The Body Series (2010-2015) is a cluster of performances and installations focused on the interaction between bodies, sounds and machines. The series began in 2010 when Donnarumma created the wearable musical instrument XTH Sense. The instrument amplifies sounds from heart, blood and muscles of a performer’s body and uses them to create music, video or light in real-time.
All the works in the Body Series utilise this particular form of human-computer interaction – along with other technologies developed by the artist, such as interactive algorithms, artificial intelligence software and psychoacoustic systems – to explore the idea of the human body as a musical instrument. Each work in the series, however, owns a specific aesthetics, combining in different ways elements of performance art, computer music, light and sound design into surreal, intense and confrontational performances.
The conceptual backbone of the Body Series is a critical approach to body technology, brought to light through the use of sound as a corporeal, visceral force that connect machines to ritualism and body politics. The works are based on a combination of choreographed and improvised movements with sound spatialization techniques that explore – physically and conceptually – the ideas of tension, constraint and coercion.
Faithful to performance art practice, where bodily experimentation on the artist’s body is key, the solo pieces Music for Flesh II (2011), Hypo Chrysos (2012) and Ominous (2012) are performed by Donnarumma. Yet, the performative installations pieces Nigredo (2013) and 0-Infinity (2015) subvert the performer/spectator duality by forcing spectators – individually or in small groups – to become, unwillingly, the only performers.
Most works in the series has been historicized in specialized publications, and, with over 60 performances worldwide, Music for Flesh II and Ominous have been performed for 8 years in varied artistic contexts, ranging from concert hall, squats and universities, to independent art center and leading music and media art institutions. The Body Series has been realized with the support of University of Edinburgh and Creative Scotland (SCT), European Conference of Promoters of New Music (ECPNM) and World New Music Days (BE), STEIM – Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (NL) and 4DSOUND (HU/NL).