ICAT is pleased to present Misregistration, an immersive installation and performance event by artist Janet Biggs, Virginia Tech mathematic professors Agnieszka Międlar and Paul Cazeaux, dancer Davian Robinson, and immersive audio engineer for Virginia Tech's Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), Tanner Upthegrove.

A stroboscopic light pulses as a lone figure moves slowly, tentatively, around a darkened space. Suddenly, the dancer turns and propels himself forward in a burst of energy toward a sound emanating from a corner of the room. As more sounds occur, the dancer perceives and interprets the environment, physical gestures triggered from audio prompts, creating choreography from spatialized sound.

The Misregistration team is uniquely positioned to explore ways their individual areas of expertise can work together, across the senses, to develop novel ways of creative, inclusive production, prioritizing audio and embodied movement.

Layering spatial sound with choreographic movement and improvisations, this sensorium-driven, performance and multimedia installation amplifies personal stories, turns visual artworks into sound, and advocates for future inclusion of the disabled in promoting innovative research and understanding.

Davian Robinson (Empower23) states, “Dancing for someone who’s blind, that’s unheard of…The art of dance itself is oftentimes devoid of inclusion and accessibility. This void leaves individuals with disabilities on the sidelines wondering and wishing they could express themselves with freedom, power and utter joy…”.

The creative and performing arts have often been effective in communicating the range of challenges faced by visually impaired individuals, but the arts have not been used as a tool to facilitate and drive research, communicating rigorous scientific inquiry. This project spotlights the potential of creative collaborations across a range of disciplines, amplifying the arts and engaging the too often underserved non-sighted community.

Photo Credit: Ethan Candelario