2017.

 

DOGSIC Credits:

 

Idea, Planning & Development: Giovanni De Benedetto

Dog Trainer: Irene Granara

Performer 1: Ani

Performer 2: Lanselot

Shooting & Editing: Giovanni De Benedetto