Form Found

Highlighting Movement Through Digitalism

Carly Lave
MDes Mediums 2025
Image
1 Motion detection between video frames

This project investigates how the unique movement patterns of my dancing body can be digitally captured, analyzed, and visualized.

As a professional contemporary dancer, I grapple with understanding and preserving the fleeting, improvisational movements that emerge in creative "flow states." After nearly a decade of improvisation, I have developed an intuitive awareness of my habitual movements—those that define my artistic identity or "signature." Yet, replicating these with precision after improvising remains a challenge.

Dance has always been a medium for self-discovery. This project extends that inquiry, using digital tools to explore why I express my "Self" through movement and how this expression can be interpreted digitally.

Using Processing, I identified and visualized recurring gestures, spatial positions, and pathways in my improvised movements. By computationally highlighting these nuances, the project reveals the individuality of my movement style and amplifies its "signature."

Merging art and technology, this work bridges the physical and digital realms, offering a fresh perspective on the dancing body and its intricate connection to identity.

Project video
Image
2 Melt effect based on spatial position
Image
3 Perlin Noise effect based on arm movements