Somatic and somaesthetic design practices in NIME: Sharing experiences, methods, tools, and concepts

Juan Martinez Avila; Doga Cavdir; Courtney Reed; Mary Mainsbridge; Kelsey Cotton; Tove Grimstad Bang; Lucia Montesinos Garcia

Image credit: Juan Martinez Avila; Doga Cavdir; Courtney Reed; Mary Mainsbridge; Kelsey Cotton; Tove Grimstad Bang; Lucia Montesinos Garcia

• Session: workshops-2
• Location: Skaidrite Darius N108

Abstract:

Somatic and somaesthetic perspectives have increasingly become a part of the NIME community in recent years. In particular, many practitioners within NIME (and beyond) have adopted techniques, concepts, and tools from soma design—a methodology that centers the focus of design on the soma, i.e., the body, the lived experience, and first-person perspectives on embodied phenomena. In this workshop, we aim to gather with artists, designers, researchers, musicians, and creative practitioners at NIME to provide them with a platform to: (1) learn about soma design in NIME and musicking through our two keynotes, and group of expert panelists, (2) share their experiences of employing somatic/somaesthetic techniques to guide their creative choices, and how they are producing knowledge in the form of methods, tools, and concepts in this space, and (3) network with other like-minded researchers and practitioners who share a common body-centric perspective on design, interaction, and performance.