Liveness in Audiovisual Performance
This Research & Knowledge Exchange Doctoral Project brief summarises our priority areas of research interest under the heading of: Liveness in Audiovisual Performance
We welcome all research degree applications aligned with and in response to this brief.
Project brief details
Proposals are invited for practice-research PhD projects investigating the presentation of audiovisual work in real-time to an audience. This may be through musical performance,playback, installation or digital experience – or a combination.
Audiovisual performance has an established lineage as exemplified by artists and organisations such as Ryoji Ikeda, Alva Noto/Carsten Nikolai, Max Cooper and Telenoika. Recent books on audiovisual composition and performance (Harris 2022, Gibson 2023, Payling 2024, Gibson et al 2026) have contributed to a growing body of literature. Audiovisual practices have a strong impact on liveness, affecting human/machine presence, interactivity and audience understanding (Sanden 2013, Auslander 2023).
Open to all musical and sound art genres where visual elements play a crucial role in the performance or presentation of the work, projects responding to this brief might investigate:
- Balancing live/human and recorded/technological elements
- Exploring the relationships between composition/production, improvisation and performance
- Designing performance spaces in terms of staging and audience placement
- Creating real-time performance systems involving spatial/immersive audio, multiple screens/projections, lighting and/or networked computers.
- Combining performance modalities (e.g. the use of XR, film and installation within a performance)
- Facilitating audience interaction
- Exploring areas such as liveness, interdisciplinarity, co-creation/collaboration, site-adaptivity, accessibility and sustainability.
Successful applicants would benefit from a thriving research community in immersive and audiovisual practices at Falmouth University, supported by an extensive set of technical resources including music and sound recording and performance facilities, field recording equipment and a volumetric capture studio.
Strategic alignment
Projects deriving from this brief are expected to sit within the Research & Knowledge Exchange strategy and the following Department.
| Department | Academy of Music & Theatre Arts |
|---|
All successful research degree project proposals must emphasise a clear alignment between the project idea and our Research & Knowledge Exchange strategy.
Project brief lead
Project supervisor: Dr Simon Waite
Si Waite is a songwriter, producer and educator. He has written, recorded and performed as a solo artist (National Trevor) and in bands (including Captain Yange). A trained vocalist, guitarist, percussionist and technologist, Si established the participatory arts organisation Planet Sound in 1998. He went on to work as a freelance artist for Youth Music and Creative Partnerships and as a part-time lecturer. He gained his Masters at Keele University and became a full-time member of staff at Staffordshire University in 2011.
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Enquiries
Project brief & project proposal enquiries
To discuss this project brief, ideas or project proposal responding to this brief, please contact: Dr Simon Waite
Application enquiries
For all other application related enquires please contact the Research & Development team.
T: 01326 255831
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