Rethinking Liveness: An Exploration of Phenomenological Liveness, Documentation, and Audience

Abstract

This paper explores experiential liveness discourse through the lens of phenomenology, semiotics, and auto-ethnographical research. This thesis examined previous experiential liveness studies and discourses and how these ideologies build a discourse centred around audience/performer relationships, communitas and virtual communities. It explores the interactions between experiential and ontological liveness through documentation, digital archiving and Descartesian dualism. Further, this thesis re-frames core ontological terms within the phenomenological liveness context. It examines event and ritual as experiences and explores my experiences of liveness with reference to previous experiential liveness studies. Finally, this paper examines the importance of experiential liveness as its own discourse and the impacts virtual performance can have for audiences regarding accessibility and communitas within the COVID-19 pandemic.