Physicality and Feedback:

A Focus on the Body in the Performance of Electronic Music

Curtis Bahn Tomie Hahn Dan Trueman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Tufts University Colgate University
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract lack of somatic/corporeal presence in performance. Here,

and in certain popular-music/performance contexts, these
Musical performance in a cultural context has always been
performance issues have often led to exaggerated gesture
inextricably linked to the human body, yet, the body has
along with extreme amplification to create exciting
played only a minor role in the creation and performance of
connections between performers and sound production in
electronic music. This paper will consider aesthetic and
high volume contexts (these connections are sometimes real
technical issues relating to: (1) the social/cultural
and other times simply choreographed). In both situations,
construction of contexts for chamber music and dance; (2)
conventional sonic display technologies create a "plane-of-
our construction of gestural “composed instruments” and
separation" between the source/method of sound production
integrated sonic display devices; (3) concepts of the
and the intended consumer. This creates a musical/social
integration of the dancing body and the musical body; and
context that is inherently and intentionally presentation
(4) new approaches to interactive music and improvisation
(rather than process) oriented.
in a “composed context.” Our approach prioritizes music
In our recent work, we have designed new instruments
as “activity” in both instrument design and sonic display.
and sonic display systems with the aim of re-integrating the
We find physicality, feedback, and gesture—the
body into the social context of music and dance
reintegration of the body in electronic music—are all key to
performance. The scale of this sonic display is more closely
maintaining and extending musical/social traditions within
balanced with human performance, and the idiosyncratic
a technological context.
physical requirements of the interfaces are more
"instrumental" or gestural than conventional human-
1 Introduction computer interface devices. We feel that physical gesture
and sonic feedback are key to maintaining and extending
Musical performance in a cultural context has been social and instrumental traditions within a technological
inextricably linked to the human body. This includes: the context. Without underestimating the value of presentation,
physicality of sound production in instrumental we are interested in creating a musical/social context with
performance; the transmission of interpretive these instruments that allows for explorations of the "digital-
communication between a conductor and an ensemble, or body" that focus first on process, expressivity, and
between members of a chamber ensemble; and, the various communication among musicians/dancers in all
ways in which the involvement of the body in instrumental performative contexts, without placing a priority on
performance/dance helps to communicate meaning to an presentation. In this paper, our definition of "performance"
audience. will be inclusive and broad, including non-presentational, or
Historically, the body has played only a minor role in the non-concert modes where a focus on the social context of
creation and performance of electronic music. This lack of music making is a priority.
somatic involvement has led to numerous performance This paper will consider aesthetic and technical issues
"problems" in various musical/social contexts; it has proved relating to: (1) the social/cultural construction of contexts
difficult to integrate electronic sound and interactivity into for chamber music and dance; (2) our construction of
small and large instrumental ensembles and into dance gestural “composed instruments” and integrated sonic
performances. In some cases, the electro-acoustic music display devices; (3) concepts of the integration of the
composition community has created new social paradigms dancing body and the musical body; and (4) new approaches
for listening in technological contexts (i.e. "tape-music to interactive music and improvisation in a “composed
concerts" and "tape and..." pieces) rather than address the context.” We conclude with a case study of the
collaborative performance work “Pikapika,” by Bahn and 21) and in that sense, listening is ultimately a physical
Hahn. involvement—a virtual performance experience for the
audience. The more familiarity the listener has with the
2 Cultural Composition of Musical musical context, the more vivid the empathetic experience
can become. This describes a connection of the body to
Contexts: Music and the Body sound production, a kinesthetic empathy with the act of
creating sound and the visceral/gestural interaction of the
2.1 The Physical Musician: “feeling sound” performers in the musical context. The strength of this
connection can be seen in the common mimesis of rock
guitar performance, or “air guitar.”
Instrumental “touch,” the sensitivity to a subtle
haptic/sonic feedback loop in acoustic instrumental
2.3 Physical Communication
technique, is an essential aspect of the development of a
musician. The instrument conducts touch, amplifies it and
sonifies physical gesture. In return, the body responds to The social context of musical performance is built on
the “feel” of the instrument and its resulting sound. A shared sensibilities and embodied practices. Seeger
resonating feedback loop between touch, sonic result and observes:
feel, is formed. Much of the physicality of musical
performance is a result of these mediations between feel and All human communicatory systems produce concrete
ear. visual, auditory and/or tactile products that in their own
respective forms of transmitting the energy used in their
2.2 The Visual Listener: kinesthetic empathy production are models of the act of production on the
parts of their producers. (Seeger, 1977: 23)
and vicarious performance
Movements are mapped into our bodies through our varied
Musical contexts form a complex field of sonic, visual, training, which differs from culture to culture (Hahn, 1996,
and social interactions. Both in the past and today, much of 1997). Visual communication in a chamber music context
computer music composition and performance practice has draws upon this training, allowing participants to viscerally
focused on strictly formal and acoustic aspects of musical "read" off of each other and form a high-level
discourse. The result is often an ethereal music, highly communication in performance. Through the haptic senses,
structured, but lacking in its connection with the body and visual and kinetic information—including the dynamic
established cultural contexts of musical interaction. As musical qualities of phrasing, continuity, speed/timing,
Richard Leppert points out: dynamics, pressure, energy and effort—is communicated.

Sonoric landscapes are both heard and seen. They exist 2.4 Musical Gesture
because of human experience and human
consciousness. Music…connects to the visible human
body, not only as the receiver of sound but also as its Physical gesture in computer music performance has
agent or producer. The human embodiment of music is often been seen primarily as a controlling input to an
central to any understanding of music’s socio-cultural interactive system, signifying visual and musical intention.
agency. The semantic content of music–its discursive François Delalande (1988) describes the division of musical
"argument"—is never solely about its sound and the art gesture into three levels: effective gesture—that necessary
of hearing. It is instead about the complex relations to mechanically produce sound; accompanist
between sound and hearing as these are registered and gesture—movements associated with effective gesture
as they mediate the entire experience of being. That engaging the whole body but not directly related to the act
experience is physical; intellectual, in the broad of sound production; and, figurative gesture—wholly
meaning of the word; and spiritual, though hardly symbolic gestures of the performer. Many interesting
restricted to the religious or the mystical. But it is studies of musical gesture as it relates to the issue of
especially to be understood as the result of mediations gestural control in music have focused on effective gesture
between the ear and the eye. The sonoric landscape is and only to a lesser extent accompanist gesture (Cadoz and
peopled and hence interactive. It is external to the Wanderly, 2000). We find that accompanist gesture is an
human subject yet internalized by its sight and sound. equally important aspect of physicality in interactive
(Leppert, 1995: 18) performance; how gesture can result from a physical
(bodily) relationship with a gestural controller embodying
The act of listening/observing in a musical context has sonic feedback properties; in this sense, gesture is in part the
been described as "vicarious performance," (Cone, 1968: trace of a performer/instrument relationship.
2.5 Social Contexts of Chamber Music ...an instrument where the gestural controller is
independent from the sound synthesis model, both
related by intermediate mapping strategies. "Composed
I suggest that they [music and dance] have remained
key factors in human life, and are, in particular, means instruments" typically use two layers of parameter
for people to bridge gaps of communication and mapping on top of a more-or-less arbitrary synthesis
understanding between their lives in societies that engine to match various controller devices played by
prescribe certain ideas, sentiments, and definitions of the performer to the sound synthesis result. (Wanderley,
experience, and their bodily experiences as individual Schnell, and Rovan, 1998:2)
feeling beings. (John Blacking, 1995: 214-2)
This two-stage modular approach is useful in conceiving of
Through empathetic connection, chamber music creates the mapping of a gestural controller to a body and its
a sense of intimacy between the performers of an ensemble, movement/instrumental vocabulary, as separate from
and between the ensemble and the audience. Electro- structuring the abstract connections between performative
acoustic music performance practice has rarely engaged the actions and sound production. In our work, we extend this
intimacy of this musical context. The tradition of “tape and notion of a composed instrument to include: the design of
instrument” composition creates a certain “tyranny of the the gestural controller itself; the choices of sounds,
tape,” leaving a performer to chase the unyielding synthesis and digital signal processing methods for a
progression of the fixed media play-back. Most often, even particular performance and the integration of new sonic
in more “interactive” contexts, the live instrumentalist’s display systems in the performance feedback loop. Our
sound is amplified and drawn into the general stereo or instruments, described in previous papers, include extended
multi-channel field of sound reinforcement creating a sonic and abstracted traditional string instruments, systems for
“plane-of-separation” between the performer’s location and interactive dance/movement performances, and the
their physical gesture. In contexts with multiple live invention of distinctive new musical controllers and multi-
performers, general sound reinforcement schemes dislocate channel spherical sonic display systems: sensor/speaker
the identities of sonic production and their location—this arrays. As the name suggests, we find that creating
separation often subverts the intimacy of musical "composed instruments" is very much an act of
performance and prioritizes presentation over process. "composition," in the traditional sense.
A focus of electro-acoustic performance practice has
been the drive for larger and more impressive “immersive” 3.1 Sensor/Speaker Arrays: physical
multi-channel sound systems—some electronic string conduction of sound and natural
quartets play with sound levels equivalent to rock bands, localization
performance excitement often being created through
“larger-than-life” sonic displays and choreographed
spatialization. Relatively little has been done to create Essential to the development of subtle gestural
electronic instruments and display systems that engage the performance interfaces are equally responsive sonic
tradition, intimacy, and human scale of chamber displays; they are of central importance in the feedback loop
performance. between physical gesture and sonic response. The sonic
Context implies an immersion of body in a culturally display must reinforce the nuance of physical gesture and
constructed environment, a sensually ordered and situated offer localized sonic feedback for the performers on stage.
body. In the following sections, we describe the design and Our focus on sonic display designs in the composition of
musical application of instruments and sonic display interactive electronic instruments has impacted our personal
systems intended to engage and amplify the kinesthetic pleasure and satisfaction in performance, as well as our
empathy and sonic feedback of traditional musical ability to interact comfortably within an ensemble. In recent
performance contexts, without obliterating them. We developments, this approach has extended to actually
maintain that physicality and musical gesture are keys to holding the sensor/speaker instrument in the lap of the
sustaining and extending social traditions within a performer reminiscent of a small cello, or, wearing small
technological context, and suggest these systems as one speakers on the body of a performer. In these cases, there is
approach towards this end. a direct physical conduction of sound into the body of the
performer much as one finds in a traditional acoustic
instrument. This direct physical feedback greatly augments
3 Composing the Instrument the “touch” and intuitive control of the instrument as an
extension of the body.
The concept of a generic “composed instrument,” has When a family of spherical speaker arrays is used in
been described by Wanderley, Schnell, and Rovan as: performance the result is a rich ensemble “mix” taking full
advantage of the natural acoustics of the hall, not unlike a
string quartet or other conventional chamber ensemble. The 4.1 Various Violins and the Violinist “Pose”
effectiveness of our sound system is often judged relative to
the impressiveness and familiarity of large multi-channel Musical instruments have a way of defining how their
surround-sound type sonic display systems from the point of players will look, both in detail and in a general sense. This
view of the audience, the comfort and communication of the
"pose" is reflective of the expressive nature of the
performers, or acoustic blend of the ensemble, being of instrument and the player; the image of Anne Sophie Mutter
secondary importance. However, we have found that the
playing Brahms in itself is revealing about expressive intent,
use of single-point display systems has fundamentally as is the image of Hauk Buen playing Hardanger fiddle, or
changed our approach to live electro-acoustic music
Mark Wood playing electric violin. Subtle differences in
performance and suggest that the inter-performer instrument design contribute to enormous visual and
communication and subtle sonic nuance they enable is of
physical differences in playing style (Trueman, 1999).
primary importance in the development of electronic This remains true with electronic instruments, to an even
chamber music. Our systems invite the listener to lean greater extent. One example is our use of sensor bows. By
forward, listen and look, as with a conventional chamber themselves, our sensor bows suggest a variety of kinds of
ensemble, rather than sit back and soak up an immersive, physical interaction with electronic sound; moving the frog
surround-sound environment.
in various positions, which may require moving the entire
body, and simply pressing the bow in various locations, all
3.2 Individual Instruments for Idiosyncratic are effective ways of physically playing the sensor bow. In
Performance this way, sensor bows transform the string player into a kind
of dancer, and require their players to modify their
Rather than formulating general, universal strategies for traditional technique. This often creates an interesting
interface design, our approach to creating new instruments technical conflict—certain techniques, while effective for
for electro-acoustic music has focused on composing the sensor bow, may be useless for playing the traditional
idiosyncratic, personal structures that reinforce individual string instrument, and vice-versa. Finding points of cross-
approaches to performance. Our backgrounds, while all section, where playing both instruments simultaneously is
including conservatory training on western instruments, physically and musically fulfilling, is one of the fascinating
derive from such disparate fields as Jazz, Norwegian challenges presented by the technology.
Hardanger fiddle music, and traditional/contemporary
Japanese performance. The instruments we make reflect 4.2 Dancing Music / Sonifying Dance
these varied backgrounds and extend our voices and bodies
into a new context of interactive performance possibilities. One of the differences between dance (in a conventional
Of importance are not only the technical devices and sense) and instrumental performance is the way they define
concepts these instruments embody, but also their impact on gesture. In dance, gestures are enacted at least in part for the
personal and social aspects of music making, including the their visual impact, much more so then for musical
musical values they reinforce and the instrumental/dance performers where gestures are (mostly) born out of a
movements they may imply. In the design of composed physical relationship with their instrument in the process of
instruments, we have attempted to create sensing creating sound.
mechanisms and musical mappings that take into account In our pieces for interactive dance the sensual
the enculturated movements and social cues of the parameters of sound and vision become fused. While
performer as well as the performance context. This design historically (Western art) music has accompanied dance, or
focus issues agency to the performer, privileging the social the dancer has been bound to the strictures of music,
process and context of the musical situation over the interactive performance environments enable the dancer to
technology. simultaneously articulate sound and gesture.
We have found that this multi-modal expression of the
4 Composing the Body body challenges the performer to straddle established
boundaries of composer/musician/dancer. The very struggle
in this blurred inter-disciplinary context has created a new
Movements are mapped onto our bodies through our
paradigm, a sensual re-orientation of expressive and
varied instrumental and dance training, becoming an
structural parameters of performance. Is the instrumentalist
essential mode for artistic expressivity. In technological
“dancing” music? Has the dancer become a musical
performance contexts, this embodied cultural knowledge
instrument? Is the music “moving” the dance, or are the
can be amplified and applied to human/computer interaction
movements “playing” the music? In our current work we
through various forms of physical sensing.
have found that the body has indeed become an instrument,
and, through physical synergism, has subsumed both the
dancer and musician.
 The nature of our movement and musical expression, as and formal academic concerts to smaller, less formal venues
well as our collaborative creative process, has significantly such as clubs, galleries and chamber music contexts. This
changed as a result of our work in this field. We find development also relates to a shift in the participants of the
ourselves involved in the composition of the sonic genre and the make-up of the audience; numerous “laptop
geography of a stage or of a dancer’s body. This process artists” and followers of more popularly based electronic
raises issues involving the negotiation of control and music are now interested in our music.
correspondence created by conceptual technological A particularly rich musical context has been found in our
linkages between disciplines. ensemble “interface,” where we perform with numerous
gestural interfaces and a complete ensemble of spherical
4.3 The Voice, Breath: affect and affected speaker arrays. In our performances, great attention is given
to the sonic installation, design, and resources of the
“instruments,” and of the overall ensemble. However, the
The voice, so centrally located in the body, would seem
structure of the music is left open. Most pieces result from
immune to the impact of electronic instruments. The voice
previously unvisited sonic combinations of our systems,
is inextricably tied to breath, while breath is tied to
brought about through free interaction between the players.
sentience, existence, and intension. It can be “felt” via
In this sense, our performance systems privilege traditional
kinetic empathy between performers, implying a lived
modes of human musical interaction over human/machine
experience of a mutually created sonic environment. In our interaction. Through the design of an ensemble of extended
work, the voice has served as an instrument and as a model
instruments, we are composing the musical context while
for the construction of composed instruments, both in a leaving details of structure and articulation open and the
literal sense (via sampling) and in a more general musical
result of our musical interactions.
sense, guiding our improvisations and our mappings of
physical input to sonic output. In turn, we have found in the
performing of these composed instruments that the
instruments themselves deeply impact how we speak and
breathe.

5 Composing the Context

We have extended the concept of the “composed
instrument” to incorporating the full feedback loop from
acoustic sound production, physical interface/sensing
design, computer interface (including the sum of the
resources for digital sound production/processing), and
sonic display. Our solo performance with these instruments
often involves the exploration of the resources and Figure 1. Hahn as Pikapika.
structures inherent in the system. The result is the
articulation and interpretation of the non-linear musical
structure; a composition of compositions or “meta- 6 Case study: “Pikapika”
compositional” structure (Bahn, 1997).
In a group setting, a proving ground has been the
“Pikapika” is a collaborative solo performance piece and
integration of composed instruments into the rapid free
composition by Bahn and Hahn inspired by anime and
exchange of improvisational ensembles. In our early
manga, Japanese pop animation and comics. The word in
experiments, the technologically extended performers were
Japanese means “twinkling,” and is also a metaphor for the
always the slowest to react; having difficulty in adapting to,
bright flash of an atom bomb. In our piece, “Pikapika” is the
for example, tempo changes, rapid volume shifts, and
gestural musical communication. A common caveat was name of the female persona Hahn assumes. In performance,
Hahn wears a wireless MIDI control interface as well as a
that an instrument was set up for a particular composition,
small wireless stereo amplifier and arm-mounted speakers
and was not designed for the more general context of
(Figure 1). The wireless technology communicates with a
improvisational performance where anything could happen.
remote computer system running MAX/MSP. This “Sensor-
Through the continued development of our performance
Speaker Performer” (SSpeaPer) interface extends the
systems, we have successfully incorporated our music into
concept of a Sensor-Speaker Array or “SenSA” (Trueman,
many situations not previously available to us. This
Bahn and Cook, 2000) into the realm of performance art.
witnesses a shift in the performance context of interactive
electro-acoustic music—from laboratories, research centers,
6.1 The “SSpeaPer” Interface process of observation, analysis, practice, trial and error. In
works of this kind, the full possibilities of the composed
instrument are not apparent until one gets inside the
Considered to be a significant aspect of the
interface and “drives” it. The result of living with the
“composition” of the work, Bahn’s interface design was
interactive structure and exploring the sonic environment for
based on the particular movement vocabulary and body
a period of time has created a feeling of freedom in gesture
architecture of the performer. Hahn, whose background
for Hahn. The piece has grown with each performance and
stems from traditional Japanese dance, has unique subtle
will continue to transform in the future.
arm motions developed as an aspect of the often mimetic
gestural language of her training—where delicate motions
of the hand often “tell the story” of a piece. While desiring 6.2 The Pikapika Persona
to capture these refined movements, it was important not to
obscure or encumber the grace and beauty of her fingers Our dance pieces have involved the realization of female
with a glove or other device. A simple approach was chosen performance personas—“wired” female agents, who can
where the palm of each hand conceals a bi-axial address cultural stereotypes regarding gender and
accelerometer in a small box. Mounted on the outside of technology. Unless theoretical qualities of embodied
each box is a force-sensitive-resistor (FSR) which can be cultural and gender expressions are established in the
touched or squeezed discreetly to communicate with the conception of a work, these sensibilities are often not
computer. We have found this interface extremely obvious within the performance context. In this way, our
responsive, robust and inexpensive, and have also used it in collaborative creative process is inextricably linked with
the performance composition “Streams.” Recently, we have critical theory.
expanded it to include accelerometers on each foot. One of our aspirations for this piece was to evoke a
The desired appearance for Pikapika’s character factored strong “wired” female character who skillfully controls
into the interface design. A wireless audio receiver/amplifier technology for her sensory pleasure-bound immersion
and body-mounted speakers were designed as an aspect of within a virtual sonic space. Pikapika is a character that
her costume. Adding to her “high-tech” look, a clear straddles several theoretical lines. She is a Harraway cyborg
plexiglass box housed in a leather backpack was created to of the integrated circuit, a Judith Butler Gender Trouble
reveal flashing lights and seemingly complex circuitry. “girl”, and a Gamman and Makinen female fetishist. Let us
Black speakers (co-axial drivers for car sound systems) are explain. In Gender Trouble Butler speaks to the
overtly wired and strapped on her back and arms to blatantly construction of gender and meaning through performance:
display technology.
The “SSpeaPer” interface naturally locates and Consider gender, for instance, as a corporeal style, an
spatializes electronic sounds to emanate from the speakers "act," as it were, which is both intentional and
mounted on Hahn’s body, creating a new audio “alias” for performative, where "performative" suggests a dramatic
her character; a sonic mask. Pikapika embodies movements and contingent construction of meaning. (Judith Butler,
from bunraku (Japanese puppet theater), a movement 1990: 139)
vocabulary Hahn studied while learning Japanese traditional
dance pieces derived from the puppet theater. The concept Pikapika, while a dramatic “act,” also breathes
of the sonic punctuation of Pikapika’s movements is drawn corporeality as an embodiment of Hahn’s own experiences,
directly from the bunraku musical tradition, though the mapped through her circuits, her desires, her pleasure. This
actual sounds derive from machinery and technology. The newfound body essentializes a liberating construct of
body-mounted speakers add a strong theatrical element as femininity that Harraway affirms in “A Cyborg Manifesto”:
well as providing Hahn with direct physical feedback about
the nuance of her sonic performance. Our bodies ourselves; bodies are maps of power and
In performance, Pikapika enters from the rear of the hall identity...Intense pleasure in skill, machine skill, ceases
and strolls through the audience, emitting a variety of to be a sin, but an aspect of embodiment. We can be
“clanks,” “hisses,” and “whirs” directly from her body. She responsible for machines; they do not dominate or
is able to navigate and transform numerous composed sets threaten us. We are responsible for boundaries; we are
of these sampled sounds as well as control signal they.” (Harraway, 1991: 180)
processing, and the extension of her sounds into the main
sound system. In Female Fetishism, Gamman and Makinen question
As with other Bahn/Hahn collaborations, the form and stereotypes of female passivity; acknowledge women have
musical texture are under the complete control of the fetishes; and identify three categories: anthropological,
dancer. Each “run” is a unique instantiation resulting from commodity, and sexual fetishism. Pikapika, while taking
the dancer’s “improvisation” and exploration of the virtual pleasure in her sensuality, thrives on the power of
sonic body. The mapping of the body is the result of a long technology. She can create and embody her sound and
visual world, control tools rather than having them dominate virtual space, the mapping of her body, as Pikapika, as
her, and, be downright noisy—an example of “female sound.
commodity fetishism.” There’s the thrill of being out of
control, and of being in control—both perceived in the past 7 Conclusions
as dangerous spaces for women. Mary Russo proposes,
"Making a spectacle out of oneself seem(s to be) a
specifically feminine danger" and the “carnival and the Exploring the social traditions of music and dance
carnivalesque suggest a redeployment or counter-production reveals rich interactions beyond those commonly examined
of culture, knowledge, and pleasure" (Russo, 1986: 213- in the discourse of “interactive computer music
218). Gamman and Marshment, in The Female Gaze, offer performance.” The common trend towards larger-then-life
that, “Popular culture is a site of struggle, where (sic) presentation in electro-acoustic music, perhaps a desire to
meanings are determined and debated...It can also be seen as replace the sensuous involvement and physicality of musical
a site where meanings are contested and where dominant performance, often subverts these social contexts of music
ideologies can be disturbed.” (Gamman and Marshment, making.
1989: 1) So, our challenge has been to create a “pop” figure A prioritization on music as “activity” in both
drawn from a female gaze, a strong female character who is instrument design and sonic display can address this
not situated within a male dominated narrative, who appears phenomenon. We have found that by creating rich sensory
alone, and simply showcases her pleasures empowered with performance environments and discovering their feedback
technological dexterity. "resonances"—between body and technology—we in turn
Heralded by Harraway, a number of feminists point out discover music that is simultaneously familiar (being "of the
technology’s liberating affects. (Becker, 2000) Harraway body" and performed in socially familiar situations) yet
proposes that: radically new. Physicality, feedback, and gesture—the
reintegration of the body in electronic music—are all key to
Cyborg imagery can suggest a way out of the maze of maintaining and extending musical/social traditions within a
dualisms in which we have explained our bodies and technological context.
our tools to ourselves...It means both building and
destroying machines, identities, categories,
relationships, space stories. Though both are bound in
the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a
goddess. (Harraway, 1991: 181)

In performance, theory fuses with practice through

embodied acts, collapsing established dualities of composer/
performer, musician/dancer, researcher/participant. Pikapika
breaks down numerous other dualities: self/other,
male/female, machine/body, culture/nature and Hahn’s own
East/West biracial identity. Pikapika, in transgressing these
dichotomies, constructs her own sense of self, yet
simultaneously embodies one of Hahn’s own inner selves.
Pikapika can be loud. We hear music when she moves, a
sonic mask broadcasting Pikapika’s character. Sound is
gendered because her body enacts and manipulates it.
Pikapika’s body is at once a site and sight of situated
meanings and complexities. As a wired Asian American,
biracial woman Hahn can enact resistance to passivity
through sound intensity, and wrap the audience in
Pikapika’s noisy articulations. Pikapika appropriates space
with her rambunctious noise and shakes up the room
visually, viscerally, and sonically. Pikapika poses a crossfire
of gender questions, Kristeva-style: “by calling attention at
all times to whatever remains unsatisfied, repressed, new,
eccentric, incomprehensible, disturbing to the status quo.”
(Kristeva, 1977: 37) Technology, Pikapika knows, is her
vehicle for existence, pleasure, and the posing of somatic
(cyber-) potentials (Casado and Cano, 2000). Hahn finds
there is pleasure in this enactment, the immersion in sonoric
 Trueman, Bahn, and Cook, 2000. “Alternative Voices for
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