Shadows play on weathered textures, landscapes both natural and surreal, light dances on surfaces virtual and visceral. Avatars breathe, embodying the earth, sky, and the storm within, drifting between worlds, animated by the unseen currents of a dancer’s breath, captured in the pulse of motion. Here, the audience no longer watches—they become space where the lines between player, performer, and witness blur — focusing on movement’s essence over physical traits. AI images inspired by Joan Skinner’s ‘Releasing Dance Technique,’ are modelled as 3D characters and animated using motion capture data. Mocap systems allow viewers to inhabit avatars, alongside a dancer.
Bruno Martelli
Bruno Martelli is a programmer, software designer, and visual artist working with virtual environments, enabling the spectator to experience inner mimesis, blurring the role of the visitor, spectator, player and performer. A graduate of Central St. Martins and RMIT University Melbourne, with a PhD in immersive and kinaesthetic practice. He worked on the EPSRC-funded ‘4i: Immersive Interaction design’ project at Goldsmiths, helping design a gesture-recognizing toolkit for VR developers. Martelli also created the open-source plugin ‘MotionRiver’ for Unreal, enhancing sustainability for high-end motion capture systems. Collaborating with Ruth Gibson as Gibson/Martelli, his multidisciplinary projects span live performance, installation and XR. BAFTA-nominated, his work features in exhibitions and festivals, including the 52nd Venice Biennale. Winner of the Lumen Gold Prize for Digital Art, his virtual reality work was exhibited at the 79th Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia and the 66th BFI London Film Festival.
Link: www.gibsonmartelli.com
Ruth Gibson
Ruth Gibson is a visual artist and choreographer renowned for her collaborative work with Bruno Martelli on award-winning projects that blend performance, computer games, virtual and augmented reality, print, and video. Her work has been exhibited at the Barbican Centre, Ars Electronica, Centro de Arte Moderna, Lisbon, Detroit Institute of Arts, British Film Institute, and the Venice Biennale. Gibson’s practice extends globally with residencies across North America, China, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. A BAFTA nominee, she has received accolades from the Henry Moore Foundation, the NESTA Innovation Award, and the Lumen Gold Prize. With a doctorate in somatic sensing from RMIT, she advocates for integrating movement and embodiment in AI and Extended Realities. A certified Skinner Releasing Technique practitioner, she fuses this dance practice with her motion capture and performance technology research. Gibson is based in London and is an Associate Professor at Coventry University’s Centre for Dance Research.
Link: www.gibsonmartelli.com
MODINA Residency
The 8-week MODINA residency for the development of this project will take place at Trafó, Budapest, between 24/Feb – 20/Apr 2025, with technical mentoring by Tallinn University, School of Digital Technologies. MODINA is co-funded by the European Union.